Electical Help?!?!?!

[ChuckB]

I'm not that tech sayv,but I'd like to try and fix my favorite bike in the world.Please help if you can.
I have a 1980 XS 1100 that I've had for a couple of years.No problems,until the end of last years riding season.All of a sudden I noticed that my headlight was burned out. I got a new headlamp,and nothing.I was a little disappointed,so I put it away for the winter.
I thought it might be the battery,so I just changed that,and still no lights,also I noticed that after only a short ride the bike was hard to re-start.
My limited knowledge says it's the alternator/generator.
What's my next move???
A phone consultation would be most appreciated.
Please all you gearheads,let me know what to do.I'll trade you some orthopaedic tips. You know those nasty knee aches,and hip pains,and Oooooh that back after a long ride.
Thanks in advance for your help.

[renegade_xs11g]

Well, welcome aboard!!!!!

I finally get to be the first to greet a new member!

assuming that you've checked all fuses, pull lightly on either end of fuse
Little chance it's not charging related
but you'll need to check for loose connections first

take the fuse panel out, there are a couple of connections behind it...also connections under the tank at the reg/rect and a few in the headlignt bucket

if you are lucky you'll find a bad connection, and fix the problem...
but you probably have a bad reg/rect
maybe even the stator and field coils, but that's not very common

[TopCatGr58]

Hey Chuck,

As Renegade said, most likely the Reg/Rect unit, but you might get lucky and just find some connections badly corroded and possibly melted that you can repair.

IF you do, then after the repairs, there is diagnostic info in the tech tips, ie. using voltmeter, at idle, will be about 12 volts, but at 2500 rpm, should be up to ~14.5 volts. If still 12, then further diagnostics are needed.

In the parts for sale, the STICKY thread will show you a better Reg/Rect unit than stock that you can get from GEEZER!

T.C.