First, kudos to all who give so generously of their time and expertise on this forum. Unlike social media, this platform seems to support a certain level of professionalism and fact based, data driven information that is very hard to find in many forums. The technical writing and general acumen here rates 5 stars, so thanks! Now- on to the matter at hand. I'm sorting out a potential charging issue on my stock '74, and after much research and reading determined that I may as well give the VR115 install a try. Interestingly enough, my stock mechanical regulator does not have an adjustment screw, so altering the point gaps involves bending- not the most precise. However, the VR115 is no longer the $20 referenced in the threads from 2011! More like $35-$45. OK, inflation, I get it. But- I recalled an issue I had with a mid 80's Mercury outboard, 115hp, a few years back. Mercury at that time did not provide any voltage regulation in their charging systems. They were low power, 16 amp max, and used the battery itself as a bit of a sink/sump to absorb overvoltage. The issue became modern electronics like GPS chartplotters/depth finders that DID NOT LIKE seeing those voltages over 15. So- the smart folks in the old Mercury community (much like the smart folks here) figured out that the following voltage regulator could be wired into the system and work just fine, keeping max voltage below 14.5. I did it on my motor with excellent results. This unit is only $20 now, 1/2 the cost of the VR115. I know the loads on my boat were similar or greater than what the bike sees- any reason this unit wouldn't work on the bike? Link below. There are quite a few solid state VR's out there for various applications- at the end of the day, they do the same thing- maybe there are other options to the VR115? PS- someone mentioned in an old thread that the VR115 was from '71 AMC applications and replaced the old mechanical style- I can say with certainty that AMC used Motorola solid state VR's as far back as '66, possibly earlier. Thanks for any learned thoughts on the regulator choices.
https://www.ebay.com/itm/1841550872...JvKqFZrwK1bfAlNC6LP_MImnwS_g967xoCciMQAvD_BwE
https://www.ebay.com/itm/1841550872...JvKqFZrwK1bfAlNC6LP_MImnwS_g967xoCciMQAvD_BwE