| Author | Message | ||
     Spiffious |
I am getting ready for a 4 day bike trip with some friends into the mountains of West Virginia. I am constantly worrying about the stator failing, leaving me stranded. I just became an AMA member for the roadside assistance, but no matter what, the stator failing on the trip would be a huge disruption indeed. Plus, I don't know how far the AMA towing really goes. I imagine I'll also be without cell service much of the time. I've got an '09 CR with 4500 miles on it. Had the harness upgrade most of the life of the bike. Battery was replaced under warranty last year. Right now the bike idles at 14-14.1 volts with the fan running. How likely is this to happen? Is every stator failing, or does it just seem like that because those whose fail are posing about it online? Am I worrying too much or should I just take my Suzuki, lol. | ||
| Boogiman1981 |
no way to know for sure but what you've described sounds healthy i'd ride the buell | ||
| Georgehitch17 |
Mine custom rewind fried in 700 miles and my original was in about 4500, my second oem was about 3500. I feel where your coming from this F'n blows!!! I love this bike but this issue is killing it for me! | ||
| Buellmojo |
It sounds like you will enjoy the trip on the Suzuki more with less worries. Not trying to scare you or cause more doubt, but I have seen 4 stator failures while in the mountains, one being myself, they were on trips similar to yours, needless to say, but it completely ruined their trip. My vote is for the Suzuki. I too will probably be in WV this weekend. Are you going to ride SE Ohio too? | ||
| Spiffious |
Thanks for the feedback. You know its really telling when potentially biased folks on a Buell forum suggest taking the Suzuki. It certainly would ease my mind... but it really does suck not taking the cr on such awesome roads because of stator paranoia. We need a real fix that we can trust. Is it really all of them failing? Id like to trust my bike for things such as... taking a bike trip. | ||
| Buellmojo |
I hate to speculate, but it does seem that the numbers are very high for stator failures, I have had two replaced myself with revs generally above 5K rpm's, with in town driving at a minimum on my 1125R (so much for that theory...  ). Not any help but the last time I took a trip with my 1125R, I loaded up the trailer with the 1125R and a spare bike, and yes the 1125R gave me fits, not the stator, but wrenching was necessary. | ||
| Boogiman1981 |
hell man just strap a 1000CCA car battery to the back seat just in case.... lol | ||
| Duphuckincati |
I'd take my Suzuki too. And I love the Buell, 5000+ miles and no issues, but... And, as cool as the Buell is in the corners, my naked V-Strom 650 is just as much fun in the corners anyway. What Suzuki do you have? (I'm putting on my fire suit..) (Message edited by duphuckincati on June 22, 2011) | ||
| D_adams |
I'd take the Buell, 24k+ miles so far, although I do have an 08. | ||
| Tpoppa |
I frquently ride SE OH and WV... Sport touring in the middle of nowhere might get you to worrying about the stator...but that isn't really the type of riding that is hard on the stator. WV back roads tend to have very little stop and go, or idling in traffic, which is what tends to cause the stator to overheat. If for some reason 1 leg of the stator crapped out, you could always unplug/bypass the harness upgrade to run the stator on the 2 legs of the stator that is still working. There is a you tube video that shows how to do this...only takes a couple minutes and no special tools. | ||
| Reducati |
i have an 09, cr, with 7500 or so on the clock, i live in an urban envirment, but do avoid traffic...i had the upgrade done at 500 miles, original stator | ||
| No_rice |
i just ride all of mine. seems to have worked so far... only thing thats ever left me sitting was belts. oh well. and all of those have been on my 03 9r (Message edited by no_rice on June 22, 2011) | ||
| Jdugger |
I've done many thousands of back road blasting with nary an issue on my 09. No harness for most of it. | ||
| Freight_dog |
I have had my electrical system crap out on me, I was about 1/3 of the way into a 180 mile one way trip. I turned around at the thought of being stranded 180 miles from home and just made it. It was 50 degrees out and I was on the highway with only 800 miles on the bike. I was quite pissed I missed out on a weekend of partying but a dead motorcycle far from home would have put a damper on the fun. I made the same trip successfully last weekend. Although I had serious doubts, I decided to risk it since I had nice weather and time on my side. Everything went great. If you haven't had signs of trouble, I say go for it and don't worry about it. Just have a contingency plan in mind like make sure your buddies are willing to look out for each other and willing to ride somewhere with cell coverage to make the call if your bike dies in a bad spot, and check your bike to be sure it is running well before you head out. | ||
| Avc8130 |
Where is your sense of adventure? Take the Buell...then we get to read a better post in a week about the stator failing in the middle of nowhere and moonshine enfused rednecks threatening you with shotguns. You will then be able to hitch hike to the nearest HD dealer by throwing your bike in a wagon and riding with a toothless chicken farmer. His 17 y/o daughter will most likely try to seduce you and you will later find he has little bits of other stranded Buell owners cut up and strewn about his house. You will narrowly escape certain dismemberment by stealing his shotgun and old Ford "pumpkin" truck. You will then be destined to spend 3 weeks surrounded by chrome and bandanas while the HD dealer waits for parts. Take a Suzuki? Those have chains. Chains fail all the time and when they do they rip your leg off and destroy your motor. Just stay home. You have no better option. | ||
| Froggy |
+1! Let me ride your bike for you instead  I'd still take the CR. | ||
| Buellmojo |
I too have put several long twisty rides on mine without an issue occurring, but there has also been several rides where I did have issues too. I think the point is, you can never tell with the 1125's, and that was what the OP seemed to be struggling with, and his concerns are legitimate in my opinion. | ||
| Spiffious |
Suzuki is an sv1000s set up for sport touring with givis , corbin and handlebar conversion. This is a bachelor party/trip which I am organizing and leading for my buddy. 4 of us going in all.... I don't want to be the one to eff if up for them by my bike failing. Point of motorcycles is to have fun. Hard to do that when worrying at the very real chance that the stator is gonna blow. | ||
| Jules |
I'd take the Buell.. and a credit card...and a cell phone...and a mate who'll take me somewhere with coverage IF something happens. TBH if you don't take the Buell you'll ALWAYS be worried about it for any future trip.. | ||
| Spiffious |
I've taken the buell on trips before.... but the list of stator failures/posts about failures is ever growing all the while my odometer is running closer to what feels like a ticking time bomb. Wish there was a real universal fix. Riding the bike reasonably locally doesn't worry me at all because a break down wont really disrupt much. | ||
| Daggar |
Take the Buell. Have fun. | ||
| Buellmojo |
Take the SV1000S, I have one too and they are a blast on the WV back roads, Tpoppa can also confirm this. | ||
| Spiffious |
"Take the SV1000S, I have one too and they are a blast on the WV back roads, Tpoppa can also confirm this." Word. Its not like its a choice between taking the awesome Buell or placing my testes in a vice. The SV should still be a good time. Wondering if anyone else has had similar concerns about becoming stranded when planning trips. | ||
| Tpoppa |
Take the SV1000S, I have one too and they are a blast on the WV back roads, Tpoppa can also confirm this. Have we ridden together? Yep, I also have a SV1000S. Actually, I have yet to take it on a serious shakedown through the twisties. The 1125R is my primary corner carving tool. I use the SV mostly for local rides, but I'll give it a proper thrashing in a couple weeks while the 1125 is down for the valve check. | ||
| Tpoppa |
Wondering if anyone else has had similar concerns about becoming stranded when planning trips. Last season I found myself watching the volt meter a little too much. Now that I've taken the 1125 on lots of 400+ mile rides, I don't even switch on the volt meter. Can it fail? Yep. But I'm going to ride the shit out of it until it does. If ever on the side of the road...between bypassing the harness upgrade and disconnecting a headlight, I'm fairly certain I'll make it home. I do have AMA roadside assistance. I hope I never have to use it. | ||
| Buellmojo |
OR member. I just assumed you took the SV down a few times. | ||
| Froggy |
Anything could happen, regardless of vehicle. You still have a good chance of getting a flat, you still have a good chance of getting hit by a car, you still have a good chance of buying bad gas and causing havoc on the fuel injection. **** happens, just ride and deal with it as it occurs. I recommend roadside assistance like AMA, a cell phone and a credit card. Should something happen, you make the call and get it taken care of. Don't sweat the "What ifs", nothing is perfect, neither is life. Take a bike of your choosing, hope for the best, and ride the piss out of it. | ||
| Spiffious |
Anything could happen, regardless of vehicle. You still have a good chance of getting a flat, you still have a good chance of getting hit by a car, you still have a good chance of buying bad gas and causing havoc on the fuel injection. **** happens, just ride and deal with it as it occurs. I recommend roadside assistance like AMA, a cell phone and a credit card. Should something happen, you make the call and get it taken care of. Don't sweat the "What ifs", nothing is perfect, neither is life. Take a bike of your choosing, hope for the best, and ride the piss out of it. True, but it just seems that the likelihood of stator problems is much higher than the various other maladies. I come prepared for much else with various things, helmet/gear in case of crash, tire kit in case of flat, tool kit, etc etc. Maybe the 10+ stator threads on the 1125r board just have me overstating the chances of problems? (Message edited by spiffious on June 22, 2011) | ||
| Froggy |
The forum is 95% posting when something isn't working, I don't come posting on here during the 99% of my time that my bike is fine or took me on a 2500 mile ride. Not riding your bike because someone else is having an issue is well, plain stupid. | ||
| Aj2010 |
Spiff, I'm with you on the worrying. My stator fried at just over 7000 Km's. I was planning on going down to Leguna Seca last year. The melt down happened before the trip, so that ended that. The trip is re-scheduled to happen next month. I bought an 08 stator and flywheel on E-Bay and working on installing that and a linear switching regulator. Just removed the "warranty" replacement stator this morning. It was still working fine BUT the thing is burnt various shades of dark brown closing in on black. The harness up/down grade was done about 6000 km's ago. In my opinion the relay band-aid may prolong the life of the stator but it is by no means a fix or cure. Last year on a trip to Vancouver I had the pleasure of sweating bullets while stuck in traffic with visions of a melting stator dancing through my head. The bike made the trip BUT it should have been a lot of more fun ..... and that part was NOT fun. I will try to post the picture of the stator tomorrow. The 08 stator was out of a bike that was in a fire ..... the stator looks brand new, not a dark or discoloured spot on it (other then the wires being burn off where they exit the cover. I'd take the Suzuki (or any more reliable bike, 08 1125 included) until you find a fix that you are ok with. Not just the inconvenience of the break down, bikes left on the side of the road are just way to easy to have disappear. I know ..... just one more thing to worry about right? (Message edited by AJ2010 on June 22, 2011) |
