Autumn bike trip cut short

[xstian]

Left Norfolk on Monday to spend the week riding the south coast, while we are still aloud.

Went to the bike this morning and the battery was flat. Jump started it, it ran for 30 seconds then conked out in a cloud of smoke. The regulator rectifier has burnt out.

Bummer. My mate has buggered off, as there was nothing he could do, so now waiting for a recovery truck to take it and me home.


stty ending to what had been a good trip so far.

[Killboy]

That is generally a very quick fix, if you can get the part.

[fred bloggs]

I'm sure that'll need a generator as well. Test it.

[Max5476]

Unfortunately a common failure on lots of bikes, but it should be an easy fix, so no reason you can't get back to enjoy the rest of your week. Worth checking if there is an uprated part while you replace it anyway.

I would be surprised if it had damaged the generator, but the battery is almost certainly toast, easy enough to check with a multimeter.

[V8RX7]

Same happened to me on my first decent trip on the 950 - I upgraded to a Mosfet

[Benni]

Crap situation, good title.

[xstian]

Just got home.

I think it will be an easy fix. The local bike shop near Bournemouth said it would take 5 days to get the parts in, so I wasn't prepared to wait.

Battery is still reading 11.6v so will probably be OK. I'll look into a mosfet I think.

[CaptainSlow]

Always inspect and change the stator when you have a R/R burnout otherwise you'll just get the same again.

Change to a FH020...my last one was off ebay from a crashed year old MT09SP

[V8RX7]

CaptainSlow said:

Always inspect and change the stator when you have a R/R burnout otherwise you'll just get the same again.

I just did a quick electrical test - Ohms and volts should I have done anything else ?

Mine looked fine visually (unlike the OP) but my battery looked like a balloon

[CaptainSlow]

V8RX7 said:

CaptainSlow said:

Always inspect and change the stator when you have a R/R burnout otherwise you'll just get the same again.

I just did a quick electrical test - Ohms and volts should I have done anything else ?

Mine looked fine visually (unlike the OP) but my battery looked like a balloon

If it didn't look burnt out, voltage was 25-70 ac and no shorting you'll be ok I guess. For £100 I always change them though.

[Iminquarantine]

Sorry for clueless, but what does the burned out part do?

[black-k1]

Iminquarantine said:

Sorry for clueless, but what does the burned out part do?

It converts the AC that comes out of the alternator into DC.

[CaptainSlow]

..and keeps the voltage to the battery lower and regular....

[gareth_r]

There are battery monitors that warn of overcharging.

[xstian]

I went for a standard shunt reg/rec in the end. I've got the battery on charge and seems to be OK. I'll measure the resistance in the stator and go from there, hopefully it's fine.

[TheInternet]

Max5476 said:

Unfortunately a common failure on lots of bikes

Why is this?

[V8RX7]

TheInternet said:

Why is this?

Everything has a lifespan

Unfortunately most bikes (nor cars these days) don't have a voltmeter so the first time you realise there's something wrong you're broken down.

Mosfet run cooler so they should last far longer.

In fairness my regulator lasted 14 years and 20k which doesn't seem a poor lifespan really

[TheInternet]

V8RX7 said:

In fairness my regulator lasted 14 years and 20k which doesn't seem a poor lifespan really

20k seems monumentally crap to me. I'm clearly expecting too much.

[CaptainSlow]

20k is pretty low...I got 36k out of the crap one Triumph out in my Sprint.

I did fit a voltmeter so i knew it was goosed when on a trip to Wales, I still went further from home though to continue the trip lol broke down on the way home and got a lift from the AA

[Krikkit]

TheInternet said:

V8RX7 said:

In fairness my regulator lasted 14 years and 20k which doesn't seem a poor lifespan really

20k seems monumentally crap to me. I'm clearly expecting too much.

Sometimes I think it's not about mileage, but how many times they've got wet.

The one on my Monster had horrible corrosion in the wiring despite only having done 4k miles when it was causing bother.