Not 100% sure, Adam. I suspect it was as he said, the rotor was bad and in the process of changing that, he installed a new Mikes reg/rec that was apparently bad right out of the box. Then we were off to the races.... chasing our tail when it was just the rotor all along.
Hi Adam - I believe the mikes XS regulator was bad- I reinstalled old one - unplugged and replugged headlight in and it started charging- so it seems like - I was chasing my tail because I put new regulator in - my thinking was upgrading the 45 yo one would be good as to not over or undercharge battery but I was wrong. I have had this bike for 4 months - my usual ride is about 80 miles- I keep to on a battery tender if not using. I guess it could handle that until I went on a 110 mile ride and Arun 95 miles I had issues. The headlamp indicator light came on as soon as I turned the key on and stayed on. I did not know that was not supposed to be lit. The old rotor meters at about 1.4. so this issue has probably been there the whole time I just never pushed it far enough to know. Now on on to a new issue.
For the most part that's true, Niels, but there's exceptions. An old weak coil, such as a 45yr old one can cause the problem Nomad described. Seen a few times on cars and bikes.
That's an excellent suggestion. You don't have to do it all at once, Damon. Print out the wiring diagram, and as you clean 'em, mark 'em off on the diagram. It'll give you much more peace of mind when you're 100 miles from home.
. Still recall my dismay when we took my first used moped apart back in ‘72 - I thought it would never work again haha !Darn Mike's XS- started and it sputtered and backfired the same unplugged regulator and it ran like a dream only rode it a mile or so I can test some more but I think that's it. Headlight did not work then but I suppose that is because regulator was unplugged. Plugged it again started sputtered backfired but head light came back on. I guess it is time to send my original rotor to the master- let me know how to do that - Hopefully Mikes will take this faulty stuff back
Well that was easy enough...
When you contact them, give 'em a link to this thread so they can see how we troubleshot their faulty parts.
Coils failing when hot isn't uncommon.
Update. - rode 90 miles today - great weather in Orlando - voltmeter read 14.4 during most of the ride no issues -pulling strong though all gears- we ride out past Clermont to Tavares - Howey in the Hills- Lake Harris and beyond. --another Jim's rotor and knowledge success story- Thanks again Jim!Great thread well done Jim. Some useful checks to follow in here.
On the restart tries, did the starter spin like it normally does, or did it sound slow, like a weak battery?
That's fairly typical for these bikes. At idle, it's not putting out enough charge to keep the battery topped off... it'll be draining. It helps to make sure the idle is around 12-1500rpm. It'll still read low (volts), but it won't drain the battery quiet as fast.
Although the plugs are most likely good, it never hurts to put a fresh set in there on a "new to you" bike. Now you know how many miles the plugs have on them.
