| Author | Message | ||
     Sinnister |
I'm about to give up and sell my CR. I had the stator fry at the end of last season. I got it rewound and 2000 miles later my voltage regulator when out when the relay blew. Put in a new relay and voltage regulator over the weekend after waiting 3 months cause the VR was on back order and it is worse then before. Before when the relay and regulator went I would get system voltage and blacked out guages and after a few minutes of riding it would go away and after one time it would never come back again. It only seemed to do this when the bike wasn't warmed up cause if I rode it all day it would of only did it the one time when I first left. Now with the new stuff it's blacked out whenever it's not idling which is all the time. It turns out all my lights too which I found out today trying to get home and almost got rear ended about 10 times since I had no rear or brake light. I wish I did get hit so I can total this thing and sue Harley for not fixing this issue. Anyone have any other ideas on what could still be causing my system voltage error? I have a new relay, stator, and voltage regulator. By passing the harness does nothing. Could I have been sold a regulator that was worse then my blown one? This weekend I think I'm going to just put in my blown regulator and see what that does. I can live with one time having the error and then nothing for the rest of the day. It's pretty bad when my 30000 mile XB is more dependable then my 7000 mile 1125. | ||
| Froggy |
From the sound of it, your voltage regulator is not doing its job, and it is overvolting causing the lights to blow and the cluster to shut off to protect itself. Get a CE-605 regulator, remove that relay harness, and in the long term plan on getting your rotor cup replaced with the one from EBR. Assuming your stator is still good, you shouldn't ever have an issue again. http://www.roadstercycle.com/Roadstercycle%20New%2 0Series%20Regulators.htm | ||
| Sinnister |
So basically now my stock VR is pretty much useless. I'm getting sick of dumping money in this thing. Well I don't even want to dump another dollar in this thing for something that shouldn't be an issue. I'm going to see what I can do and just put this thing up for sale. | ||
| Sinnister |
I went and tested my stator and everything is fine with that. At the red and black leads out of the VR I'm getting jumps between 28-32 Volts DC. I put in my original VR which returned the same numbers. Are these within where I should be and if not what should I be seeing there? Is there a resistance test I can do with these VR to see if I may of gotten sent a bad one? | ||
| Nuts4mc |
a)out put from VR is way too high b) you should see 12-14Vdc-measured at the the wires from the VR to the battery c)replaced my VR when I brought bike home from the salvage yard with Shindengen off a honda- it lasted two years - finally failed - went with froggy's suggestion: http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0035U7LRM/ref=oh _details_o01_s00_i00 d) How old is the battery? e) check your grounds I do not believe there is any "Bench test" for a VR - the device is solid state and combines rectifying ( turning AC into DC) and regulation ( supplying between 12-14 VDC for charging the batt)- the only tip I could GUESS ( am not an EE) is: One of the power wires (3 AC and one (+) DC) would be shorted to ground and using a ohm meter you could chk for that condition- if it were in fact shorted - the fuse (Blown)or wiring harness could be in bad shape ( physically melted wires) you are almost there - you have "fix'd" the most important part (Stator) and with the relay/harness removed and a new series type VR...you would be good to go. | ||
| Red93stang |
Don't give up yet! It looks like maybe a glimmer of hope! http://www-odi.nhtsa.dot.gov/acms/cs/jaxrs/downloa d/doc/UCM431179/INIM-PE12035-54388.pdf | ||
| Yugi |
Good news! That looks promising! | ||
| Sinnister |
I'm not sure on the batteries age but it has always been plugged into a trickle charger when not being ridden since new. I knew the original owner and kept that up since I have an XB that I daily ride the 1125 is my weekend nice day ride. I'm going to call and see if I can get a refund for the voltage regulator that I bought so that could free up some money, since as I'm going to college now don't have enough to keep dumping into VR's. Where are the grounds? I know there is one near the swingarm, are there others I should check? That would be awesome if Harley finally acknowledges a problem and comes up with a fix for all bikes so I can just drop it off and have them do it. My local dealership is aware of the issue but won't touch Buells anymore unless you're paying cause they said they no longer accept their warranties or at least the one on my bike was up for time cause it only had 5000 miles when the stator went. | ||
| Baf |
Wrong regulator, Nuts4mc. I second what Froggy says, but make sure you get the CE-605, it's higher quality and actually supported by the seller, rather than the crappy compufire sold by douches who will leave you high and dry if they find out you used it on an 1125. http://roadstercycle.com/Roadstercycle%20New%20Ser ies%20Regulators.htm They say not to put it under the tail section, but mine's been fine back there. Even through heavy traffic on a sweltering humid and hot Florida night. I wish I thought to feel it when I got to my destination to see what it felt like, but voltage didn't fluctuate much. It was sitting in the mid-13s at idle (at lights) with the fans roaring on high, so I'm happy. (Message edited by baf on January 30, 2013) | ||
| Nuts4mc |
grounds: a) under the rear sub frame - near the swing arm pivot ( look up at the bottom of the plastic "cover" on the sub frame) - there is a 10mm hex self locking nut that fastens the big black ground wire to a stud - chk to make sure it is tight b) up front - under the fairing stay where it mounts to the "steering head" - on the frame these are small gauge wires attached with "flag" type connectors to a "ground block" attached to the frame c) you may also want to chk how well the ECM is connected to it's harness (in front it's under the Pod/radiator body work on the shifter side of the bike) d) how tight are the battery connections - make sure the (+) & (-)terminals are clean and good and tight hope this helps | ||
| Yugi |
I use Compufire for 1500 miles and so far there were no problems. Sometimes it gets hot though. | ||
| Yugi |
There is also a connector between main harness and engine sub-harness, located behind the left radiator, just above stator cover. I would check this one as well. | ||
| Baf |
Great that you haven't had any failures. I, however, cannot recommend it to anybody. They have left 1125 owners high and dry without honoring warranty, and they seem to start ignoring people if they dare mention their application is the 1125. The CE-605, on the other hand, is said to be higher quality. And I received one that died shortly after installation, which was promptly replaced for free, so I can tell you first hand they will support their product on our platform. I've got a few thousand on mine, works excellently. (Message edited by baf on January 31, 2013) | ||
| Nuts4mc |
I stand corrected Baf- no harm/mis-information intended - just a victim of mr. Google and "series regulator" and a bad day with the Shindengen...like you I have located the VR under the tail - checking temps with a Harbor Freight IR temp gun - the tail ran 10-15 degrees cooler that the "stock" mount up front - this was after a 1 hr ride in 100+ temps...no humidity like the humbug state - but we're known for our challenging traffic here too in the land of fruits and (MC) nuts... | ||
| Jsg4dfan |
I sent my 605 in for warranty work, and they returned it, stating it passed all bench tests. They included a number for me to call if I had any questions. I called, they remembered my case and put me on the line with the tech who spent no small amount of time discussing the situation with me. I wired it back up, and it has worked like a charm ever since. Top notch service. | ||
| Baf |
I didn't think you were spreading mis-information. If it's running fine for you, then that's great, I just don't want to see someone else buy one, have it be DoA, then get screwed over. Like I mentioned, my CE-605 was DoA and I had a brand new one within a couple of days, no questions asked. Someone on here reported a DoA compufire, and all they were willing to do for him was sell him one at cost. I've also heard that the Compufire is a cheaper clone of the CE-605, but I don't know if it's true or not. | ||
| Dannybuell |
can you post some pics of the under tail placement? THX | ||
| Hildstrom |
This thread has photos of a few different placements. http://www.badweatherbikers.com/buell/messages/290 431/670338.html?1349895185 | ||
| Baf |
I posted some pics and info over on the other thread: http://www.badweatherbikers.com/cgibin/discus/show .cgi?tpc=290431&post=2300603#POST2300603 | ||
| Dannybuell |
THX.. :-) | ||
| Sinnister |
I'm just curious is there an operating temperature for the VR. I am having these problem intermittedly now and it seems to be an issue when it's cold. I ride all year so it sees some pretty cold weather. It hasn't warmed up enough to see how it runs when it is warm out. If I ride it and it gets heated up good and I shut the bike off and back on it seems to fix the issue and I have no problems. If I let it sit and cool off and it gets cold again it does it again. It hasn't been out when the temp has been above 50 yet. I did take it out when it was 60 one day and after it warmed up seemed to run fine. Anyone have any info about temps the stock VR should be at? | ||
| Zac4mac |
I'm just north of Denver. Rode the Uly yesterday around 30 miles. Took Loretta today and got her home just before the snow hit. I have a stick-on H-D thermometer on the Uly's right mirror. Off by 15-30 degrees - warm. It was showing in the 20s last week. I've seen 17*F on Loretta's digital AF on the dash. Only trouble I've had in the cold is Corsa IIIs are like iron when that cold. Spinning the back tire at 70mph freaked me out the first few times. No electrical issues except my fuel level sensor is borderline flaky. Everything charge-wise is original*, got the bike the 17th or 18th of December, 2007. Z * original stator/rotor/battery/VR | ||
| Sinnister |
This is concerning the 1125 stupid electrical system. I have an XB too and never have any problems with that and I've rode as cold as 19 degrees and have never had one problem with it even running 20W-50. Right now I'm having major problems with my 1125 which is what this thread is regarding. My problem is hit or miss so I'm not even sure what else to check. Doesn't make sense that my VR would be messed up if I have two of them one brand new and they are both doing the same exact thing which are not constant this problem comes and goes and sometimes if riding most of the day it only does it for about 10 minutes upon initial start-up and goes away to never return for the rest of the day. | ||
| Froggy |
The VR is tested to operate and any temperature it might see throughout its life, but in general colder is better, as the VR acts as a heat sink and requires some cooling. Given your issue is intermittent, and only happens when cold, I'm starting to suspect a wiring issue, possibly a bad ground or damaged wire, that when heated up thermal expansion allows it to make proper contact. | ||
| Sinnister |
^I'm going to have to agree with you. I can't seem to find any messed up wiring though. When it does happen my VR outputs are high at the plug but the only thing between it are the VR and then the stator. The stators output is always the same and within specs no matter if I have the issue or not. Is there a harness I'm forgetting that I can check the wiring? | ||
| Dannybuell |
maybe a good VR location would be on the underside of the R's fairing or under the CR's headlight, right in the air flow and above the front tires road crap fling zone. | ||
| Sinnister |
UPDATE: Well it was somewhat nice today so I got to mess with my 1125 more. I think my short may be within the fuel pump circuit. Now when I shut off the bike after a minute or so it cycles the fuel pump even though the key is out of the bike. It does this every minute or so for about 10 minutes. I don't recall it ever doing it before. My system voltage still comes on until heated up and then a quick turn off and on the bike and I don't have the problem again till it cools back off. Anyone have any ideas where I could be shorting to cause the fuel pump cycle? | ||
| Mortbike |
It is my understanding from another forum member recently that the cycling of the fuel pump by the ecm after the bike is turned off is normal to make re-starts easier when the bike is hot. Mine does it and I have no other electrical problems that I know of at this time. Mort | ||
| Froggy |
Yes the fuel pump may reprime a few times for up to 10 minutes after shutting off, this keeps the pressure in the fuel rails high to allow for easier hot restarts. In the owners manual it says "The fuel pump may occasionally operate for up to 10 minutes after shutting off engine." | ||
| Sinnister |
Never noticed it before but then again never really paid attention. Now that I'm chasing this short I'm paying a lot more attention so things like this are becoming more noticable. Well looks like it's back the drawing board. Still checking some of the wiring for open insulation to try and look for this short. Thanks for the response. | ||
| Brumbear |
If all else fails change the keyswitch perhaps the problem lies in there. I know a few guys had wire chaffing problems I'd give it a look anyway. | ||
| Cravacor |
Does anyone have any useful comment re. the NHTSA "preliminary evaluation"? Does it mean, depending on the data returned to NHTSA by Hardly Dangerous, that they (HD) may be required to recall our bikes and come up with an ACTUAL SOLUTION to this known defective charging system? Just trin' to understand the governmentese jargon in that letter... |
