| Author | Message | ||
     Etennuly |
Just every now and again, while riding after dark, I get a short momentary burst of headlights going super bright, maybe half second at a time. I've only noticed it like three times in the last five outings. Today I saw tach go stupid for a second. Because it went to the extra juice side I think grounds can be eliminated. Has anyone who suffered a VR failure, is this how it starts? Suppose the stator is going also? 2006 Uly 66,700 miles. | ||
| Mtz117 |
Mine failed without warning, it was cooking the 30A main fuse like it was nothing. All of a sudden complete power loss and tach and speedo were frozen in the cluster. Turned out to be the VR. Don’t know if that helps or not | ||
| Ourdee |
Stator is probably fine.That is the VR failing symptom. When it blows a headlight, wait a couple of seconds before switching to the other bulb. I put an analog gage and led meter on my bars. LED would flash when there was a voltage spike and get my attention. I would then look at the analog gage. The Uly got the FH020AA from roadstercycle. Solved my problem. | ||
| Ourdee |
Vern, When you start popping bulbs...... | ||
| Ourdee |
Has anyone who suffered a VR failure, is this how it starts? yalp | ||
| Etennuly |
It seemed like the indication is VR failing. Have not puked any bulbs yet, but I know they cannot take many of those voltage spikes before they go. Who knows how many times it has happened in the day time. Thanks ! I guess it is replace VR time! Seems like a three beer job! | ||
| Ourdee |
If it starts burning out bulbs, check the bulb wiring for melted insulation. | ||
| Tempest766 |
As others have said, the VR is going bad. Do yourself a favor and ditch the crappy HD part, and install a real Shindengen in its place. You'll be glad you did. | ||
| Griffmeister |
Mine popped the lights without a second chance, you’re lucky. | ||
| Motorfish |
I would check the stator also. Make sure that there’s no shorts to ground. I have the Shindengen VR, and like it. Only about 3K on it, but no hiccups and voltage is solid idling with heated grips. | ||
| Etennuly |
This HD POS only has made it 67,000 miles! Shindig brand eh? I'll look into it! | ||
| Mark_weiss |
Both my VRs failed by dropping current output once they heated up. I was fortunate to have the original Garmin Quest which shut off when the ECU disabled the accessory line in order to keep the engine running. The first time I did not immediately know what was happening and did not immediately head home. When the engine started missing about 20 miles from home I pulled the headlight wire. The next time a VR began failing I had a voltage monitor on the bike and so knew that something was wrong. I wondered if the battery was the problem and recharged it. Then on the next ride i noted that the low voltage warning came on at the same distance into my ride. | ||
| Tpehak |
Buell XB VR is piece of crap. Mine went bad too. I extracted VR board from potting compound and found very poor soldering work. Even cheap Chinese electronics is better built. I replaced it with HD Sportster VR. I had to machine custom bracket for new VR and trim cables length. I also installed voltmeter gauge after the accident with VR. I don't want to find myself in the middle of nowhere with dead battery. (Message edited by Tpehak on September 17, 2019) | ||
| Etennuly |
I have a boat with a 165 Mercruiser I/O. It had a water cooled VR. I had put water to the foot for test running before going out for the first time of the season about eight years ago. I had removed the hood for access to do maintenance stuff. Started it up and let it run for about a half hour. I check the temperature and water flow frequently, varying the running speed. All was going well, so as it was running I stepped to the back of the shop to look for something for a few minutes. I turned back to face the boat where flames were now eight feet high on the side of the engine that was still running!!! It had a water cooled VR that was sealed in that gel stuff that will burn! It was about a foot square so it burned pretty big. Had the wood/fiberglass hood been in place it would have burned the boat down. A replacement VR made for that boat cost $575 back then. With a value of $2500 for the boat, that was a tough expense. So for eight years since I have run that boat with no charging system hooked up. The crank mount alternator is still there capped off, no VR. I just keep a fully charged marine battery in it and a spare battery with jumper cables. Of course the points type distributor can run on as little as six volts, as long as there is enough juice to crank it. No ECM to upset. I've done 14 hour fishing trips on the lake without issue. Just got to charge it up when I get back in. I doubt this would work on the Uly since the ECM fusses about with less than 12.2 volts. Would probably have to carry three marine batteries to get very far.  | ||
| Tootal |
Hey Vern! Please do all three test on the stator before replacing the VR. I was popping headlights and changed the VR only to fry it because the stator was bad. It passed two of the test but not the third! When this VR goes I'm going aftermarket too. I did that on my Harley and never had a problem again. | ||
| Greg_m |
If you end up replacing both I've had no issues since installing these: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bx0fYKRUEnk | ||
| Ratbuell |
If you do a search (I know...), I have a writeup posted on here from when I put the Shindengen unit on my '06. Photo-heavy. Ditto doing the stator checks though - no sense frying a new VR when it wasn't the root of the problem to start with! | ||
| Etennuly |
Is the regulator on the Blast the same? | ||
| Tootal |
I went onto ST. Paul's Harley's site and the blast is a different part number. It's smaller and much cheaper! So I'd say it's not a good idea. | ||
| Etennuly |
Thanks. I tried to find it to compare. No love. Was going to borrow the known good one off the Blast. Oh well. Three tests it is. | ||
| Smorris |
And check the 77 Connector behind the front pulley cover and/or replace |
