Blackbird
10th April 2007, 13:25
Some of you may have seen in the post on our recent south island tour that I suffered an alternator failure and completed the trip (well, as far as KB member and old friend Freebird's place just north of Wellington) by running on 2 batteries and recharging them overnight.
Whilst we were down south, two bike dealers both recommended a guy in the north island for electrical re-winding. They reckoned his repairs were better than new! As a new alternator stator was going to cost me ~$800 ex-Japan or a reconditioned one just over $300 ex-UK, I thought I’d try local first. I rang Ken Cairns Electrical Services in Dinsdale, Hamilton and was immediately impressed with his huge knowledge of bike electrical systems covering several decades! Apparently, alternator or reg/rectifier failures are relatively common irrespective of the make of bike, particularly newer models which are "built to a price". I sent the stator to him a week before Easter and got a call from him last night saying that it was ready. Completely rewound for the sum of $209 which I was pretty darned impressed with.
So, if you are unlucky enough to run into charging problems, you could do much worse than give Ken a ring (07 847 4233). Sure beats going through a dealer for a new part!
Now all I have to do is fly down to Wellington and collect my bike in the next week or two. The tour isn’t over until she’s safely tucked up at home!
Whilst we were down south, two bike dealers both recommended a guy in the north island for electrical re-winding. They reckoned his repairs were better than new! As a new alternator stator was going to cost me ~$800 ex-Japan or a reconditioned one just over $300 ex-UK, I thought I’d try local first. I rang Ken Cairns Electrical Services in Dinsdale, Hamilton and was immediately impressed with his huge knowledge of bike electrical systems covering several decades! Apparently, alternator or reg/rectifier failures are relatively common irrespective of the make of bike, particularly newer models which are "built to a price". I sent the stator to him a week before Easter and got a call from him last night saying that it was ready. Completely rewound for the sum of $209 which I was pretty darned impressed with.
So, if you are unlucky enough to run into charging problems, you could do much worse than give Ken a ring (07 847 4233). Sure beats going through a dealer for a new part!
Now all I have to do is fly down to Wellington and collect my bike in the next week or two. The tour isn’t over until she’s safely tucked up at home!