MotoRacerGabe

i think my regulator/rectifier went out AGAIN!

i rode about 25 minutes to meet a few buddies to go riding, we meet at a gas station... I ride up, go to the pump, and fill up the tank. I grab the receipt, turn the key to on, when i push the starter button it cranks very weak and then just clicks, i try again and it just clicks. DAMN IT!

we push start my bike, it starts easily. We ride a couple miles, during these couple miles we dont stop...when we do stop it dies. i try starting it, nothing. not even a click we tried push starting it, it wouldn't. well it did start a few times but would just die soon after. then it got to a point where we tried to push start it and it would not start. you could hear the engine turn over but it wouldn't run.

luckily one of my friend i was riding with lived close by. he go his truck and we took the bike home. this is the first time i have ever seen my blackbird in the back of a truck.

i replaced the r/r at about 20k soon after i bought the bike. I am at about 43k now. I replaced the r/r with the one from an R1 that people use for the blackbird. I haven't had a problem with it until now!

I have yet to tear into the bike and see if the connections are fried or anything. I will charge up the battery, put it in the bike, and see what the r/r is charging it at...

All my friends were saying that the bike is mad because it is now white. haha. my friend's gf said "once you go black, you never go back" lol

well, this is why i have two bikes...

ugh... i still have to replace my wheel bearings. I already got them, ordered all 5 and the dust seals and whatnot... hopefully it is the wheel bearings, and not the steering stem bearing. (i made a thread about this last week i think.)

welll.... i am sad right now.

Poundstretcher

Sounds like it is just the battery that is stuffed. Get it checked and changed if in doubt. Bad battery wrecks the R/R not the other way round.
Fully charge the battery disconnect and leave over night then check with a multimetre befor fitting, I would want to see in excess of 13 volts

CanadianBird

, also, imo, go for oem or updated oem. Hopefully your stator is ok. My rr lasted 120,000 kms but my stator fried out at 60,000 kms. Do you ride daily and do you use a battery tender?

MotoRacerGabe

I just recently replaced my battery. i got the OEM one. i put it on in January i think...

i ride about 3 or 4 times a week

RazinKane

Man I had a R/R custom made by a guy here in DFW that has a back-up built into it.
If interested I can get you his number.

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We occasionally stumble over the truth but most of us pick ourselves up and hurry off as if nothing had happened.

CanadianBird

Maybe she read your previous thread. lol

lois

i would love to chat with this guy, as if he can fill me in, my electric shop can make them for the guys up here too.


Lois

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CiscoKid

check the battery once charged, replace your rr and check your stator. I replaced statr with a Ricks and went OEM with the RR, everything is perfect as it should be the original stator had some dark spots, I could have continued with it but decided to keep it as a spare and possibly get it rewound.

btw I have a brand new w warranty Electrosport RR, bought one off the board but it was dead after mechanic installed it while my bike was getting a large service so I sent it back to the seller who sent it for warranty, I could not wait and an OEM one was only option. pm me if interested

MotoRacerGabe

I charged up the battery and put it in the bike. it started instantly. i rode it a few miles and took it home

I am charging the battery again right now. i will take it off the charger in a bit and let it sit for a day and see what voltage it is giving.

I have a feeling it is the battery... I don't think i gave it a good charge when i first put it on the bike. I used my battery tender for the initial charge. I am charging it at 2amps right now. I would think a battery tender charges the battery a lot lower...

i'll keep you guys posted.

*note: i dont keep the battery tender connections on the bike at all times, only when i charge it. my brother said he created a short on his bike when he left the battery tender connections on the battery while riding. the connectors could touch metal (ie: frame) and that would not be good.

MotoRacerGabe

So i charged the battery again for a couple hours after I took the bike for a spin. And i let the battery sit like said above ^

after about 12 hours the battery was at 13.18 volts
about about +-26 hours the battery is now at 13.10 volts.
the battery sounds good, right?


A friend of mine told me to check the stator. How do i do that? how do i check the regulator/rectifier?

thanks!


...damn, i still gotta get to those wheel bearings...

Poundstretcher

You might find that now you have got your battery up to spec the problem is solved. To get info on the R/R check out the Resource Centre thread. The stator wiring goes to the white 3 pin block by the regulator with 3 yellow wires. Disconnect the plug and on the stator side of the plug (male) put a multimeter across each yellow to yellow wire, resistance should be between 0.1 - 1.0 ohm. Then check continuity between each yellow to ground there should be No continuity. If the specs arebeyond standard you may have problems with the stator.

TheDuck

I would back up the importance of the continuity check, I have a similar 'problem' and whilst the stator was still dishing out 28V (AC) across all 3 pairs of yellow wires, the battery is not charging. Just need a couple of free hours to replace battery, stator and reg/rec - all 3 items shot. Second full replacement in 50K miles.

MotoRacerGabe

Can someone tell me how to test that stator? and the r/r?

TheDuck

Stator
Disconnect the white connector that joins the stator to the reg rec.
Check resistance between all 3 yellow terminals - range 0.1 - 1 Ohms
Check continuity between all 3 yellows and earth - there should be no continuity.
Start engine
You should get the same voltage across all 3 pairs of yellows - the actual voltage varies - I expect 27 -32V AC double check yes AC! The important point is that the voltage is the same across all three pairs.

Reg rec
(with everythig connected!) charging to battery engine running expect 14.3V DC at 3000 (can vary a bit) expect the charging to vary slightly as revs are increased/decreased and it depends on how discharged your battery is.
Reg/Rec itself (disconnect the connectors and measure on harness side)
Green wire should show continuity to earth
Red/White should show battery voltage.

Think that has got them all! Arn't you lucky I did this earlier today!

MotoRacerGabe

^ thanks!!!

MotoRacerGabe

ok. i got .2 ohms across the board.

check. no continuity.

ok, this is where i am stuck. this is my multimeter, it was cheap and it's all i have in my garage. which one is for AC ?? i tried all over them and only got some readings in the tenths and hundredths, nothing reading 27-32V.

Also, my regulator rectifier is burning up! just running at idle for a few minutes got extremely hot. it is very hot to the touch. i cannot touch it for more than a slit second, i will get burnt. is that normal?

thanks again

Attached Images

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TheDuck

The range you want is to the right of the 'off' (as far as I can see)

No not normal to get that hot, suggest there is a problem there ............. but if you have an injection model the stator will normally be the cause of the problem.

MotoRacerGabe

bad news. I am getting around 12v at any RPM. and when i let off the throttle, it drops a bit below 12v and comes back up to 12v

check and check.


injection?!?!? no no no, mine's a carbie.

Scrappy

On your mulitmeter select the ACV 200 .. 2 clicks to the right

I guess you've figured this already ... doh!

MotoRacerGabe

with the bike on i got readings of 1.5 on all 3 yellow connectors.

Scrappy

If you check your oil filler plug and smell it, does it smell of burnt plastic or burnt bakalite? If it does then I'd suspect the stator/generator ..... failing that I'd suspect the r/r ....

MotoRacerGabe

no burnt smell. just the smell of oil

Scrappy

If you've ruled out things like bad earths and dodgy connections and you dont have any kind of battery hungry alarm system then I suspect your original thoughts are correct .... r/r

MotoRacerGabe

Just ordered the r/r
i'm gonna give the R1 reg/rec a shot... AGAIN...

TheDuck

Normally the reg/rec on carb bikes
but
Can I suggest that you find a mate who has a meter that can read the AC voltage correctly ............. you don't want to toast the new reg/rec.
When I have had BB stators go down I normally see 27+ V across two pairs and approx 1.5 across the other. The one that I replaced yesterday still showed 23V but the continuity was completly up the swanny!

Scrappy

I suspect the stator is ok due to having the same voltage across all three (15VAC) and continuity checks out, but am in favour of TheDuck's suggestion to get a second opinion ... 2 heads are better than one and all that

RazinKane

Remember to check the stator after the bike is warm.

__________________
We occasionally stumble over the truth but most of us pick ourselves up and hurry off as if nothing had happened.

MotoRacerGabe

well... i got the R/R today

before doing anything, I ran the bike for a while. After a few minutes the bike started to die. If i rev'd it up, it kept it alive for a little bit longer. I did that a few times, then just let it die. The R/R was super hot.

I decided to go ahead and swap the R/R few the new one. I put it on and let it run, while I checked the voltage at the battery to see if it was charging. I was only getting around 13.5V at about 3500 rpm. Then after a while, the bike did as it did before and started to die. I immediately turned the bike off. The R/R was hot, but not nearly as hot as the old one got...

Then, I put the old R/R back on and ran it. The readings at the yellow wires were around 16V AC across all three. I was also getting 13.5V at about 3500 rpm. This time, I let the bike run for a long time. I rev'd it up a bit too. It didn't die. I am so confused.

What should I do? should I check for shorts? Is there a way to SEE if the stator is bad visually (maybe if I open it up and check it out)?? I don't know what to do... I am more sad than angry I want to ride it so bad.

TheDuck

that is far too low (assuming you have the plug disconnected and are testing on the stator side) as I said earlier 27V AC is the lowest I have seen (49 the highest!) and it has to be consistant across all 3 pairs. I know you said there is no continuity, please double check, when I recently replaced the stator on my 99 inj Bird the voltage was correct but there was continuity!
IMO no not with any confidence ......... I have seen one that appeared to have sat on one of our Ausie members barbeques for 10 hours and was still working yet failed items looking as new!

MotoRacerGabe

I am now ordering a new stator.