Yesterday I was out for a ~80mile run into the Rockies to drop of a laptop I had just refurbed. On the way back I noticed my voltmeter reading ~13v @ 3000rpm ... eek! Came out of the canyon and stopped at a light, voltmeter now at ~12v at idle, and I am still 20 miles from home.
At the next light I pull the connectors off the headlamps and limp home. Voltage drops to ~10v by the time I pull into the garage. Since my Subaru is also down (bad fuel pump) , I need the bike to pick up Emma from school. I give the bike a quick 15 minute charge before heading to the school. Voltage holds above 11.5v.
Hoping the alternator is still good, I swap out the regulator with a spare from Smash's old bike. Good news ... the voltage is back around 14v. Examining the bad RR, I notice it smelt burnt and had a sticky goo on the back - looks like it over heated, but at least the RR connector still looks good. One of the farkles last year was to add an auxiliary fuse block, this was strapped to the top of the RR and was probably restricting airflow.
So now I have relocated the aux fuse block and power relay, added thermal paste between the RR and the frame, and between the RR and a modified CPU heatsink. The RR heatsink is around 1" high and keeps the wires off the RR while sticking out into the breeze.
I have already removed the 3p connector and done an ignition switch bypass to lighten the load on the 28A alternator. Hopefully these latest mods will also help. Right now I am at 30k on my '94 - while old she is pretty light on miles. Since 40A alternators are hard to find, I have no option but to kepp running the current 28A, with my backup being the 1994/90k mile alternator from the Smashmobile.
Time for another coffee, and check to see if the Subaru fuel pump has hit the mailbox.
At the next light I pull the connectors off the headlamps and limp home. Voltage drops to ~10v by the time I pull into the garage. Since my Subaru is also down (bad fuel pump) , I need the bike to pick up Emma from school. I give the bike a quick 15 minute charge before heading to the school. Voltage holds above 11.5v.
Hoping the alternator is still good, I swap out the regulator with a spare from Smash's old bike. Good news ... the voltage is back around 14v. Examining the bad RR, I notice it smelt burnt and had a sticky goo on the back - looks like it over heated, but at least the RR connector still looks good. One of the farkles last year was to add an auxiliary fuse block, this was strapped to the top of the RR and was probably restricting airflow.
So now I have relocated the aux fuse block and power relay, added thermal paste between the RR and the frame, and between the RR and a modified CPU heatsink. The RR heatsink is around 1" high and keeps the wires off the RR while sticking out into the breeze.
I have already removed the 3p connector and done an ignition switch bypass to lighten the load on the 28A alternator. Hopefully these latest mods will also help. Right now I am at 30k on my '94 - while old she is pretty light on miles. Since 40A alternators are hard to find, I have no option but to kepp running the current 28A, with my backup being the 1994/90k mile alternator from the Smashmobile.
Time for another coffee, and check to see if the Subaru fuel pump has hit the mailbox.