| Author | Message | ||
     Ezblast |
I'd take the CR - from what I've seen - it is stop and go riding that kills the Stator/RR, but since my bike is for week end fun, I don't worry about it. Was in the same boat for my Christmas rides in the Sonoma county area - decided to ride it and have fun! It was a Blast! EZ | ||
| Ratgin |
"from what I've seen - it is stop and go riding that kills the Stator/RR" Mine died spectacularly at 4500kms and it has never been in stop and go. All freeway and back road blasting and never under 5500 rpm. When it decides to fail.. it fails. No way to predict or prevent. | ||
| J2blue |
Reluctantly I join the fray... Having been one person who has experienced the failed stator a total of 3 times, I can say that confidence in the bike's reliability is low. On the other hand, it is true that any vehicle, but especially a motorcycle, can encounter a show stopping malfunction. The rule I came up with for myself: if the distance the 1125 travels away from my truck is more than 100 miles than the truck needs to move with it. Two of the three failures occurred in very remote areas of the Southwest where I was facing very expensive options to both get underway and fix the bike. Luck prevailed in getting the bike fixed under warranty with very little transportation cost. But my warranty runs out this fall. In both cases it was uncomfortably inconvenient. I love this bike! When I wanted to travel 600 miles to meet up with some other riders for some wild mountain road adventure in another state I carried the bike in my pickup truck. The stator didn't fail, nor anything else on the bike, but I was still happy I transported her in my truck. For now I am ok with this arrangement. GLWATCDR I will have my current stator rewound this winter and possibly make a few other modifications to make the charging system more reliable. Until then, nope, I'm not counting on the 1125CR to get me half way across the country without the stator failing. YMMV. | ||
| Black |
I told the service manager at my dealer that I was afraid to take my 09R out due to all the stator trouble I was reading about on the BadWeb. He told me that they did the harness upgrade, that it was fine, that they stood by their work, and to ride the hell out of it....and that's just what I do. He also said to quit believing everything I read on the BadWeb. Ha ha! | ||
| Jules |
AJ2010 - if you feel like selling that stator you're removing can I have first dibs? I'd send it off for a custom rewind and keep it as a spare.. Happy to pay the shipping etc to the UK.. | ||
| Ratgin |
Black, Your dealer sounds just like mine. I was told nothing to fear after i changed the harness with 500kms on the bike Odd thing is my bikes been sitting in their shop now for 3 weeks waiting on parts that "werent goign to be needed". I also shouldnt worry about future reliability as HD Canada is not aware of any 1125 that has had a second stator/vr failure. When i told them i could supply them with posts from Badweather they told me apparently people on forums also post they have seen aliens. | ||
| Wbrisett |
My '09 CR is also waiting for parts. Just got back from a thousand mile trip with my wife on our BMWs and you know, the entire time I wasn't worried about a single part failing. Last year I rode my '07 Uly the 3,000 miles round-trip to Homecoming and didn't worry one bit about the bike the entire time, it's been that reliable. However, with a meager 3500 miles on the CR it's now waiting for stator #3, the last one lasted as far as the parking lot exit before it started acting up. Dealer told me it was fine and to ride it some. I did, an additional 200 miles before I returned it back to them and they told me not only had it fallen apart, but it destroyed the rotor in the process. I love the bike and the ride it provides me, but if I didn't have another bike (or two), I would seriously be hating the bike right now. I don't trust it past the city limits right now. That being said, I agree with Froggy, I'm not complaining about my bike when it's working and I'm off riding.  So, take everything with a grain of salt. On the BMW forums you'll read about final drive failures. Well, I can say that with over 100,000 miles on two BMWs, plus my wife's 40,000 miles on hers. I've never had any issues with the final drive, nor has anybody in our local BMW club. But you read about them, so they do happen. It's just we're all happy and not posting to say "Hey, I had a great carefree ride today, woo hoo!" Wayne | ||
| Dannybuell |
Spiffious - Take a cell phone. If you are using the Erik Buell Racing ECM take the OEM ECM with you, there might be some unexpected urban traffic. | ||
| Duphuckincati |
Something else must be getting overlooked if cases like Wbrisett's and others go through multiple stators in under 4000 miles and some like myself (currently at over 5000 miles) are so far ok. I know many sharp minds are at work on this but ??? Wbrisett, what have the riding conditions your CR has been used in? | ||
| Wbrisett |
My '09 CR is used strictly in town, which means stop-and-go traffic. Nothing unusual, at least in my mind. The Uly doesn't have issues with it, nor does my RT. My CR is 100% stock (with the exception of the high bars), so I don't think it has anything to do with custom, this or that.... | ||
| Aj2010 |
Here is a couple of pictures of the replacement stator after less then 4000 Km, the harness upgrade/downgrade was installed long before this stator.,   | ||
| Aj2010 |
And so I say it again, the harness up/down-grade will/may only prolong the life of the stator. Harley's crutch to help get us through the "warranty" exit door. (my opinion of course)  | ||
| Azxb9r |
I am afraid to say that I have fallen into the "I won't ride my 1125 any farther than I am willing to walk " group. My bike is an 09, it has had the harness upgrade installed since I bought it new, and I keep a battery tender on it any time it is not going to be ridden for more than 1 day. My first stator failure was at 3100 mi. After getting it back I decided that I would just use it as a play toy. The only stop and go it sees is on my way out to the twisties. I have tried to keep the revs over 4000 rpm while moving, and I have also tried to avoid riding during the hotter times of day. I just got the bike back from the dealer a week ago after its second stator failure, the bike just turned 5000 miles. I love riding the bike, but there is no way I would take it on a road trip...I just don't trust it. | ||
| Tbowdre |
Terrified I might jinx my great luck so far! I'm 2500miles into a road trip through the SW USA right now. Very hot weather.... like over 100F. No problems at all. Im still a few hundred miles from home though. I gotta tell ya I was in the EXACT same boat a couple months ago. Tried to make my bike as trustworthy as possible and ended up with a custom rewind stator... I tried a compufire regulator as well but that didn't work out and is documented in another thread. After so many miles (4000) I'm starting to feel some confidence in my charging system..... this bike with minimal mods is just awesome for sport touring | ||
| Froggy |
I don't get why everyone just whines and talks about how they don't trust their bike. Just fix the problem, then quit worrying and ride it. | ||
| Jules |
That's not like you Froggy - it's not "everyone" that's whining... You having an off day? | ||
| Black |
Gents, I am not trying to poke anybody in the eye. However a brown stator (varnish) does not mean it has failed. Any large electric motor will have brown windings as will any large generator. Burned, charred black is another thing entirely, as are parted or shorted windings. Brown means it has been exposed to heat. Well, they ARE exposed to a lot of heat. My point? A failed stator should show a short/ground on a meter. It should also smell pretty bad. Anyway after all this time I have not read of a single stator where it failed and the owner could show the cause of the failure. I would feel much better about the whole failed stator thing if I was reading that stators had parted windings, etc. I just ain't hearing that. Not saying that they aren't failing, but I just can't find a lot of facts to back up the failures. Sorry to drone on, but to my experience, a burned up stator or rotor is usually (usually) obvious to the casual observer. When it is not....Mr. Megger or Mr. Multimeter can tell you pretty quickly. With the stator issues I have read about here (Bad Web as a whole), I almost feel like we are talking about flying saucers or something. Again, not trying to make anybody mad.....I apologize if I have....just want to see some of that science stuff. Oh yes, a single data point doth not constitute a trend.... | ||
| Froggy |
Certainly not everyone, but a lot of people. It is a mechanical flaw, not a contagious incurable terminal illness. People need more of a "can do" attitude. Fix it, then get on with your lives. | ||
| Dannybuell |
Think of your bike as a woman who is way out of your league, every moment with her is precious, it may end at any moment. Do you vacation with or without her? Test the stator output, if it is anywhere close to factory spec go for it. I put in three quarts of oil hoping that extra bit may help keep it just a bit cooler. | ||
| Hillis3 |
I would also take the CR. You can't worry about what might happen. If that was the case you would never leave your house. | ||
| Htekwo |
Well, I just got my Stator back from Custom Rewinds. It is installed and tested for charging status. System is charging at 14.5+-. Before I replaced it, the system was not charging at all. My Stator was slightly discolored, and had separations between the epoxy, and the brushes. Did it look terrible? No, it just looked 'not new', and yet with no other changes to the charging system, it was fixed by replacing the Stator. I erred in not properly testing it prior to removal, but I think I can safely say that the Stator was bad. I will keep everyone posted on the reliability of the Custom Rewinds Stator. | ||
| Black |
Guys, I think that Custom Rewind does a great job. However, I also don't think you should continue without the harness fix. The fact remains that we still have no idea why the stator is failing...or if it is failing.....because we don't know WHY it failed. If we did, we wouldn't have a problem now. Until we know that, we don't know anything. This might as well be VooDoo vice electrical engineering. I mean..what if i said my stator was failing...so I danced "nekkid" (please excuse the imagery) swinging a dead cat around my neck and reinstalled the stator....and now it works fine. Do you have any scientific or engineering data to show me that I am wrong? I don't think we do. That is the problem. (Message edited by Black on June 23, 2011) (Message edited by Black on June 23, 2011) (Message edited by Black on June 23, 2011) | ||
| Buellhusker |
Black One thing I have found is that you must swing that cat in a counterclockwise direction or it is void. | ||
| Posplayr |
Black, I know you are trying to keep an open mind, but in the process are ignoring all of the evidence. The Buell charging system is putting out close to 40 amps. That is close to twice what my bike does and I can fry a stator with a SHUNT R/R. You have repeated cases of people replacing stators sometimes 3 stators in 10K miles and each time charging is restored. You dont need a stator autopsy to conclude the stator was the issue. Even a with a SERIES R/R (which puts minimum load on the stator) a used stator failed in less than 10K miles (not sure exactly FineDaddy?). I am a EE and to my mind, the load requirements of the Buell are in excess of what the stator is capable of delivering. The maximum output power is set by the magnetics of the rotor. Unfortunately the rewound rotors at Custom rewind are probably worse than stock winding (for a SUNT R/R) because apparently CR is reducing the wire thickness; that is better for a SHUNT R/R but not a SERIES R/R; He should be increasing it for the SERIES R/R. | ||
| Posplayr |
is there a link to the charging system mod? I'm wondering what that is. | ||
| Froggy |
It is known. It is an oil cooling issue which results in overheating. 08 stator is physically smaller and has less output for less heat, does not fail.
I don't believe this is the case, as the 2008 models use a lower output stator with no other changes to the charging system. I am not an EE, but if the load was greater than the stator output, wouldn't it just drain the battery till its depleted? | ||
| Posplayr |
Froggy Hope this does not sound like double speak The load is how much current (or equivalently power) the bike wants to pull at the regulated voltage (14.5V for example). My statement was that at that current (power output) the stator burns itself out.If as you say there is a known oil cooling problem then that is essentially the same statement. By turning it around, if not for more oil cooling the stator burns itself out delivering the rated load. In regards to your logical dilemma, you have to realize that there really is no such thing as a higher output stator; At least not at high RPM. The output of a Permanent Magnet generator increases to the square of the RPM what limits the power output is the magnetics (simply put the strength of the magnets)So for a given magnet/rotor you will always get the same maximum output. The point is that no matter how you wind the stator the total power output (stator,regulator, load) will always peak at the the same level. If you want to change the total power out, increase the magnetic strength of the rotor. I have reread your description of the difference between 08 and 09; Did they change the stator and nothing done to the oiling ? or change the stator and screw up the oiling? Finedaddy swapped to the CF SERIES and he still burned up his stator. That tells me that the stator can't supply the current without burning up. On my GS I have measured a three to one difference between using a shunt v,s SERIES in the stator itself. I have not done the same on aBuell, but I can only imagine That there is a similar large difference. If the SERIES is still burning up the stator then the problem is I stated before. | ||
| Finedaddy1 |
Posplayr - Mine died @ 6,200. The Compufire unit has been in it approximately 1,200 of the 6,200. So far w/ the Custom rewind stator and my Compufire unit it's charging great. So what I'm understanding is that the issue could be with the p/m rotor, the '08 doesn't have the "magnetic strength" as the '09....right? "And stepping down" on the wire size on the rebuilt stator probably isn't a good thing for my Compufire unit either. Oh how I love my bike and want this s**t to be resolved! | ||
| Lampo |
Black, here is one that spent it's entire life with the harness 'fix' and lasted almost a whopping 3k:  Insulation burnt to a crisp exposing bare wires shorted to ground. Posplayer: The 08 stator is an 18 pole design; the '09 stator is a 12 pole design. The '08 stator has a slightly smaller O.D. than the '09, as well the rotors to match. Not sure about the magnetics but the '09 feels much stronger when you install it compared to the '08. Most of the cooling oil is fed to the stator from the end of the crankshaft, and I don't see how the amount of oil it sees would be any different '08 vs '09. IMHO finding a means of supplying more cooling oil to the stator is not a 'solve the root cause' approach, but a reactive approach to the additional heat generated by the '09 stator. Additional oil cooling may end up keeping it cooler enough to reduce failures, but the stator will still be generating excessive heat. (Message edited by Lampo on June 24, 2011) | ||
| Aj2010 |
That is interesting Lampo, in the picture you've posted, it is clear which leg of the stator is being shut off periodically. When compared to mine (pics posted above) you can not tell at all. Makes me wonder if the dealership actually did the re-flash or if the relay is cutting power at all. No matter, today the 08 stator and flywheel go on. California here I come ..... and back again with no toasted charging bits.  |
