Charging System Woes

[Northman]

During the trip to AZ, I experienced a dead battery for no apparent reason in, of all places, Las Vegas while we were stopped on the strip.

Push started the bike, and rode it back to Havasu, attributing the dead battery with the fact we were travelling at little more than idle for some time, and the fan was running all the while.

Stopped for fuel on the way home, and had plenty of battery power to fire it up. Again the next morning all was OK.

Battery went dead again the next day after Brett rode it in & around town (low speeds again). Figured at this point my battery was toast.

Push started it again the next day for our ride home, and it ran flawlessly for the next 200 miles or so until it got too cold to ride. Pulled over, and left the bike running. Went back to the bike a minute or two later, and it had stalled (high altitude, I had to keep adjusting my idle speed for it), then wouldn't restart (battery dead again :sad: ).

I pulled the battery tonight, and it seems to be taking a charge just fine. Pulled the plug on the reg, and it's partially melted. Both outer yellow wires have their terminals blackened, and part of the connector melted.

My question is:

Has anybody had experience with just bad connections before? Seems all was well until we ran through a ton of rain on Wed, and problem started on Thursday.

I'll check the stator tomorrow, as well as the battery condition, but hoping the fix is just in the connections.

[jrdxx]

It may be weather related; it may only be coincidence. My swag is that the stator is on it's way out.

[Pete in PA]

Hard to say for sure but probably will be fine. when you repair the connector crimp the female ends tighter and then connect them together. Make sure you check the connector at the stator also. it's suceptible to the same thing.

The permanent solution is to dike off the connectors and solder the connections.