Honda Vfr800fi: problems, complaints, bulletins

Summary for the Honda Vfr800fi across 4 model years: 4 owner complaints and 0 NHTSA service bulletins, plus repair videos. Pick a year for details.

Model years

Year	Owner complaints	involving a crash
9999	1	0
2007	1	1
2003	1	0
2002	1	0

What fails most often

1 Electrical system 50% of all complaints
2 Engine and cooling 25% of all complaints
3 Exterior lighting 25% of all complaints
4 Fuel system 25% of all complaints

Circle size and colour show each component’s share of NHTSA complaints. Schematic only, not a drawing of the exact model.

Electrical system: 2 complaints (50% of all).
Engine and cooling: 1 complaints (25% of all).
Exterior lighting: 1 complaints (25% of all), 1 of them with a crash reported by the owner.
Fuel system: 1 complaints (25% of all).

Symptoms owners describe

How many of the 4 NHTSA complaints mention each symptom (automatic count from complaint text; one complaint can mention several).

headlights and tail lights2 · 50%
loss of power / limp mode1 · 25%

Components owners complain about

Component	Owner complaints	involving a crash
Electrical system	2	0
Engine and cooling	1	0
Exterior lighting	1	1
Fuel system	1	0

What owners report

Short excerpts of NHTSA complaints in the original wording. These are owner statements not verified by NHTSA; personal data removed.

Grand neice killed driving a dual headlight motocycle, lafayette, la, reported lafayette advertiser 12-4-09. Car pulled out in front of her- did not see her. I did same several months ago. I saw a car several blocks away at night and started to pull out when I realized it was a dual headlight bike near-by.
Exterior lighting · 2007 · crash · 2009-12-09 · NHTSA complaint #10295156
I am a current owner of a 2002 honda motorcycle vfr800 . In late july of 2007, I was returning home on the freeway and my motorcycle simply stopped running, with the lights on the dash going out and all power leaving the motorcycle. It was a very unsafe condition.
Electrical system · 2002 · 2007-10-02 · NHTSA complaint #10204695
Loss of power. Needed to coast on to the shoulder. Fi indicator light was on, all other lights, head lights were on. Turned key off then on. Motorcycle started up again. Visual inspection, wire from 30 amp fuse very hot to the touch. Fuse holder shows signs of over heating slight burn marks.
Electrical system · 2003 · 2006-06-13 · NHTSA complaint #10159766
Problems with motorcycle quitting at stop signs. The dealer was unable to locate the problem. The vehicle would speed up and slow down intermittently between 4-5000 rpm and suggested that the fuel injection was bad.
Engine and cooling · 9999 · 2004-09-28 · NHTSA complaint #10092743

When owners complained

NHTSA complaints by filing year. The peak shows at what age the problems show up most.

20041
20061
20071
20091

What to check before buying

Electrical system. Scan all modules, test the battery and alternator, inspect connectors near the impact zone.
Engine and cooling. Radiator and fan after a frontal hit, coolant level and condition, overheating.
Exterior lighting. Headlamps, leveling, sensors and mounts after a frontal hit.
Fuel system. Fuel smell, leaks, rough running, fuel-system codes.

Other models of this make

Read also

Sources: public NHTSA data (USA): service bulletins and owner complaints; YouTube: links to videos credited to their authors. Complaints are owner statements not verified by NHTSA, and describe defects rather than crash damage. Data updated 2026-11-05.