Relocate Regulator?

[gareth]

I lost both tach and headlights a few days ago. I checked all the connections/grounds, including the ones behind the fuse box and everything was really clean. The bike only has 5k and is in great shape otherwise. I had a Shindengen RR from an xs750 and when I swapped it in with a freshly charged battery, everything worked great again.
The original RR seemed to be unbranded with just a serial number and a heavy heatsink. I could see some burn marks on one end of the heatsink which suggested that it had just overheated. I ride a lot of local short trips thru the winter/city driving and I expect the original RR just couldn't cope.
I was considering extending the wiring and putting the RR in a more exposed position. Anyone ever do that?
With a freshly charged battery and the replacement RR the bike is idling and running really well again. The lights brighten a bit when I gun the bike, so I'm assuming it's charging OK...
The battery is a year-old ebay generic agm.
I was also wondering if I really would be better off with a more expensive Name Brand agm battery. Do cheaper ones cause charging issues?
I definitely notice overall improvement with a fully charged battery.


1979 Standard.

[CivilPenny]

I had a similar problem on my 79’ special. One day I was riding home at night and the headlight was going in and out, very dim, and even the blinkers made it go on and off. Could this be a RR error? I’m a beginner at electrics so I wouldn’t know where to start. I’m thinking I’m drawing too much power than it’s producing, but that’s just a guess. Anybody know the output specs of the RR so I can check it’s functionality?

[DiverRay]

Best solution IMHO: http://oregonmotorcycleparts.com/Reg_rec_units.html
Tony is a member here and his products WORK. No need to relocate. He uses larger diodes to give you "overhead" on current load. Factory was running about 95%, his run about 80%, so they run cooler.
I had one the the '79 that's gone, and will be buying one for the '78 I'm building.