Hi steve, as Gary says, it wont damage the pump… the pump is a low pressure one, it stops pumping when your carbs are full, the only difference in using the relay over the jumper wire is, with the relay your engine has to be turning for the relay to activate the pump, so, when the bike has been stood for a while and the fuel in the carbs has evaporated your engine has to turn over more to start because the carbs are empty… With the jumper wire fitted as soon as you switch the ignition on the pump will run and prime your carbs ready to push the start button…
well, it looks like you guys were spot on once again 
i ran the bike with the jumper wire, and no lack of gasoline anymore, at least much less than before…the bike still has issues with coughing when you gas it so i suspect the pump also has a hit…
I have the impression both parts have an issue, the relay as well as the pump, i already ordered a new pump and will install next week, now i just gotta find a replacement relay, or just run it without relay. But I will additionally install a bypass so that i can activate the pump manually without the jumper wire, i got a nice little switch which is supposed to be waterproof as well, and will use that to trigger the pump manually if needed!
As I need to still do the oil service and switch the starter engine as well I will just do it all in one go.
oh, and of course try to realign the fork…
Steve
Steve, if you are reasonably competent with wiring you can use a basic four pin car relay and use the ignition live from the ignition box or boxes depending on model. You need to solder a cable from the relay to the black and white cable at ignition box to the coil of the relay then earth the other side of the coil you can then connect the black cable and white cable from the original relay connector to the normally open contacts on the new relay and your done. When kill switch is on the pump runs. Sorry if this is a bit complicated for you but I’m not sure of your electrical knowledge, if you need any help we are here to ask anything you need without any judgment on ability or knowledge. Hope this helps.
Garyb
My vf1000re has been a poor starter if left for a while for years always wondered why always starts eventully sounds like it is firing on one cylinder on start up