Starter and Charging problems

[randyman]

I have got a problem with my wife's 1980 XS1100 Midnight Special that i just can not figure out. The bike will start up fine when cold, but after it has been driven for a while and heats up, if you kill the engine, the electric start is just dead. There is a faint click but nothing else. Also when it is like this, the charge seems to be down. The headlamp is hardly on, the accessories such as the flasher dont work or the horn. Now you can let the bike set for a while and cool down, then it starts right back up right nothing ever happened. Also, when it is light this, many times I can get it push started.

The battery is new and has been taken back off and tested, but that does not seem to be the problem. Any suggestions on what i can do to get this thing fixed and back on the road? I need to get it fixed because the wife is now talking about riding my bike.

[randy]

Sounds like your charging system has failed. Battery may be recovering from the drain after it sits for a while.

Get it runing and check the voltage at 3000 RPM. Should have about 14 - 15v. If not, swap a known good REG / REC and re-check.

[Dragonrider]

If it's charging, then check the battery cables...particularly the neg cable on the engine for corrosion.

[randyman]

the battery cables are fine and free from corrosion. I have not check the reg/rec though. What do you guys think about the alternator causing the problems? Reason i ask is i do have a spare one of those that i purchased a while back just to have back-up parts.

[randy]

Randyman,

There is little if anything inside the alternator that can go wrong, just coils of wire. More often than not, the REC / REG is faulty OR you have dirty connections somewhere.

[randyman]

Any recommendations on where I might be able to find a good reg/rec that is going to be reliable?

[Ken Talbot]

Originally posted by randyman
the battery cables are fine and free from corrosion.

Both ends of each cable? Not trying to be a smarta$$, but I've seen this get overlooked more than once....

[TopCatGr58]

Randyman,

Ken's right, even though you may not be able to see any corrosion on the outside, the mating surfaces can be very corroded. Pull apart ALL connections, and not just where the cable attach to the battery, but also where the ground connects to the frame near the tool box, and also the ENGINE to FRAME grounding cable on the back of the engine, running to frame near the lock for the left side cover. Pull the connections from the starter solenoid, and clean all contact surfaces. And like Randy said, check for proper voltages.

Randy is working on replacement Reg/Rect design, but hasn't gotten it finished yet!

Bike Bandit shows an OEM replacement still available:

4: RECTIFIER/REG ASY 13130-001 $155.21

Partsnmore show a GENERIC Reg/Rect, haven't tried it, perhaps Randy can Look at it and tell us whether it would work, and how to wire it in?!?!
T.C.

[randyman]

Thanks for the info. Actually i have pulled off all the cables and connects to ensure they were all clean and I had good connections. As a matter of fact, that is what i did before i even went down and got a new battery. I cleaned all connections while I had them apart even if they did not look like they needed to be clean. I made sure that when i put everything back together, that all connections were tight and secure and all grounds firmly connected as well. Once you guys had mentioned the reg/rec it reminded me of problems I had with an old Honda cb900. Once i replaced the reg/rec, it worked fine but before hand it was doing much of the same thing this yamaha is doing now.

I think it has something to do with the wife. I can ride 200 miles on her bike without a problem and then it seems she can go 2 blocks and it breaks down again. Same thing that happened with the Honda. This is the main reason i have to get this fixed for her, so she says off mine (80 XS1100G). She has been on mine one time, it broke down and she turned it on its side when getting off it on the side of the road.

[Ken Talbot]

So it looks like your next step should be to try plugging in another regulator. You shold be able to pick one fairly cheap at just about any M/C boneyard or from Ebay, and you don't have to look specifically for an XS11 part. Take your old one with you to look for something about the right size. IIRC, you'll find they will all have the same number of wires, and probably the same colours as what you've got. I picked one of my spares this way a while back, and it had come off of a different year 650 Yamaha of some sort - even the plug was the same.