Hey everyone,
First off what a great forum. I have gleaned a lot of useful knowledge from you all over the past 2 months that has made tinkering on my st1100 more fun (in an odd way I suppose). I wish I had posted more since joining but shortly afterwards my wife's mom passed away up in N.C. and just recently have things taken on a since of normalcy, sooooo......
2 weeks ago I was pulling into the driveway when the bike simply died. headlight on but very dim and wouldn't crank. Battery showed less than 12v. Well since then what an education I've gotten here about alternators, VRR's, wiring, condition of contacts/corrosion, dielectric grease and a crash course of multimeter usage.
I'm suspecting a VRR that's going/gone bad. but I'll start with the alternator. No shorts to ground. Shows 14.53 volts each wire @ near 5000 rpm and 50 volts across all 3 wires.
The p.o. did the red wire mod placing a 30a fuse between the vrr and battery. This morning I removed the 30a fuse and tested the voltage coming from the vrr to the battery. I selected 20v setting on the meter, rpms near 5000. Numbers went blank. Selected 200v dc on meter and it showed 54.3 volts dc. What is going on here I thought, so being the brave young man of 48 that I am I attempted to place the 30a fuse into the slot and presto, there was sparks, smoke and a little flame (from grease I suspect) and a burnt tip on the fuse but not blown. The the temp on the vrr was climbing by this time but still touchable, unlike other times where I could have cooked bacon on it.
Also could all this electrical problem cause a problem with the coils not delivering the right electrical charge to the spark plugs. I realize at least to me it a redundant question but hey. That is a whole nother issue to be discussed.
thanks,
Terry
First off what a great forum. I have gleaned a lot of useful knowledge from you all over the past 2 months that has made tinkering on my st1100 more fun (in an odd way I suppose). I wish I had posted more since joining but shortly afterwards my wife's mom passed away up in N.C. and just recently have things taken on a since of normalcy, sooooo......
2 weeks ago I was pulling into the driveway when the bike simply died. headlight on but very dim and wouldn't crank. Battery showed less than 12v. Well since then what an education I've gotten here about alternators, VRR's, wiring, condition of contacts/corrosion, dielectric grease and a crash course of multimeter usage.
I'm suspecting a VRR that's going/gone bad. but I'll start with the alternator. No shorts to ground. Shows 14.53 volts each wire @ near 5000 rpm and 50 volts across all 3 wires.
The p.o. did the red wire mod placing a 30a fuse between the vrr and battery. This morning I removed the 30a fuse and tested the voltage coming from the vrr to the battery. I selected 20v setting on the meter, rpms near 5000. Numbers went blank. Selected 200v dc on meter and it showed 54.3 volts dc. What is going on here I thought, so being the brave young man of 48 that I am I attempted to place the 30a fuse into the slot and presto, there was sparks, smoke and a little flame (from grease I suspect) and a burnt tip on the fuse but not blown. The the temp on the vrr was climbing by this time but still touchable, unlike other times where I could have cooked bacon on it.
Also could all this electrical problem cause a problem with the coils not delivering the right electrical charge to the spark plugs. I realize at least to me it a redundant question but hey. That is a whole nother issue to be discussed.
thanks,
Terry
