| Author | Message | ||
     Jules |
I realise there are plenty of threads about the stator and didn't want to add another but unfortunately think I need to. I did a reasonably long ~500 miles journey on the weekend. I thought about the stator issues before going but figured that as I have 6 months left on my warranty that I'd rather the stator fail now than in 7 or 8 months time. I have a tri-state LED fitted so I can see at a glance what the charging system is up to, at >13.2V the LED is green, and TBH that's the coloutr the LED ALWAYS has been since I fitted it (with the engine running). The VAST majority of my miles to date have been short journeys to and from work (~5 miles each way) which I know is far from ideal but the bike's been handling them well. About 30 miles into the journey with the coolant temp ~83C the LED changed to Amber (12.0-13.1V) and switching over to the voltage readout I could see the bike displayed 13.1V at 6000RPM. I ignored that and did about 100 miles or so until I stopped to fill up. At idle the voltages dropped about 0.1V every second, finally shutting off at 12.4V. I was worried that as the fans continued to run I'd have issues re-starting but no, it was absolutely fine. Back on the highway the voltages ranged from 12.7V to 13.1V with occassional jumps back up to 13.7V. At the next fuel stop I pulled off the freeway with 12.7V showing and by the time I reached the pumps it was 12.1V. Again the bike started up first time and ran fine. That was the pattern all the way there, the bike continued to run fine and all seems OK apart from the low voltage reading. On the way home it was a similar pattern but at one stop I needed to wait for a buddy and I sat idling for about 2 minutes watching the voltage drop from 12.4V at startup to 11.8V by the time he was ready.(Battery light was on) Setting off the voltages rapidly climbed to 13.7V and then slowly dropped back to 12.4V at 6000 Revs. I completed the journey and put the bike on the optimate overnight. This morning on the short ride in to work i started the bike and flipped to the voltage readout, the LED was Amber after 30 seconds and voltage read 12.5V at 3000 Revs. Stopped at lights and the voltages dropped and the battery light came on. I wasn't there long enough for it to be an issue but that's the first time its happened on my journey in to work. Pulling into the parking lot I had 12.2V showing. I'm dropping it off at the dealership tonight, I've asked them to look at retrofitting an 08 stator and rotor and they've said they'll try to do that if they can get permission. TBH I'll happily pay for the rotor if they can't get permission and they can pay for the stator and most of the labour. Of course it might NOT be the stator, it could be the battery (original 18 months old) but that's on an optimate every night so i'd hope it'd last longer than that.. I haven't had a chance to check the stator output and resistance values but will do so before dropping it off tonight, just for my own sanity. | ||
| Zac4mac |
Jules Your volts don't seem to be plummeting like most fail. Most of the drop you're seeing should be heat related, as magnet strength drops and wire resistances climb with heat. Most, not all... Good luck with diagnosis and parts. Battery should last 4-6 years with the treatment you give it. Z | ||
| Jules |
Cheers Z, I'll see what the multimeter tells me tonight.. I'm not "completely convinced" it is the stator (most do seem to fail suddenly) but something has changed recently. I have a pretty good dealer so i am confident they'll do the right thing (which helps) | ||
| Bueller4ever |
Mine did not fail suddenly. It would charge when cold and the fans weren't running, but when hot it stayed in the 12's. So I was able to ride all winter on my half dead stator. | ||
| Jules |
I suspect mine is the same... 1 Ohm across all 3 pairs (multimeter may not be accurate enough) 1-2 = 30VAC at 3000 RPM 1-3 = 30VAC at 3000 RPM 2-3 = 2.2VAC at 3000 RPM 2-3 is fried then LOL I'll drop it off tomorrow, it'll be easy for them to duplicate the issue (that's one bonus). Ah well, could be worse, I'm still under warranty LOL | ||
| Tbowdre |
my 2 cents Neither of mine failed suddenly. There are multiple threads about low voltage behavior with low RPM and idle. All of these posts were usually dismissed as normal operation with harness upgrade. After seeing the actual performance of a new HD stator and a "decreased output" Custom Rewind stator mine were showing signs similar to yours a few hundred, maybe several hundred miles before failure to the point of being inoperable. dunno, YMMV | ||
| Jules |
I have to admit I may have been one of the ones dismissing the behaviour as "normal".. On the one hand it is, as the relay cuts off one leg at low revs BUT it ought to turn it back on at idle and when the voltage drops below the threshold... So in theory, mine's just running now as if the relay was opening that leg all the time. I'd suggest anyone who is experiencing lower than anticipated voltages at idle check the stator... It took all of 2 mins to do (I love my American Sport Bike seat retaining kit!) | ||
| Naiguy |
How would you check stator by removing seat? How can one check the relay to make sure it's working properly? | ||
| Jules |
Where the subharness was installed (under the seat) I just unplugged the 3 pin plug that comes from the stator and measured there.. Checking the relay might be as simple as holding it in your hand, you may be able to feel it energising. I haven't checked mine as it's pretty obvious to me that the stator is not outputting properly across one pair so the relay's largely irrelevant to me.. |
