Honda CBF 600: odometer has no reading -- what can this mean?

Question

I'm currently looking to buy a used motorcycle, and today I was inspecting a 2005 Honda CBF 600, whose VIN was: ZDCPC38B05F065417. (I'm specifying the VIN in case it was stolen; perhaps the owner might google it.)

The bike looked fine, but the odometer had no reading. It wasn't zeroed out, but more like "dashed out", i.e. displaying dashes: -----------

My first suspicion was that someone (not necessarily the seller) was trying to manipulate the reading, failed, and left it "dashed out".

But perhaps I'm wrong, maybe the on-board computer had crashed? Or there might be some other cause? I was hoping to get some info from CBF owners: have you seen something like this happen? And if so, how can I reboot the computer?

EDIT: it turned out that, as DucatiKiller suggested, the regulator/rectifier was (most probably) not working properly. The seller admitted that he didn't want to get into the problem of buying a new, costly one, because he figured he'll find a buyer, even with no reading on the odometer.

But I found a better deal on a Honda CBF 600, so I can't say for sure that that was indeed the truth.

Answer 1

this is a possibility

I have not dealt with your bike in particular but on various CBR versions if the rectifier is bad and dumping a little AC current into the system then you can have the dash do a lot of crazy things.

If you want to test the stator, here's a link. It's for a Suzuki but the 5 wires for the rectifier work the same as your bike.

• 1999 gsxr 600 - What is wrong when my regulator keeps burning out?

If you don't have a multimeter you can pick one up for pretty cheap at your local electronics or automotive parts store.

Here are some multimeter instructions

• Multimeter - Basic Functionality and Howto

This may not be your issue but at least you have the ability to rule it out.

Other thoughts, physical layer inspection

There is a sub-harness on your bike. It plugs into the main wire harness. I've seen that plug go bad on other models. Check to see where the plug from the dash (big one in back of dash) routes and plugs into the mail. Wiggle it. Disconnect it. Visually inspect it. See if there are burned up or corroded connectors that may be inhibiting a good connection from the main harness to the sub-harness.

As well, check the connector to the dash unit and repeat the above to see if it's a poor connection to that device.

Best of luck to you!