Ok, My bike died yesterday afternoon in the bliss of rush-hour traffic. What fun! It backfired once then it was not running.

Now, for the short history if what happened yesterday:

11am: While riding to work, the speedo and tach wend dead for about 8 minutes. During that time there were moments when they would try to work, then the tach would come back to life, then the tach would stop and the speedo would register. After a few miles they both began to work properly again.

5pm. Time to go home. The bike seems to have a near dead battery and won't start. I push start it. The bike seems to be running very slightly rough. After a moment, it is running normal and I head home.

5:10pm: As stated above, the bike backfires once then the gauge lights come on and the bike is no longer running. Once it is stopped, it will not turn over when I try to get it running again. No click, nothing.

6pm: While waiting for my dad to bring the trailer, out of boredom, I try to start the bike. It doesn't start, but it does try, the motor doesn't turn, but the starter is giving it a try just like it did at 5pm.

7:30pm: The bike is unloaded at my parent's house and I try to push start it. It starts and dies very quickly.

So, there you have it. Anyone have any ideas?

 

Nice post style by the way. Yes, I believe that your regulator is toast, from your description, it has all the symptoms. They over heat, fail, then your on battery power, so you get intermittant faults. (Backfire is a dead give away). When you stop, battery comes back to life for a bit, enough for you to start the bike, once reg overheats again, same problem. I could be wrong (according to my wife I always am) but have it checked out.
And don't go buying a new battery before you do, everyone makes that mistake.

 

by regulator. Do you mean the CDI or "brain box"?

 

No, its the voltage regulator. Not sure on your bike, but on mine its on the right side (if sitting on the bike)
just below the rear of the seat (black/grey thingo, heatsinks 'n' wires)

 

Yep its your R/R. Alot of Hondas have bad ones that are eventually going to go. On the F3 series (mine), Honda replaced the origional model as it was defective (i.e. your problem lol).

Mine just went, exact same symptoms except for the tach/speedo stuff, but I RARELY look at the dash so I'm not sure or not

You might even have outward signs of failure, when mine went, it spewed carbon all over the fairings (about the size of a tennis ball)and the actual R/R unit has a hole in it.