rectifiers/regulators

[gman]

argh feckarse!!! bloody bikes clapped out.
the rectifier/regulator shit itself boiled the battery and stopped dead luckly right outside a mates place.
pulled bike to bits in his shed and found the faulty part.
rang bike shop"yeah we can get you that part......$402.00!!!!!"
f**k me !!!

did a search and found the same part in the U.K for $140 nz $ plus $40 freight.
where the hell does the bike shop get theirs from????

anyone else wanting parts like this might do well to look overseas for a better deal.
also it comes with a 1 year warrenty and is here in 7 days too.

[Sensei]

Check you Auto electric shop, Mate got me a After market one for my Ducati was 1/2 the price .

[pete376403]

try www.electrexworld.co.uk . A mates Fireblade fried its stator, he got one from this place, delivered within a week of order and less than half the price that Honda NZ were charging.

Also I notice you have a Suzuki Intruder - I know that in the 80's Suzuki electrics could make Lucas stuff look good, but I thought they were over that by now

(Yes I have an 80's Suzuki. Yes I am about to rewind the stator...)

[Jackrat]

My GS850 cooked itself at 22000kms.
Cost around $350 to have it rewound.
The XS is well known for frying Rectifiers,so I rang Red Baron just to price a new one.If they could even get one(which means they can't)it would cost feerrrking heaps.From the USA,straight off the shelf and here in a week,$99.00.
A complete alternator stator $250 from the same place.
Or try this for BS,alternator brushes from RB,$50 a pair with a 6-8 week wait.
From the US with a one week wait,$10.
Would be nice to support the locals,but I'm just not that rich,an I don't like waiting for phone calls I now realise were never going to come anyway.

[speedpro]

Z1000Js were famous for frying the alternators as well. After the third one I figured there must be a problem with the regulator and replaced it - end of problem. The regulator measured out OK and was doing it's thing whenever I checked it. On the earlier Z Kawasakis it was a good idea to cut the ground wire going from the regulator to the connector and connect it direct to ground. This saved burning up the connector with all the current and helped it to sink the current and not boil the battery.

I wouldn't bother getting a genuine rectifier/regulator, just splice and dice an aftermarket one in or one from another bike.

[badlieutenant]

welcome to honda vfr reg/rec probs (insert white trash comment here).do a search on the net and you'll find heaps of solutions. When you do fix it put a small fan on the heatsink part.
im on my third reg/rec and its off an old honda cb (i think) and i havnt had a prob since i put a fan on it. The heatsink part ran at 82c before the fan was fitted, and at 50 or so after. This is, in my opinion, what kills them most of the time, one of my earlier ones used to fail thermaly (would work when tested but was cold as it got warmer- boiled battery)
Id give kwakakid a PM as his bike sat in the van last rally due to the same problem and I imagine hes found a solution by now.

[badlieutenant]

oh and my replacement cost 35$ from a wrecker, not the 500$ I was told for a new one.
One more thing, If you want a second pricing of a new one give econohonda a email.

[Slim]

I don't know about the Suzuki items, but the Honda reg/rect is a small, gel sealed unit that seems to be designed to fail. They run super hot right from the first day.

There's a guy in Raglan who reconditions old style, finned reg/rects for about a third of the price of the original Honda part, and with the finned metal body design (for heat dissipation), I've not had another problem since it was installed 5 years ago. The originals seem to last about 2 years.

Call Dowman Honda in Wanganui to find out how to get your hands on one - you'll never regret it.



The small fan idea is also a good one. The fan out of the power supply for a computer is ideal, and cheap.

[bungbung]

A replacement used by VFR owners is from a gsxr750/1000 or R1. These are pretty heavy duty fellas with big cooling fins. $125AUD from Victorian Motorcycle Wreckers.

I hate to think how much they are new.

[pete376403]

Considering the heat dissipated by the R/R, the makers seem to locate them in a sheltered position designed to make them fail - the Suzuki one was mounted under the battery holder. I made an extension cable and re-mounted my one on the frame below the steering head where it gets a good blast of cooling air. Riders of older Brit bikes will recall the Zener on those bikes was mounted underneath the headlight, for much the same reason.
I know I mentioned before that the stator has failed, but at 95,500 km, and I'm pretty sure it's the original, that's not too bad.

[Drew]

R/R is available for $100NZ if you get an after market one, comes with a wiring diagram to hook it up, and it's a peice of piss. Heaps of bike shops, carry them in stock too.
If you ask the right questions, bike shop staff are quite helpfull. If you ask how much a standard part costs, that is what they will quote you.

[vifferman]

Considering the heat dissipated by the R/R, the makers seem to locate them in a sheltered position designed to make them fail - the Suzuki one was mounted under the battery holder. I made an extension cable and re-mounted my one on the frame below the steering head where it gets a good blast of cooling air. Riders of older Brit bikes will recall the Zener on those bikes was mounted underneath the headlight, for much the same reason.

I did the same thing with my VFR750. Moved the horns under the fairing mid panels, then made up a mounting plate out of 3mm aluminium to mount the (heavily finned) R/R under the headstock. Rewired most of the charging system with heavy-gauge wire and no plugs.
Did a similar thing with the VTR, but in this case couldn't be fagged with a whole rewiring job, so remounted it under the left-hand side of the seat on a new bracket I (crudely) fabricated.