Noooo... More charging issues

[mothra]

So he r/r was overcharging, and while the bike was in the shop I had the shop order and install a new R/R. I felt pretty good about the electrical system having gone through all of the connectors installing new lights, and changing out worn connectors or wires. There was some work to do but overall the bike seamed ok no shorts, no odd resistance values but it was overcharging. I though id replace the r/r and be done with it. So I had an r/r installed, and it limited the charging voltage and was working dandy. Now riding home, the lights got dimmer and dimmer. I looked down needed some gas, got a sinking feeling, there is not enough juce to start the bike. Sure enough, click click, no power. Ended up push starting it at a lovely gas station pointing down a hill strategically picked out... I rode home with a very dimly lit bike getting progressively dimmer. So I guess it's time to test the stator? Man I have one problem after another with no time in-between. I need some bike chee or something. Anything else to check? Check again? I am usually pretty good about electrical work... Well most of the bike is apart getting that tensioner gasket put in. how long can you go on a bike with out charging the battery, seems like this would take a few hours at least to discharge.... Wish me some bike chee or something.... Lol tear it all down and bash it with a hammer? I have to wait for the battery to recharge before I can test the stator, but it was outputting about 90v AC and had good resistance consistent on all values when the r/r was installed, not even a week ago... It turning into one of those you spent a lot of money on it bike but never quite finished it, is there and end in sight worthy of reaching it? If something else goes it's getting garages for the winter until I decide what to do next.

[tom203]

You might go about an hour with no charging if headlights are on- if you had pulled headlight fuse, you might get two hours. What brand of R/R did they install ? if you can, please take pic. It's suspicious that your charging system failed within a week of this new R/R, but you need to do the tests to pinpoint the problem. The charging system needs to be tested occasionally in hopes of foretelling any issues. I , like others, have installed an onboard voltmeter to let me know when it's time to hit the slopes home!

[terrylee]

Might want to have battery checked, if it is the same one in there when you were overcharging it could have got cooked and can no longer hold a charge. terrylee

[Nessism]

Yes, could be battery is wasted. Most auto parts stores will perform a load test for free, of course they are going to try to sell you a battery if it fails.

Always best to do the repair work yourself to make sure it's done right.

One of the most import details when rehabbing your charging system is bypassing the factory wiring between the stator and the R/R. Never route the stator power into the factory wiring otherwise problems are likely to follow. Also, the R/R needs a robust ground. The factory grounding method was very poor on some GS models and needs attention.

Good luck and don't forget the other maintenance like checking the valves.

[cowboyup3371]

Start running through the stator papers to see if you don't have other issues like Nessism said.

[mothra]

Yea the cooked battery was replaced with a brand new battery, and that was prepped, charged and load tested. We then rode the bike for a day and tested out the new R/R and stater which seamed to be working correctly broke in the new tires and such.The bike went on a day trip with the new parts, and I got about 100 miles in no problems. Then the clutch cable bracket broke on that screw mechanism and I parked it for a week. Got back on it to adjust the clutch and sort out my issue, and rode it into work, and around town a quick 90 minutes of riding total, and that's when I noticed that my battery was no longer charging... When it was done he checked everything over, on the electrical and I double checked. Gave it a clean bill of health, so something when horribly wrong between then. Everything was right on spec. I just had a though that also I may have nicked or I accidentally disconnected the stater wires from the electrical while working on the clutch. As they were under that plate I was working on, so I will also double check that. Its raining outside... so I am going to try to piece together the bike and ride it over to my rent's garage to work on it some more. That would be a good time to test out the R/R and stator. I can't nab pics right now but its a large unit painted black, with larger fins, that fits the stock area (after market). Has connections to fit right in to the Suzuki connectors, It may even have a separate ground. Everything is cleanly wire wrapped and looked very good. I hope its something simple. It was a little more than the ones I was looking at and he said it was a pretty good one. Now this shop usually does good work and they were pretty adamant that they checked it over, so I guess I will also check to see if it is a factory defective R/R as well, it was warm while riding it but no power seamed to be getting to anything. More testing to follow. Yea the vale cover is coming off today but I will have to ride the bike to a dry spot so it will be at least another day to check those, and that will be the last thing on BassClefs list that I have been working out. If I get those checked out and the leaky gasket sorted and the electrical fixed back up again, I hope I am set for a while and can get some event free riding down. Got the new petcock in last night, forgot to order a vacuum tube for that area, lol so hope the old one is long enough. May be a quick ride :-P Didn't see how I could detach the throttle cable from the carbs, it was to dark out so I went in for the night.

Actually I have a nice Battery charger that I bought, that charged the battery up and load tested it and its still good, but it was just about all the way drained. Under 25%.