LilBeaver

I do understand what you have explained and I realize what the regulators are supposed to do. I also realize that you know far more about this stuff than I do, so by me continuing this here, I am not challenging your experience or expertise, I am simply trying to further my understanding by proposing that there may be a little more to this. I also realize the premise here may seem pretty far fetched (this being based on what the dealer had said), but before it gets dismissed here is a thought: Generator/alternators/stators work of the principle of electromagnetic induction (Faraday's law). That is a time varying magnetic field produces an electric field in a conductor. In the case of a stator, the conductor is coils of wire. That is a current is induced in the coils of wire (that make up the stator) at which point the current is 'channeled' off of the coils, through the rectifier (where it is converted to DC) and the regulator where the 'excess' is shunted and then into the rest of the bike. Basic Ohm's law law tells us that V=IR (Voltage = current * Resistance). The coils (on a 2nd Gen) have an internal resistance of somewhere between 0.28 and 0.34 ohms. And the induced electric fields [current] is what is driven - giving rise to the electrical potential energy (ie. the voltage). If there is a sudden increase in the resistance there will be an increase in voltage that ought be taken care of by the regulator/rectifier. So, if something happened inside the stator, such as two parts of the coil melting together, which could cause an increased resistance this would cause an increased voltage that would then be taken care of by a properly functioning regulator/rectifier. If the rectifier is being overloaded by an improperly functioning stator then it would breakdown and seize to do what it is supposed to do thereby delivering a higher voltage through the system. BUT, before the breakdown of the regulator/rectifier, if there is just slightly more power going through the regulator/rectifier than is supposed to, it may be able to handle it for some period of time but may eventually breakdown due to this being 'overloaded'. So in this case, in between being functional and non-functional the charging system, while being tested solely based on the voltage at the battery (or any other power point on the bike) it would indicate that at that time the charging system is fine, but it would be misleading as the rectifier unit is being overworked and will fail sooner than it would if it was not overloaded. What I wanted to be sure of was that the stator was functioning as it is supposed to as to not overload the rectifier/regulator and have that go out again. I realize that parts just fail sometimes; albeit from heat, vibration, corrosion, or just 'natural causes'. I just wanted to be sure that there was not something else going on that I was not seeing. I realize that typically stator problems are simply that they stop producing the power that they are supposed to be producing. Since the fellow member told me that his dealer said that the stator was producing more than it should, I was giving him the benefit of the doubt here and trying to come up with a way that it may have happend as well as a way to verify that mine is not doing that. I KNOW this is a big stretch, and sometimes knowing a lot about physics and a little about these specific bike parts is a big disadvantage for me... Especially when I get flustered working on my own bike, :- \ Sorry this was so wordy, but that is my thought process here which is not the most probable way for these things to fail, but that was the only way that I could see justification of a voltage spike coming from the stator. When my regulator went out, I heard a gd awful noise out of the speakers and through the audio system while ALL of my lights (that were on) blew out, so when the radio worked fine after I got everything back together I was suprised - so this could be related to that.

Good to know. I am definitely leaning towards this as a left-over problem from the 17 volts that was going through the system for who knows how long before I had the breakdown a few weeks ago... Also, it seems that everything else that I can manage to test seems to be coming up okay... Thanks again!

Okie dokie - I'll take a look. Thanks for the info

I wrote it up in this thread here: http://www.venturerider.org/forum/showthread.php?threadid=40055 I'll go ahead and summarize here though... Basically the radio started acting with a mind of its own. It worked perfectly fine until yesterday when I got on and tried to turn it on it didn't turn on until about 5 or 10 mintues after I had pushed the button. Controls were intermittant. Radio would go in and out as if I was losing reception and then getting it back (even though I know for sure that where I was driving ALWAYS has a good signal). Then the weirdest thing was when I turned the bike off and took the key out the radio display stayed on (I could not hear anything, but it was on a station that only had static anyways so it was inconclusive). This happend twice - the second time I had parked in my garage and then just unhooked the neg. terminal on the battery so I could start working on it without killing the battery.

Thanks Carl, I replaced the regulator a few weeks ago due to it failing. It was putting around 17V to the battery (which basically blew the battery up, killed ALL of my lights and at the time, I thought that was it). Just recently I had issues with the radio. I read in a really old post about someone that had similar radio issues, had the radio replaced, issues repeated, radio replaced the 2nd time along with the stator. His dealer said that part of the stator had melted causing a higher voltage to be put out which somehow managed to fry the radio. -- While I'll admit this sounds a wee bit fishy, I had figured that it was possible that if something caused a spike in the electrical system that could have caused my regulator/rectifier to fail thereby shocking the rest of the system... Still being odd that 5,000 miles later (with the radio being used basically all the time) the radio would just now start showing funny behavior. Thanks again, Rick M.

Thanks big mike. I am having issues with the radio, but it is not the exact same thing you are experiencing. I was just trying to figure out what else to look at. Good luck with your troubleshooting!

I know that the service manual states on page 8-24 that the stator coil resistance ought to be between 0.279 and 0.341 ohms. Has anyone actually taken this measurement (excluding the run to pin 4 - since that seems to be a typo)? If so, what did you end up with? I am currently trying to troubleshoot my scoot and have already done the voltage check at the battery (which the scoot clearly passed). I have taken this measurement, but the resolution of the meter that I used is only 0.1 ohms, and I do not know for sure what the accuracy of the meter is nor what the TRUE range of this meter is... I have a better one at my office, which I will pick up when I go in next time to redo this measurement. The goal here is to verify that the stator is good/not good before I install and possibly ruin a new radio and/or not waste the money and time on a new stator if it is not necessary. Thanks in advance!

Sorry folks, I just found a post that describes a way to get to the wires to do the resistance test. I don't know how I missed that in the original searching. Maybe it would be worthwhile for this thread to get deleted since it is certainly not necessary.

Does anyone know if it is possible to test the stator without removing the sidecover or draining the oil? I know that one can test it by starting the bike and checking the voltage at the battery, but what I do not know is if this is a conclusive test for determining whether the stator is functioning properly. Thanks in advance.

:goodpost:/Good advice. Getting with someone that knows the law inside and out ought to be able to answer your questions here. About the money, putting a leash on her, etc. Gdspeed and good luck friend

Bill: Thanks for the feedback... HAHA, yea... well, I think I might have to ground myself to get some of these fields to chill out. Although after just getting back from my trip, this IS the optimal time for this kind of problem to occur (and the bike still runs fine so it really is not THAT bad...)

Great to hear it!! Hope it stays that way

Big Mike: Just wondering if you figured out what your radio problem was? Thanks, Rick M.

Get loaded up and backed out of the garage, fire up the bike, go to turn the radio on - just like I do every morning, and I get nothing. Turn the handlebars all the way in both directions, turn the bike off and back on (Don't know why, but for some reason this helped before I reseated the plugs a few weeks ago) and still no radio (or CB). I take off for the office anyways, figuring it is no big deal and I will figure it out later. About 5 or 10 minutes or so while riding the radio turns on all by itself. I have full control over everything on the unit. Another few minutes later and the radio still plays but there is no control (cannot use the up/down arrows, adjust the volume, turn the CB on or off, any function at all with the 'select' button and cannot turn the radio off). For the rest of the ride in I regain and loose control over the radio head; (at this point I am just trying to turn it off). During the stints while the radio was on it would go in and out (meaning I would have the radio signal, then only static). I finally park the bike, radio still being funny turn off the bike, dismount and lock the forks. upon getting my briefcase out I see that the radio head is still on (no sound, but the radio still reads the station I was on). I try pushing buttons and turning the volume knob and nothing happens. There was no noise coming out of the speakers but at this point the radio had changed to a preset that was a dead station (I know this because it was one of the default presets that I remember put out nothing). So I get back on and start to ride home. Radio still being intermittent, I pay attention to the buttons that I press and the order of which they get pressed and notice that it seems to do the functions that I ask it to, just on a really odd time interval. I finally get the dumb thing to shut off. As I am pulling into the garage I try it one more time, and it does not turn on right away, but eventually turns on again with no other responses. I turn the key off and again the head stays on. Pull the seat, disconnect the battery. It seems to me that this is either a short to ground somewhere, bad remote head, or a problem with the radio. I have split the fairing, checked all of the radio connectors and all were tight. Pulled the passenger seat and checked both radio-related connectors under their and both tight. Unplugged and replugged all of the associated radio connectors and no function now. (The head lights up but it does not turn the radio on or off). I have the passing lamp relay grounded to the headlight surrounds - unplugged that and no change. I figured that when my rectifier went out a few weeks ago that I may have toasted other electrical components, but, I got it all back together and have ridden 5,000+ miles with no problems until now; I would have thought that if it was related to that it would have shown up pretty much right away. I cannot seem to find where the radio unit is grounded though. Questions: 1) Does anyone know where the radio unit is grounded? 2) Any suggestions on what else to look at or how to test to see if the head or radio is bad without spending the $300+ for a new radio & control unit? Thanks in advance for any input.

Dave: I would believe this for a bike with no windshield or fairing. But as you have mentioned the windwhield/fairing would allow for much smoother airflow around the bike. I'd be interested to check out that article. Maybe I'll find some time in the next week to actually go through and figure this out. Thanks for the info though! I found if I keep the speedo pegged at an indicated 70 (with no wind anywhere) I can get around 45-47... - Rick M.

Actually, most importantly here is the bike (the 1st gens that is) was geared/designed for when the highways had a speed limit of 55 mph. So this will likely play a much bigger part in the drop in fuel economy than the air resistance when you go above say 60mph. For a standard automobile once you are at around 88 Feet/sec (60mph) the drag force is proportional to the square of the velocity. Below that it is roughly linearly proportional to the velocity. These approximations are for a standard sedan. On a bike, the speed is actually a little bit higher that the drag force is proportional to the square of the velocity; but I have not done those calculations so I will not even estimate that number. This is a topic that is discussed in most introductory Physics text books in mild detail at least. (That is, if anyone is interested anyways). I use Gioncoli's introductory text when I teach those classes, but there are many other good ones out there. However the gist of what you have written is correct, I just thought I would throw this out there. - Rick

Wow, glad to hear that you are not more seriously injured! Good lesson for everyone though...

Congrats!! I don't blame you for not wanting to get the bike dirty fresh off the floor either! Enjoy!

+1 to basically what everyone has said here. The Radiantz 32 LED board (I have been told) IS visible (both running light and brake light) during the sunny day time. I got mine from 'bikerhiway'. http://www.bikerhiway.com/led-tail-light-for-yamaha-road-star-and-vstar-p-176.html wow, the price went up since I ordered mine, but here it is. [i also added the Stebel air horn ordered from this site and for the two combined it was the best price I could find] Good advice though Bigfoot!

Lookin' Good! Keep 'er shiny side up!

May is after my semester ends, so :thumbsup2: to that.

Goose: Your hard work on this is definitely appreciated. As far as I know mine are working fine, but I am tempted to pull mine apart out of curiosity (not this weeked because I am still going to try to make it out to wildhair's tomorrow)... Keep up the good work! We all appreciate it!

So is that a bike with a sidecar or a car with a sidebike? :-P

Good deal!

I know it is not a tool but I consider it a must: Spare bulb(s) (including headlamp) and fuses A spare key is a good idea too