I'm new to this forum and have joined because no one seems to know what is wrong with my beloved VFR400 NC30. I have owned her since 2003 and we have had a long and happy relationship. We've been through a lot together but now whenever I take her out she lasts for about 20 minutes and then dies and I have to get the AA out.

This is what happens....
Head out onto a fast road as soon as possible on the journey with no issues, then as soon as we slow down and get into some traffic, she idles terrible, very jerky and wants to stall so I have to keep the revs high, then as we move out of traffic and get some speed up she just loses all power, just as if she has run out of fuel. On hot days she over heats and dies.

All obvious things have been checked, contaminated fuel, carbs, plugs, filter, etc etc. The 2 engineers that came out were both bikers and they couldn't understand it or fix the problem. I really don't know what to do so any help would be much appreciated.

Thanks all

Sounds as if something electrical is breaking down(posibly stator related)..as its getting hot its happening..check all the electrics.rectifier/regulator/stator/coils.loom.

coil breakdown when warm.
had similar myself

may help if you identify your location and see if there is a local member who can ride it and diagnose a bit better. plenty here know these inside out.

As above it does sound likely to be a coil issue, however I have also had very similar issues caused by the vacuum hose to the fuel tap collapsing when warm.

vaccum hose / coil issues are most liely but as said above you could really save youreself a lot of time by getting somebody that knows these bikes well to have a look ak it, missing even the simplest thing in this situation can make diagnosis much harder.

Odd its overheating thuogh.

The rough running and poor idle could be caused by lots of things - what's the service history and mileage?

As for the overheating - what state is lower radiator in, and is the fan working properly?

I've got a 1991 NC30. Anyone in Plymouth want to help me learn how to maintain it myself? Just managed the air filter, need to do spark plugs & repair the fairing. Sick of being ripped off at the garage!