Electrical Issues

[Wilee7]

I took my bike out for the first time in about 3 weeks. I recently had and new clutch cable installed and tightened the chain. The mechanic I took it to told me that me regulator rectifier would have to be replaced soon. I started my bike a few times since i got it back i rode it up and down my street (never got out of first gear). anyway i deceided to take it to work and after i got into 3rd gear my headlight started to flicker and the bike died down i downshifted to 1st and it started to run like normal 5 sec later it died down again. i stopped the bike shut it off checked the connection and they were fine i turned it back on everything was like it should be it started fine i drove about 20 feet and it died down again it was like the bike was running on half the battery it kept back firing and rode really rough can anyone help me figure out my problem?

[Mr. Ed]

You've probably heard or read it before, but check all your connections, and replace with new ones if in doubt.
What you're discribing sounds like a loose earth wire .
Succes,
Ed

[BassCliff]

Cooking with electrons

Hi Mr. Wilee7,

Start with The Stator Papers and figure out which component(s) in your charging system are suspect. Clean every electrical connection and ground in the entire wiring harness. Run a dedicated ground wire from the regulator/rectifier to the negative terminal of the battery. Keep us informed.

Thank you for your indulgence,

BassCliff

[Steve]

There is even the chance that your mechanic's suggest would be right.

But then, there is also the chance that he only saw it not working correctly, but did not bother to verify a good ground on the r/r.

As suggested by others, you need to verify all your electrical connections. Don't just look at them, take the connectors apart, clean the contacts, put some dielectric grease in there, put it back together. Verify good connections with an ohm meter. The r/r is a special case. It is usually grounded to a point near its mount on the battery box. Since the battery box is rubber-mounted, it has to have its own connection to ground. Rather than rely on multiple connections, just extend the ground wire for the r/r and run it directly to the negative terminal of the battery.

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