Do I need a new (stock) stator?

[Patent1]

Original owner of an 05 with 51K miles.  Last December went for a 1-2 ride, and the battery was drained when we stopped.  Had to push start the bike to get home.  Threw it ion the battery tender, thought better of it, and replaced the battery.   Haven't ridden the bike until today.   Went for a 3 hour ride, stopped once for coffee, came home and tried to start the bike.  Battery almost couldn't start the bike.  Now charging on the battery tender.   So, do I need a new stator, or is there something else I should be looking at?  The only electrical accessory on the bike  is a ZUMO XT.

Thanks in advance,

Jim

 

[Cyclepath]

Hey, I owned a Gen1 for about 8 years, and rain or shine, she always started (with same battery over >75K miles too).  However, when I was a much younger fool riding an RD400, I was an unlucky victim of what turned out to be a bad rectifier.

Don't know about your Gen1 (I now have a Gen3), so perhaps it would now be a good idea to check output of your stator, and then the rectifier / regulator assembly (with no loads, then reconnected to normal loads).

Have you checked to also to confirm the real current drawn in the simple circuit you're using to power that Zumo GPS unit?  Wonder if there could be a pinched wire or something acting like a low resistance return to the chassis and depleting your new battery's charge?

Good luck!

 

[FJRay]

If you have a volt meter just check charging voltage at the batt tender plug. should have 14+ volts when you bring the revs up. If not then you need to check a bit deeper to see if it's stator or regulator.

 

[Patent1]

Thanks guys.  Pretty sure the wiring for the ZUMO is good. 

I have a volt meter, will check tomorrow.    I hate dealing with electrical stuff;  electricity, like carburetor, is French for "you're screwed..."

Jim

 

[BigOgre]

How'd it start after the coffee break?  (Thinking about the starter here.)

 

[RossKean]

First of all, check parasitic draw - key off and place an ammeter between the negative battery post and negative lead.  (Or use a clamp-on DC ammeter - note, many clamp-on meters are AC only)

If the draw is as much as a couple of milliamps, you have a problem somewhere.  Start pulling fuses until it goes away to try to track it down.  Next do the same measurement with key on but the bike not started.  Once the fuel pump shuts off, you will be powering tail lights, front marker lights, ECU, gauges and some relays.  Shouldn't be high current draw but I don't know exactly how much.

Look here:

FJR Ignition current draw - Technical Discussions - FJRForum

As FJRay mentioned, check the voltage at elevated rpm.  Check stator voltage as well.  Also check to make sure battery and ground connections are tight.  Sometimes all that is needed is to clean and tighten connections.  Battery and R/R.

Good luck

 

[Patent1]

Finally got a chance to spend time with the bike.  Looks like my charging system is nominal:

voltage across battery, engine off:   12.98 V

voltage across battery @ 5000 rpm:  14.24 V

BigOgre, you may be right about the starter.  After my coffee break (about 20-30 minutes) I thumbed the ignition, and the starter turned pretty slowly.  I stopped the starter, and tried again.  My memory is that it was slow, but the engine caught almost immediately.

Later this week I plan to replicate my ride without the coffee break, and see how the starter behaves with a warm engine once I'm  home.

Jim

 

[RossKean]

Check out the battery to make sure it is OK.  Voltage isn't the whole story.  Make sure it doesn't self-discharge too quickly and verify that the bike doesn't have excessive parasitic draw.  Sounds like you may be in the market for a new or refurbished starter.