charging

[James England]

Yes I looked at them and would love to get one but money is very tight so I went with the $21.00 one including shipping. From what I have read the ones Geezer sells are alot better then stock, and when I finish school and get back to work I do plan on getting one.

I bought one. They are superb pieces of kit that give full charging at much lower revs than OEM.

[pntarst]

My Charging Problem?

Hi, I have a interesting problem...well you know most people disconnect the battery when working on your bike right or any other car or truck, ect. Well I am a mechanic and even I should know that right...right...well I just bought this bike off ebay,,,had it running great...Well I worked on my middle gear, forgot to connect the ground that connects to the allen bolts...Then I decided to start the motor without the middle drive ...so I could watch the gear spin...funny huh? Anyway I shut the motor off with out the key shuting off, after awhile I notice the light was still on...anyway I notice the light was still on and shut it off with the key not thinking anything of it...later I got it all together, still forgot to connect the ground above the motor...ran up to the store to get a nut...notice that it was running a little funny, got back home and notice that the ground was disconnected and was I really surprised, my motorcycle was starting hard, so I figured that it wasn't charging because of that black ground wire...Sooo I connected that, thinking that was that, later I took a nap decided to go to dairy queen to get a Ice cream. Then it hit me when the light didn't come on, so I got really mad and went to walmart and got another one...check the light bulb with my car connection and it work fine...but still went to walmart and got another one...Put it in and it still didn't work, So I am a pretty mechanicaly inclined guy but I am not that good at electrical stuff. So I figured that the is regulator/rectifier bad or the headlight relay, what do you think? Well I jump started my bike, even though it didn't need it to start it... then the headlight came on and stay on...the battery is 1170 volts and 11.94 volts tops at 3000 rpms...But if I shut it off and start it with out jumping it then the headlight doesn't come on. What doesn't make sense to me is that that motor is grounded already by the motormounts isn't it? I count four in the front and who knows how many are under the motor...So is it possible that I fry the reg/rectifier? I have been cumunicating with Geezer on here, he as a business at sales@oregonmotorcycleparts.com Have you ever hear of any body doing such a thing and having this result...Thank you for you time...pntarst...pbickley.

p.s. I know the headlight doesn't come on if the battery power is to low or just before you start it, to save on battery power...but if the battery power is to low below 13 or 12 volts it won't come on at all...

[crazy steve]

...What doesn't make sense to me is that that motor is grounded already by the motormounts isn't it? I count four in the front and who knows how many are under the motor...So is it possible that I fried the reg/rectifier? ...

It's possible... The motor isn't grounded through the mounts; there's rubber bushings at every mount point. So when you started the bike without that ground strap in place, the high starter motor current needed (about 100 amps) sought a ground path through the rest of the electrical system. I can't say with certainy that that was the cause of your problem, but it's very possible.

As to the numbers you're seeing out of the charging system, they're low. You should be seeing about 12.5V at idle and 14V+ at 3000 rpm. But before you buy another regulator, check it using the FSM procedure. I'd also check the rest of the system (both coils) and make sure all the other ground connections are low resistance.

[Elwood2]

been busy with some other stuff lately, but I've been going throught the plugs over and over again not finding any issues. I've ohmed them and the are good. Then it hit me, and it should have been the 1st thing to check. I tried to remove the neg. battery cable where it is bolted to the frame and the phillips head was stripped. So with a little help from the air cutter I got it off. The ring terminal was rusted to the bolt, nothing but rust on the frame where it grounds at, and i removed the sheath for the cable and it was covvered iot corosion. So I got some sandpaper out cleaned the frame, repl;aced the bolt (now it has a bolt head(10mm)). Went to the car audio shop and got some good ring terminals and a foot of 8aug wire. Put everything back together and now at idle I'm reading over 12 volts and it accually gets to 13.75 now when I rev it to 4000rpm. I now it's still reading a little low but it si mch better. I juist got back from a 100 mile ride and hav eput 130miles on it so far and it is still starting right up and crancking over fast. So hopefully problem is solved.

[crazy steve]

Number 8 is a bit small... I'd go up to at least 6 or even 4, which is about how big the OEM wire is....

[Elwood2]

I've got 17ft of 4aug, I'll get some ring terminals for it and swap it out

[Elwood2]

haha thanks Steve!! I swapped out the the 8augt for 4aug and guess what. At about 4200rpm it went up to 14.47volts. at 1200rpm 12.37volts. BIG difference with the bigger ground wire. guess I was wrong thinking 8aug was big enough