Hello,

I'm a little confused why my bike is not charging. I went through my user's manual, did all the rectifier/regulator and stator tests, all of which passed, but it still is only hitting slightly less than 13v at best, and to make things more confusing, the volts actually drop with I rev the engine almost down to nothing around 4-5000 rpm. When I tested the stator in accordance to the manual I got a "Magneto Output Voltage" of "not less than 34v @ 4000 rpm." I then ran tests on the rectifier/regulator which also passed. However, the manual did mention that even if the regulator passes, it doesn't necessarily mean it's 100%. Anyways, any thoughts out there. At this point I was thinking about changing the rec/regulator.

Thanks for your help,

Jack

Sounds to me like your flywheel might have a short in it or one of the magnets may have come off. Time to crack to case to check it out.

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Have owned - 2001 Suzuki Volusia
Current bike - 2005 Kawasaki Z750S
MMI Graduation date January 9th, 2009. Factory Certifications in Suzuki and Yamaha

Thanks for the advice, I see what you mean about the flywheel being loose. I don't know a whole lot about motorcycle repair, just basically what the manual gives me, but when I disconnected the plug from the rectifier to test for voltage on all 3 yellow wires I got the right amount. What could explain this?

If the magnet came off you'd still get the right amount (maybe a little low) for lower engine speeds. It's when it revs up that the magnetic fields would start screwing up if they weren't in proper alignment.
The other possible thing is that the flywheel is shorted out. When you test those three yellow wires, it tests insulation, ground, and electrical production.
Oh and as for the regulator/rectifier. On almost every one I've seen fail, it lets it fail to wide open, meaning even when the bike is fully charged, it's still producing full charging output to the battery. (Think way more than 13V)
Honestly that's not a hard thing to check, but you will need a new gasket and an oil change to get to it IIRC.
Where are you located?

_________________
Have owned - 2001 Suzuki Volusia
Current bike - 2005 Kawasaki Z750S
MMI Graduation date January 9th, 2009. Factory Certifications in Suzuki and Yamaha

Thanks again for the advice. The former owner has an extra gasket, so I'll prolly start pulling that thing apart this weekend. I will just have my owner's manual and this blog to rely on, but I don't think it should be too difficult. What exactly am I checking for to see if the flywheel has shorted out?

I'm locating in College Park, MD right outside DC.