I have a weird charging issue. 95 VFR, bike dies suddenly at lights and doesn't start up randomly. Found the plug from the stator to the reg/rect was fried. (I have a Ricks reg/rect.) so I replaced the whole harness with the VFRNESS from wiremybike. Bike ran for a few days but then wouldn't start, had to push start to get it home. This has happened before the vfrness as well. so I thought maybe it's the battery and I replaced it last week. The very next morning out it dies on me on the Brooklyn bridge half hour in to the ride.
Pulled the stator, looks okay to me, but wanted to get ya'll expert opinion. I don't know what's wrong, or what to replace. replaced the harness, replaced battery, replaced reg/rect, stator looks okay. when I put the voltage meter to the battery it goes up to about 13.8v at 4-5k rpm. so It does get juice when it's running. I wonder if at some point it stops getting juice?!?! Got a battery voltmeter I haven't put on yet just to see if it drops at some point, BUT PLEASE ANY HELP IS WELCOME. I have no clue what to check..
I see you still have the white electrical connector for the stator to the RR. Pull the plug apart and I'll bet ya dollars to donuts that it's fried. (Or at least corroded) You need to hard wire the 3 yellow wires together. (Solder and heat shrink tubing). You stator does look good. 13.8V 2 that rpm is low-should be at least 14.5V. Get rid of that connector and then test it. Let us know how it goes.
I woudn't bother with the repair connector. If you insist on having a connector there I would use a Metri-Pack 630 3 wire shown here: http://www.cycleterminal.com/metri-pack.html
Adding the repair connector puts 2 more solder joints in the wire and you still have the mediocre oem connector. Crimping a Metri-Pack connector correctly without the tool is impossible, however. I've done it with pliers before, but you will need to solder the terminals to the ends of the wires. Easiest and most reliable solution is just to cut and solder directly. Just fully test the stator before you go through the trouble of soldering it directly to the R/R leads.
Had similar sounding issue a few years ago. Turned out R/R was intermittently failing. Would never have found it if I hadn't installed the meter and seen it flash 18v for 30-45 seconds while riding to work one day. By the time I'd turned around and got back home, it'd done it two more times but all at random intervals and different rpm.
Thanks guys!! So I installed the voltmeter and the wiremybike connector last night. I had already ordered this last week prior to your post MadScientist.
Metri-Pack connectors looks so solid I will upgrade once I figure out what the real issue is.
Test run proved that something is still wrong. When I got on the local road the meter showed 14.5v anything above 4-5k rpm. but 5 minutes later it wouldn't go past 13.5v and then I got on the highway and was hitting about 10k and it was around 13-13.5v. On the way back home it was around 12.5v and after getting off the highway it was low 12's.
Attached a pic of the fried connector at the r/r I replaced with the vfrness. Do you think my r/r could be failing seamus?
So it sounds like something is shorting out when it gets hot...
Visual stator tests are pretty pointless.
I would suggest getting the bike hot and testing the stator, sometimes stator faults will only show when they are hot (the windings expand when they are hot).
So get the bike up to temp and when that voltage drops down to 12v again, quickly disconnect the stator from the rr and test it's AC output (engine on at idle and again at 5000 rpms, for each phase) and resistance (Engine off).
By the way is this an oem/original stator? I am not a fan of aftermarket stators like Ricks and Electrosport etc as they usually put out too much AV voltage.
I really do not care for non Shindengen (the oem supplier) regulator/rectifiers. I would only recommend the shindengen FH020aa regulator rectifier.
So test out the stator (WHEN HOT), then either get a new oem stator or keep yours, based on the test results, then get an FH020aa rr and direct solder the rr and stator together.
Also go through every electrical connection on the bike and search for burnt or dirty contacts, clean them and reassemble.
+1 on all counts. I also recommend the Shindengen R/R but have had decent luck with rewound stators. I would assume that a better regulator can cope a little more easily with a slightly higher voltage stator. However, bad and out of spec stators can quickly eat a R/R depending on the failure mode. Double check that stator when hot, make sure grounds and connections are clean.
Oh yeah, one last thing. I've heard of knockoff Shindengen R/Rs, so try and source from somewhere reliable. Roadstercycle sells a nice kit with connectors and wire, otherwise a Yamaha dealership is a good place.
Thanks guys, I will do these tests. Can I one of you guys give me a quick rundown of how I should test the stator? After I pull the plug, I put the voltmeter to Ohms to test the resistance right? What should I look for?
something worth noting is also, two years ago my tachometer stopped working out of the blue and then last year, it started working again and I now noticed one of my headlights is not working out of the blue. tested the bulb it's fine. So possibly a burnt connector somewhere? Any known points I should check first?
So I replaced the stator with a Ricks stator. Still when I started the bike it would charge but after 10-15 minutes of running it would stop charging.
At this point I've replaced EVERYTHING including harnesses and the battery so I pulled the Rectifier and did a diode test.
According to youtube videos two pins are failing. when I do the reverse test only one of the stator pins puts out a value (497). The rectifier is Ricks as well so I will order another. Thanks!
..but after replacing the stator, the battery, the harness and missing the entire riding season I just want to ride the damn thing. Given that I'm using a VFRness I'm hoping it would burn off some of the excess heat through the 10guage wires. Also roadstercycle superkit is like $200 and at this point I want the cheapest option to nail down the problem. If I know it's definitely the r/r I will ride the winter months with this and DEF upgrade to a mosfet by next season and kiss charging issues goodbye.
Should be here tomorrow, will post results. Thanks!!
..but after replacing the stator, the battery, the harness and missing the entire riding season I just want to ride the damn thing. Given that I'm using a VFRness I'm hoping it would burn off some of the excess heat through the 10guage wires. Also roadstercycle superkit is like $200 and at this point I want the cheapest option to nail down the problem. If I know it's definitely the r/r I will ride the winter months with this and DEF upgrade to a mosfet by next season and kiss charging issues goodbye.
Should be here tomorrow, will post results. Thanks!!
You can test your r/r with a multimeter before buying anything. You should not order *anything* until you test the component you're replacing. That way, it's not a 'shot in the dark' if it's the right part you need.
The kit you needed is $128.95 + $6.50 S&H USA
About the same as the cost of the Ricks, but known to be good. I'm not sure why you're spinning your tires (figuratively speaking) buying another Ricks.
I did test the r/r this Sunday before ordering it yesterday. My mistake was not testing it first.. since I replaced it already in '12 I was focusing on other parts.
And the guy that was helping me kept insisting it was the stator... so hesitantly I bought one. What was also throwing us off was, that it would charge for the first 10 minutes until the bike warmed up. Since then I've installed a voltage meter next to the cluster. I do have the OEM stator, which I'm sure is fine.
Thanks for chiming in, I do appreciate all the knowledge and the suggestions.
You could probably get away with FH020AA R/R with connector kit for $118.95 plus $6.50 S&H since you already have upgraded wiring; it's just swapping the connectors to the weatherpack type (included).
What was also throwing us off was, that it would charge for the first 10 minutes until the bike warmed up.
All testing should be done with the bike hot, as some shorts do not show until hot. Think of it this way, metal expands when hot, a failed stator could have hairline cracks in the insulation that are closed when cold and then open up when hot.
Thank you both for sharing knowledge and helping with this.
I will see what happens with the r/r once I install it and report back. But I see the value in upgrading to a mosfet for sure.
21 hours ago, thtanner
You could probably get away with FH020AA R/R with connector kit for $118.95 plus $6.50 S&H since you already have upgraded wiring; it's just swapping the connectors to the weatherpack type (included).
20 hours ago, CandyRedRC46
All testing should be done with the bike hot, as some shorts do not show until hot. Think of it this way, metal expands when hot, a failed stator could have hairline cracks in the insulation that are closed when cold and then open up when hot.
So the RR did the trick. Took it for some test runs over the weekend and the voltage meter shows 13.8 to 14.1. Dropping to 13.7 at red lights. It stays at 12.7 while parked.
I will end up getting the mosfet come next summer. I will follow up with some pics when I do.
Any thoughts on where I can get a cut off switch to the voltage meter? Right now I have it running straight from the battery terminals.
Just wire it into a switched source, like the front parking lights (not the headlights for obvious safety reasons). That is to say, anything non-critical that only gets power once the key is turned to the On position.
Be sure to check the voltage at the battery terminals to see any difference between there and where you wire the voltmeter in, so you know the real value. There will often be some loss so this way you will know that the voltmeter may indicate a certain amount less, often 0.5V or so.