Autumn bike trip cut short
Discussion
Fit a voltmeter - you can get small bar mounted ones off eBay for no more than £20. Wire it to a switched live source.
I got one after a failing stator left me with a flat battery and calling out the RAC one day. I changed the stator and fitted the voltmeter, then a few months later was very glad I did because it was suddenly reading 11V instead of the usual 14.1 or so. Investigation revealed a badly corroded connector between the new stator and the bike's harness, which was a lot less hassle to replace than dealing with than another breakdown.
I got one after a failing stator left me with a flat battery and calling out the RAC one day. I changed the stator and fitted the voltmeter, then a few months later was very glad I did because it was suddenly reading 11V instead of the usual 14.1 or so. Investigation revealed a badly corroded connector between the new stator and the bike's harness, which was a lot less hassle to replace than dealing with than another breakdown.
The cheap rectifiers go faster in my experience. Either find a premium replacement, or go to Honda.
I had a bad run of charging issues years ago, I went through two stators, at least one battery and in the end fried about six inches of cables and the stator. I'm not sure if the stator killed the rectifier or the other way around but it all went in the bin.
In the end I replaced everything premium, I fitted a Honda rectifier, but I keep a chinese replacement. For roadtrips I would carry this cheap replacement, some crimp connectors, and spare wire (along with the obligatory replacement camchain tensioner of course. This being an old Honda).
As for detecting it in advance. I tried but was never successful with my voltmeter. You can check by blipping the throttle and measuring the voltage output, but that never helped, you can also do a "diode" test to confirm current is flowing the correct way, but again that never helped.
They just spontaneously failed in my experience. So beyond fitting an inbuilt voltmeter (and taking note of calibration errors, they are cheap s
t) I resolved myself to carry a spare. But I had lots of underseat storage.
I had a bad run of charging issues years ago, I went through two stators, at least one battery and in the end fried about six inches of cables and the stator. I'm not sure if the stator killed the rectifier or the other way around but it all went in the bin.
In the end I replaced everything premium, I fitted a Honda rectifier, but I keep a chinese replacement. For roadtrips I would carry this cheap replacement, some crimp connectors, and spare wire (along with the obligatory replacement camchain tensioner of course. This being an old Honda).
As for detecting it in advance. I tried but was never successful with my voltmeter. You can check by blipping the throttle and measuring the voltage output, but that never helped, you can also do a "diode" test to confirm current is flowing the correct way, but again that never helped.
They just spontaneously failed in my experience. So beyond fitting an inbuilt voltmeter (and taking note of calibration errors, they are cheap s
t) I resolved myself to carry a spare. But I had lots of underseat storage. xstian said:
Prof Prolapse said:
The cheap rectifiers go faster in my experience. Either find a premium replacement, or go to Honda.
I thought Honda had a very bad reputation for the failures of there rec/reg. But for sure, if you know better fit that part. If you can source the same part elsewhere (i.e. whomever supplies Honda) then it's always cheaper anyway.
TheInternet said:
Why is this?
By the nature of what they do rectifiers get hot. Some bikes I've had mount them right up front (Ducati Multistrada 1000S), which means they lots of airflow but covered in crap and the connectors corrode. Some have them hidden away (most Hondas) so they don't corrode but they do overheat. Some sort of aftermarket PC fan and a duct is probably the route to happiness.
From my experience(20+ years as a bike mechanic) the regulator fails usually because of a high resistance in the loom ,caused by poor connections due to damp ingress, but also overheating and a diode failing,or a short in the system. Connecting the battery inverted will blow it .
The generator fails soon after as the current induced by the magnets has nowhere to go and burns the insulation off the copper wire.
Most the time people just replace the parts ,without finding the root cause,and they all blow again and again.
The generator fails soon after as the current induced by the magnets has nowhere to go and burns the insulation off the copper wire.
Most the time people just replace the parts ,without finding the root cause,and they all blow again and again.
V8RX7 said:
CaptainSlow said:
The best replacement R/R is the SH847AA, fitted on 2014 onwards DL1000s...not cheap though. I put one my Daytona 600.
It isn't.SH is still a shunt type
FH is Mosfet - which runs cooler and lasts longer
fred bloggs said:
Most the time people just replace the parts ,without finding the root cause,and they all blow again and again.
fred bloggs said:
From my experience(20+ years as a bike mechanic) the regulator fails usually because of a high resistance in the loom ,caused by poor connections due to damp ingress, but also overheating and a diode failing,or a short in the system. Connecting the battery inverted will blow it .
The generator fails soon after as the current induced by the magnets has nowhere to go and burns the insulation off the copper wire.
Most the time people just replace the parts ,without finding the root cause,and they all blow again and again.
This gets my vote... I had a Daytona 650 that suddenly started burning through the whole electrical generating system. Replaced the lot 1st time for it to go again within hours. Replaced it with an aftermarket set up that was supposed to fix a 'known fault' with the Triumph that quickly went the same way. Spent a small fortune trying to rectify the cause just so the third could go again. Never got to the bottom.of it and had to get rid of the bike. OP if its gone 1st job is definitively find out why. Or you may find yourself on first name terms with the recovery driver...... Hi Dave how you doing?The generator fails soon after as the current induced by the magnets has nowhere to go and burns the insulation off the copper wire.
Most the time people just replace the parts ,without finding the root cause,and they all blow again and again.
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