stator or ???

[maxv65]

Okay, The bike has 28k on it and it's an '87 royale. Looks great. rebuilt carbs. But now the problem is the darn thing has left me stranded 3 times. I'm seeing voltage gauge running typical range (highest is 14v read on handheld meter) . However, after an hour of driving or so...fan running...etc. hot day...all of a sudden the voltmeter shows no charging (reading 12 v) no matter the rpm, immediate battery drain, fuel pump dies, and I roll into a shady spot to sit for awhile until the bike cools and I know i can start it without the fan coming on.

Once it starts, runs fine for some time then it does it again. On a 80 degree day it's not happening.

 

Stator checked out 55 vac across the board, and .7 ohms. when it's running good. Rectifier seems okay, but the manual really isn't clear on the test points.

After reading similar stories, (except for the intermittent part) I decided to replace the stator. And if it's not the problem, well, at least now it's something I won't have to worry about. And no, I haven't had the opportunity to run electrical checks when the bike died. which would have been more telling.

 

Now, I have checked and cleaned some grounds, but being an old car mechanic I also think that the main symptom of it only happening after bike gets hot and pulling heavier load with fan, tells me it could be stator wiring breaking down under load and heat, and not a bad ground, which I would think would be more of a consistent problem, and not typically heat related. I also checked continuity of pos / neg from rectifier to frame/battery and it's good.

 

Any suggestions on what else this could be?

 

thanks

 

I'm taking my license road test this friday, so I need to ge this this fixed NOW. LOL.

[maxv65]

Battery is new, and high performance unit.

 

thanks

[Squeeze]

Sounds like you're on the right Track. That said, if it turns out you need to replace the R/R,i'd not look at the stock R/R but use a Shindengen FA 012. We had a big Thread about the Advantages of this new Style R/R as well as an Group Buy going on over them. The required rewiring and probable repositioning shouldn't give you any Problems. If you type Shindengen into the Search Box, the respective Threads will come up.

[Rocket]

Sounds like poor connections, due it being intermittant. Check the stator & regulater connections. When the stator fails, it is cooked. In the pic below, the black windings are cooked & only 1 leg is not cooked.

 

[Squidley]

You hit on what I was going to suggest, the battery, but I still wouldn't rule it out. Do a load test on it, if it's having a cell thats starting to go bad, intermittenly, it could give you fits. Make sure all the connections are super clean, Ventures have a bad habit of having electrical Gremlins. Check all your connection plugs for corrosion and make sure there is some dilectric grease in them.

[maxv65]

But this is the second battery in 3 months. It's almost as if something is shorting out completely, but intermittently after it's been running hot for awhile. It wouldn't be so bad if the fuel pump didn't die as well. I take it the pump probably needs at least 11 / 12 volts to run.

 

Again, I haven't often seen a ground problem happen only after extended heat/load time, so I'm at a loss. You might think the battery would keep the bike running for more than a minute even if the charging system went crazy. But because it did happen this fast, it makes me think the stator was causing the quick drain issue. The old stator is out and actually looks pretty good. No obvious burns, though an intermittent short may not be obvious.

 

thanks for the replies folks.

[Monty]

Does the stator wire connector look kinda burnt and yellow? A common fix on here, is to cut that plug off, and solder the 3 wires for a solid connection. That plug is a very well known issue with these bikes.

[maxv65]

I've watched the console voltmeter go from 14+ volts to 12, and STAY at twelve even with fan off, then after hitting 3k rpm it MAY go back to 14 or just sit at 12 or less for a mile. Then back to 14.

 

I'm wondering if there could be a possible short at starter? though it starts without hickup every time.

 

Besides the rectifier or stator, what could possibly drain the batter this fast?

 

maybe a short in the fuel pump wiring?

 

Bad grounds don't typically drain batteries in half a minute?

Something is shorting battery directly to ground, intermittently, and I'll be damn to figure it out.

[Condor]

I'd tend to think it's a connection too. Since you can restart the bike after it cools down there's a dirty connector thats expanding and loosing contact.... Have you checked the ground connection on the frame down by the starter/water pump??

[kbert777]

My '89 exhibited the same symptoms you described, everything checked out with the bike relatively cold, good charging voltage and current flow, checked the battery (Odyssey, a few years old, checked perfect on Interstate tester), checked all wiring and connectors and monitored R/R assembly.

 

After about 50 miles charging voltage and current kept dropping, within 300 miles the battery was dead. I replaced the R/R with the newer style, reasoning that the OEM R/R assembly is designed for a lead acid battery and can not handle the AGM battery (which requires higher charging voltage), soldered all connections, problem was still the same.

 

I removed the stator, which after 78k miles still measured and looked perfect, had no discolorations or burned portions, and replaced it with a new unit from Dennis Kirk.

Problem is gone, charging system is perfect even after a 500 mile run with driving lights and fan in the heat the battery is still full, idle voltage is 13.8 Volts, at 2k rpm it is around 14.5 Volts.

 

After discussing the problem with a local electric motor rebuilder they seem to think that the insulation of the stator coils degraded over the years due to being sprayed with hot oil and repeated heat cycling and that this ultimately created a condition where the coils would shorten out under heat without showing the violent results of a dead short.

 

Then I cut the tip of my left index finger off at work and the bike has been in the garage for the last 3 month...

 

Klaus

[Condor]

 

Then I cut the tip of my left index finger off at work and the bike has been in the garage for the last 3 month...

 

Klaus

 

OUCH!! That'll teach you to point fingers.....

[bkuhr]

I'll second, or third the stator. My XJ750 had simular problem. Book called for .4ohms accross windings, and I had .2 ohms. Thought good enough, found out otherwise. Replaced stator fixed problem.

[jasonm.]

I'll second, or third the stator. My XJ750 had simular problem. Book called for .4ohms accross windings, and I had .2 ohms. Thought good enough, found out otherwise. Replaced stator fixed problem.

ONE simple fact many are not aware of. The meter's leads havea built in resistance. Often .3 ohms. So reading .6 or .7 ohms is good. I am speaking of a good digital ohm meter and leads. THere is a frame ground that is tough to get to. It's to the left of the battery. the battery box or the whole left side fairing pieces need to be removed to get to this ground. You can add additional grounds yourself to the frame using 12 awg wire. It could be your connector to the R/R for pos. and neg. This connector is seperate from the white/stator wire connector and could be corroded. But in the same general area as the stator connector by your left leg.

[bkuhr]

ONE simple fact many are not aware of. The meter's leads havea built in resistance. Often .3 ohms. So reading .6 or .7 ohms is good. I am speaking of a good digital ohm meter and leads. QUOTE]

 

Good point, but the numbers I gave were AFTER subtraction of leads resistance. Sorry I didn't spell it out, my point was the very limited possible difference between good and bad stator wiring in my case. My readings were cold readings, and resistance of copper wire decreases with temp, IE shorted windings.

[jasonm.]

yes, temps make reading change. Thanks for clarifying

[mbrood]

There's also an ignition switch in the link, right?

[maxv65]

My '89 exhibited the same symptoms you described, everything checked out with the bike relatively cold, good charging voltage and current flow, checked the battery (Odyssey, a few years old,

 

I replaced the stator yesterday. The old unit looked incredibly good compared to pictures I've seen of fried stators. However, with the new unit my idle voltage is now about 13 and steady in the couple miles I've driven. And, looks to max out at about 14 on the console volt gauge. I'll be putting a meter on it today before my second run.

 

The damn stator and wire capture plate screws were a BEAR to remove btw.

 

Surprisingly, the bike seems to respond much smoother and linearly to throttle now. Someone else in this thread mentioned about stator windings degrading naturally after a period of time, and I think this was the case here as well.

 

I only ran a couple of miles before I noticed a nice oil leak coming from the left cover. I think I pinpointed it to the crappy rubber wire grommet where stator feeds through the cover. Wires are NOT molded to it, and in retrospect it's a crappy fit. So....I cleaned around the outer rubber flange and yama-goop'd everything, hopefully just to get me through wednesday's road test.

 

thanks for all the suggestions and help folks. appreciate it deeply.

 

I'd hate to sell my $750 royale for fear of constant age-related problems. Hopefully having only 28k on her will be the saving grace.

 

craig

[Guest tx2sturgis]

Sure glad you got it working. Now just pony up the $12 a year to the website and hang around for a couple of decades!