Ah yes looking familiar

[kiltman]

My bike just turned over 140000km. I decided to go for a little ride last night, head out about a 2 kms, the bike sputters, backfires, headlight is dim, then quits. Pushed the bike home. This is some beast to get rolling, and of course my driveway is uphill!
brought the bike in to the shop this morning, sure enough. Burned out VR/R. Alternator still tests OK, more info once the VR/R installed.
glad it didn't happen on the RTE this past Sunday.....
(yes I have the 28amp alternator.....I know, I know....upgrade in the future)

 

[Bigmak96]

Do the bypass to avoid this.Good luck.

 

[kiltman]

Do the bypass to avoid this.Good luck.

Yes I will. I shall check the other connections as well

 

[DeanR]

Do the bypass to avoid this.Good luck.

The red wire bypass?

 

[Bigmak96]

The red wire bypass?

Yep,,,adding a separate 30 amp fuse.

 

[ST1100Y]

Burned out VR/R.

Weird, AFAIK the 'meltdown' normally origins/starts at the connector of the stator winding, causing voltage drop, thus increased current which is leading to the overheat at the VRR connectors...

 

[kiltman]

Weird, AFAIK the 'meltdown' normally origins/starts at the connector of the stator winding, causing voltage drop, thus increased current which is leading to the overheat at the VRR connectors...

At the moment this is what info I was given, that is to say, we may in fact discover that it is the connector to the stator winding too

 

[kiltman]

Update; my withdrawal symptoms are over. New aftermarket VRR is installed, wiring repaired. The alternator tests well and is charging. My bike runs smoother.
Tonight I rode with a heated vest, heated grips and GPS and no problems.
very happy to be riding again.

 

[DeanR]

New aftermarket VRR is installed

What aftermarket VRR?

 

[Mark]

Congrats!

Did you do the red wire bypass too?

 

[kiltman]

What aftermarket VRR?

It's called a TourMax part#151-10108 reg/rec. sells for $164.99. The OEM part sells for 218.10. You might find it online for cheaper.
Canadian funds.
i will do thg bypass in a few weeks when I put the bike away

 

[ST1100Y]

New aftermarket VRR is installed, wiring repaired. The alternator tests well and is charging.

Good news! I'd still keep monitoring the other connectors involved, especially the 3-pin from mains stator winding... ensure that there is no corrosion or structural issues due heat, check that dielectric grease for protection against the elements
is applied; same on the red 4-pin connector on the starter solenoid (a hidden, this often neglected area)

 

[kiltman]

Over the past couple of days, I've had a few idling problems, yesterday when I went to the Anna Mae's ride to eat, the bike was running rough. The culprit was this connection.

Yep I was warned about this, the evidence is in this thread. On initial inspection a couple of weeks ago it looked fine. Today I looked again and bingo! I replaced the red connector with individual spade connectors. I checked the voltage whilst idling and have 13+ volts and when I rev to over 1k I have 14+ volts. Turned on all accessories, high beam and turn signal, heated grips and vest solid 13+ and 14+ at 1k rpm. The three yellow wire connector doesn't look compromised. I will attempt to take that apart and clean and grease.
i have a slight issue with my neutral light coming on when I engage the clutch lever. The green/red tracer and the yellow/red tracer may be shorting out for some reason. I thought I was careful when putting on the new connectors. Will trace that problem this week.
thanks for the input. Next I have to work out the red wire bypass.

 

[DeanR]

I have a bunch of posts about the same problem on a couple other threads kiltman,,, Rob? Complete with pictures. Red bypass takes a couple minutes. Do it. Also take out the red connector and connect the three yellow wires directly. Another five minutes. Did you remove the white VRR connector?
Mr Gizmo is well aware of my charging problem.

 

[kiltman]

I have a bunch of posts about the same problem on a couple other threads kiltman,,, Rob? Complete with pictures. Red bypass takes a couple minutes. Do it. Also take out the red connector and connect the three yellow wires directly. Another five minutes. Did you remove the white VRR connector?
Mr Gizmo is well aware of my charging problem.

Yes it's Rob.
the white connector has been replaced. I have been following your threads and that's helped me.
I will soon be putting the bike away for the winter, so doing as you suggest of getting rid of the red connector.
i'm trying to follow the red bypass on the various threads that exist, but I must admit I get confused. Having said that, taking the ipad to the shop and looking at the photos and description on how it is done is helpful.
now when you did the bypass, I didn't see anything about a relay. Did you use one?
Gizmo is a cool guy... I have few of his cast offs that are much treasured by me.

 

[DeanR]

No relay used for the bypass, just an inline 30A fuse from NAPA. one end to the red wire, the other end to the battery pos. Yep, pictures help a lot.
What did you replace the white connector with? or did you connect all six wires individually?
You gonna eventually put a 40A alternator in?

 

[kiltman]

The dealer re wired the white connector with individual spade connections. I have an aftermarket VRR.
my 28 amper is still charging. At the moment I'm of the opinion if it ain't broke don't fix it.....well that's what I say now....

 

[tkhelm]

I'm also wrestling with lack 'o voltage but haven't quite pinned down the cause(s) yet. Turns out I had a red 4P connector that looks just like kiltman's picture. The Red Wire Bypass was so easy I thought I had done something wrong.

In my case I also need to cut back the red/white wire where it goes into the 6P white connector because there was some discoloration of the wire at the spade connector--maybe corrosion or burning that could be contributing to my problem. Yesterday I got stalled at that point because my local auto parts dealers only carry 1/4 " and 3/8" spade connectors and this being from a Honda is something in between that. Where does one pick up the right size spade connectors for this thing? I see that the red/white connector is also slightly larger than the other ones in the white 6P.

 

[kiltman]

Tkhelm, I just used regular insulated spade connectors. I bought them at an auto store and surplus store.
in my search for the bypass I came up with this thread. http://www.st-riders.net/index.php?topic=3643.msg27966#msg27966
it was a little more complex requiring a relay, tapping into the fuse box....although straight forward, it involved more components and wiring than a simple fused connection to the battery. This was why I had put it off until I had the zen to do it.

 

[Gizmo]

My ears are burning, guys! Now if I can talk DeanR into coming back up for another visit I'll introduce you two in person. Perhaps over a friendly game of pickleball? Probably a new experience for Rob but one that DeanR enjoyed earlier this year.

Rob, I will admit that while we were having lunch at Anna Mae's on Saturday, listening to you talk about the alternator issues I was reflecting back on DeanR's aborted journey to NNESTOC in September. I didn't mention it as my electrical knowledge is pretty much nil, and my awareness of which shops carry charged batteries for an 1100 is limited to a 50 mile radius of Barre, VT!

It's a great forum, eh? Lots of friendly sorts offering knowledge to keep us all riding in the most economical way possible.