I recently had a post on here about replacing my regulator and rectifier. I replaced my regulator with the VR115 with relay and replaced my stock rectifier with one off EBAY. In the process, I found and fixed some bad connections, I cleaned and replaced many connections, replaced both battery cables, replaced battery, and cleaned ignition and kill switch contacts. Rewired all inline fuses.
So after this, the bike was charging great. 12.5 at idle, 14.35 at 2k plus RPM. Very solid and predictable. I've had it out for a few rides, all relatively short (20-40 miles). I don't yet have a voltmeter installed on the bike, but I've checked it at the end of each ride, and the battery has been fully charged each time, and the system is spitting out the 14.3 volts. All was well....until today.
Worked from home, so I went for a spin at lunch. Maybe 30 miles. When I got home, the bike's idle was a little "off". Just not as steady as it has been. It's been rock steady at 1250 RPM. shut it down and checked battery voltage, and it was a touch lower than it's been. Started it back up, and the alternator was pulling out a full volt lower than it has been, and just didn't seem as responsive to throttle input. When I held the revs at 3k, the voltage was in the low 13's, and steadily climbing very slowly. Normally it just goes right up to 14.3 volts or so. Since I was on lunch break, I threw the battery on my tender, and had to walk away from it.
Just finished work. battery topped off. Started it, and it's back to normal. revs above 2k, and it's around 14.3-14.35 volts.
As time permits, I'll go through the connections I've recently done, and make sure all is well there. I'll also look further on existing connections, because although I checked a lot, I didn't go through everything. But this whole thing got me thinking. I've used this bike very little over the past decade. I started having charging issues with it probably right around 10-12 years ago. Back then we figured out the rotor was bad, replaced it, and the charging was back. However it was never exactly right after that. It woudl be weak, then i would adjust that Original voltage regulator, then my battery would boil, and I never gave it enough attention to really get to the root of the issue.
So long story short, the charging guide says something like "don't stop when you find one thing wrong, because there may be several things wrong" well, I think I stopped searching too soon. Now I know my VR and Rectifier are good, but I think I have an intermittent problem, that shows itself when the bike is warmed up. I think I always thought I was fixing it, by tweaking my regulator, or by cleaning connections, but in reality, I think it was just an intermittent problem, and it would stop showing itself so then I'd call it good.
If there is something that jumps out as obvious, that some of you experts can think of that I should check first, let me know. Otherwise I'm back to checking connections, and then going through all the steps in the guide and checking everything with a meter.
One thing that popped in my head is the stator. It's 36 years old, so certainly wouldn't be a surprise if it's failing. I was thinking if the insulation is broken down, it might fail when it gets hot but be OK once it had cooled.
My initial thought when I pulled this thing out of storage recently was to jump right into a PMA. I may end up going that route, but I don't want to until I've exhausted all reasonable possibilities. I also don't want to go that route to cover up some potential wiring issue I could have.
Anyway, if anyone is still left reading this novel of a post, and has some things I should check first. I'm all ears.
So after this, the bike was charging great. 12.5 at idle, 14.35 at 2k plus RPM. Very solid and predictable. I've had it out for a few rides, all relatively short (20-40 miles). I don't yet have a voltmeter installed on the bike, but I've checked it at the end of each ride, and the battery has been fully charged each time, and the system is spitting out the 14.3 volts. All was well....until today.
Worked from home, so I went for a spin at lunch. Maybe 30 miles. When I got home, the bike's idle was a little "off". Just not as steady as it has been. It's been rock steady at 1250 RPM. shut it down and checked battery voltage, and it was a touch lower than it's been. Started it back up, and the alternator was pulling out a full volt lower than it has been, and just didn't seem as responsive to throttle input. When I held the revs at 3k, the voltage was in the low 13's, and steadily climbing very slowly. Normally it just goes right up to 14.3 volts or so. Since I was on lunch break, I threw the battery on my tender, and had to walk away from it.
Just finished work. battery topped off. Started it, and it's back to normal. revs above 2k, and it's around 14.3-14.35 volts.
As time permits, I'll go through the connections I've recently done, and make sure all is well there. I'll also look further on existing connections, because although I checked a lot, I didn't go through everything. But this whole thing got me thinking. I've used this bike very little over the past decade. I started having charging issues with it probably right around 10-12 years ago. Back then we figured out the rotor was bad, replaced it, and the charging was back. However it was never exactly right after that. It woudl be weak, then i would adjust that Original voltage regulator, then my battery would boil, and I never gave it enough attention to really get to the root of the issue.
So long story short, the charging guide says something like "don't stop when you find one thing wrong, because there may be several things wrong" well, I think I stopped searching too soon. Now I know my VR and Rectifier are good, but I think I have an intermittent problem, that shows itself when the bike is warmed up. I think I always thought I was fixing it, by tweaking my regulator, or by cleaning connections, but in reality, I think it was just an intermittent problem, and it would stop showing itself so then I'd call it good.
If there is something that jumps out as obvious, that some of you experts can think of that I should check first, let me know. Otherwise I'm back to checking connections, and then going through all the steps in the guide and checking everything with a meter.
One thing that popped in my head is the stator. It's 36 years old, so certainly wouldn't be a surprise if it's failing. I was thinking if the insulation is broken down, it might fail when it gets hot but be OK once it had cooled.
My initial thought when I pulled this thing out of storage recently was to jump right into a PMA. I may end up going that route, but I don't want to until I've exhausted all reasonable possibilities. I also don't want to go that route to cover up some potential wiring issue I could have.
Anyway, if anyone is still left reading this novel of a post, and has some things I should check first. I'm all ears.