Charging problems

[vifferman]

Original brand new Honda $360 and probably ex-Japan so 3 weeks to wait. Alternatively Aftermarket units about $200 from bike shops. Second hands $50 - $80. Yes common to blow up.

Honda and 'aftermarket' are both made by Shindengen - Honda don't make R/Rs. BUT (and here's the kicker) - Honda ones are indeed much dearer, and for all that, even if a Honda shop fits one for you, they won't guarantee it!
No, they don't "commonly blow up", although any pre-2001 bike still fitted with an OEM one is potentially problematic. Honda took forever to acknowledge they were fitting inadequate units to their bikes. This is a mix of saving face, bikes in Japan only being on the road 5 years anyway, and Honda are huge and don't give a shit (if it doesn't result in lawsuits, why worry?) Take the VFRs for example - the R/Rs have been too small for years (since 86), Honda mounted them under the bodywork where they overheat, the wiring's too thin, and there are too many plugs in the loom. Shindengen have made beefier ones since the early 90's, yet it took until 2001 for Honda to order and fit decent-sized ones to the VFRs! And it wasn't until 2002 till they mounted them where they could get some fresh air (instead of above/behind the rear zorst headers!) And even now, the wiring in the charging system is faulty and burns out.

Anyhoo - if your R/R is toast, buy an aftermarket one, and if you can, rewire your bike with thicker wires and eliminate as many plooogs as you can. The new ones come with two earths, two power (positives), and a monitor wire you can hook into the rear light or summat. Wire it directly to the battery via a fuse - bypass the starter relay. If you can, make sure you mount it where it can dissipate heat more easily, or at least stick plenty of heatsink compound under it when you bolt it to the frame.

You can buy a secondhand one, but there are no guarantees it will be OK, nor how many miles are left it it, and no-one is going to give you a warranty on it. Any decent-sized, finned model from any bike make/model will do, but if it's not a Honda-specific one, the plugs may be different. Some have a socket on the R/R itself, which isn't as good for you as one that has short wires leading to a plug, because if the plugs on this sort don't match yours, you can at least cut the plugs off and crimp+solder them together.

[vifferman]

A few observations on japanese bike electrical systems that worked with the FZR...

Good stuff, Paul! This is the same for most bikes, although the AC voltage may be a bit lower (say 55-65 VAC @5k rpm).

[notme]

Sounds like you have it mostly sorted, but the link below might help - essentially saying what Paul in NZ has already said but in nice flowycharty form:

http://www.kiwibiker.co.nz/forums/sh...ight=flowchart

[HungusMaximist]

http://www.motorcycleanchor.com/moto...lectrical.html

Try that ^

[klyong82]

Thanks Vifferman. Good and very informative. I guess I should rip my R/R out of my SC44 and wire it on the front frame like where the CBR600RR have their R/R. Will keep it nice and cool.