Author |
Message |
Rasmonis
| Posted on Thursday, October 11, 2007 - 11:05 am: |
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So after putting 700.1 mi on my bike after it was fixed, I was left again on the side of the road waiting for AAA to come to the rescue. This is the 3rd time I have had to have the bike serviced for the same exact problem. http://www.badweatherbikers.com/buell/messages/384 2/247971.html?1181514111 1st service: Replaced, battery(self) stator(HD) 2nd service: Replaced stator & bearings, rebuilt the engine X2.(HD) 3rd service: Waiting for a voltage regulator (on backorder with unknown shipping date-HD) Symptoms: 1) Solid engine light for about 2-3 minutes 2) Loss of instruments 3) Poor engine performance with inevitable stall(due to dead battery). 14K miles owned since dec '05. 06' XB12Scg |
Sparky
| Posted on Thursday, October 11, 2007 - 11:41 am: |
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Gee, there are complete troubleshooting steps in the factory service manual to checkout the charging system, written in plain English. I mean, if I can read the steps 1, 2, 3, etc. and go through the checklist to find out what's right and wrong with my bike, any tech in these United States should better know how too. Perhaps a friendly talk with the service manager pointing out these steps and verifying with him these are done before paying the bill would help? |
Rasmonis
| Posted on Thursday, October 11, 2007 - 01:02 pm: |
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Sparky, I'm with ya there brother, there's not much to it. Battery, Stator, Voltage regulator. I ran these myself, that's how I discovered the problem the first time. The second failure, when I went to check the stator (voltage reg and battery tests were nominal), the plug was full of oil. I took it to the shop and it was there for over a month. There was a faulty bearing seal (inside the case)that required replacement. The case was split, part replaced, put back together, but no working tranny. Split again, rebuilt, everything working OK. So I've had the bike back for about 1-2 weeks then it failed again. I just want my bike back on the road. |
Rasmonis
| Posted on Saturday, November 24, 2007 - 07:28 am: |
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Replaced the voltage regulator, problem solved. Thanks for your help. |
Iamike
| Posted on Saturday, November 24, 2007 - 11:05 am: |
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I don't understand why bikes (all makes) don't have an idiot light for the charging system. Since the HD makes seem to have a higher propensity for charging system failures it would make sense for them to give a warning so that you can do something about it before you end up dead on the side of the road. When mine died I had just left a Honda shop in a town 30mi. from home. Luckily we were headed home so I only had to wait about 1/2 hr. for my son to run home and pick up the trailer. I have since added a voltmeter to my S3 so I can keep track of what's going on. This fall it got a little erratic (which I wouldn't have ever know of before the meter) and was able to clean connections to remedy the issue. I had bought an LED meter to put on my Honda but haven't gotten around to doing it. |
Blake
| Posted on Sunday, November 25, 2007 - 09:15 pm: |
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"Since the HD makes seem to have a higher propensity for charging system failures" My old Yamaha unfortunately didn't hold to that observation. It went through two stators in 20K miles. |
Iamike
| Posted on Monday, November 26, 2007 - 09:56 pm: |
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The 1200 Goldwings had a serious problem with their stator output connection requiring the splitting of cases to repair the damage. Since the only Wing that I've ever ridden was a 1000, I don't know if the new ones have an idiot light or meter. I know of a lot more people that ride HD products that have had stator failures (look how long it took them to do something about the paper gasket problem)than any other brand (even the 1200 Wing). When the alternator died on my Trailblazer, I knew immediately that it was out and headed right to a repair shop. When the stator died on my S3 I ended up on the side of the road. |
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