So after letting dealerships mess with this bike on and off for a decade, I am forced to DIY. Stand ready for loud booms.
About 8+ years ago I had a charging problem and a local dealer installed a Ricks R/R, and a Stator. Some intermittent fuse blowing and other probs, but things have generally performed ok. Keep in mind, my 79 GS 1000e is a sunday driver. Only about 600 miles a year, and it lives on a battery tender all of the time.
Last summer, for some reason I decided to put a voltmeter on it. Only about 12.5 MAX, and idle with lights on it was under 12. I thought that I would start with the easy stuff so I tried an updated maintenance free battery. No progress. I have read the stator papers and other sources, so I know it should be closer to 14v.
So, off to a new trusted dealer it went. They said they found some corroded connections at the stator wires.- and used solder instead of bullets. Ok, so when I got home, on goes the multimeter. Still way under spec- never gets close to 13v.
After some careful alcohol intake, I decided to dive in. Out comes the air box and battery. Plan A was to check for corroded wires and a bad ground. First observation- the ground wire on my bike, I think, is really hard to get at. Hidden under the carbs on engine, near the pressure switch, yes? There were no obviously corroded connections or other maladies present.
So, I took a look at the wiring diagram and hardware on the bike....drumroll. I see BOTH the stock R/R and the Rick's one are still there- both with some wires connected to them. WTH??? why would someone use both?
The Ricks one is an older model, and they seem to have replaced it with a more current model on the web page. Now I am left with challenge of trying to figure out the spaghetti of how they are both connected into various wires. This is going to be a project.
PS- it has an aftermarket ignition system, so that might be part of this mystery.
About 8+ years ago I had a charging problem and a local dealer installed a Ricks R/R, and a Stator. Some intermittent fuse blowing and other probs, but things have generally performed ok. Keep in mind, my 79 GS 1000e is a sunday driver. Only about 600 miles a year, and it lives on a battery tender all of the time.
Last summer, for some reason I decided to put a voltmeter on it. Only about 12.5 MAX, and idle with lights on it was under 12. I thought that I would start with the easy stuff so I tried an updated maintenance free battery. No progress. I have read the stator papers and other sources, so I know it should be closer to 14v.
So, off to a new trusted dealer it went. They said they found some corroded connections at the stator wires.- and used solder instead of bullets. Ok, so when I got home, on goes the multimeter. Still way under spec- never gets close to 13v.
After some careful alcohol intake, I decided to dive in. Out comes the air box and battery. Plan A was to check for corroded wires and a bad ground. First observation- the ground wire on my bike, I think, is really hard to get at. Hidden under the carbs on engine, near the pressure switch, yes? There were no obviously corroded connections or other maladies present.
So, I took a look at the wiring diagram and hardware on the bike....drumroll. I see BOTH the stock R/R and the Rick's one are still there- both with some wires connected to them. WTH??? why would someone use both?
The Ricks one is an older model, and they seem to have replaced it with a more current model on the web page. Now I am left with challenge of trying to figure out the spaghetti of how they are both connected into various wires. This is going to be a project.
PS- it has an aftermarket ignition system, so that might be part of this mystery.
