XJ550 Owners in LA?

Is there anybody out there who owns either a Seca or Maxim 550 so I could come by and try out your regulator/rectifier on my bike. I've tried 3 different used RRs from salvage shops and I still get bad readings. I'm having charging problems obviously and before I lay a hundred bucks on a new RR I want to make sure that's the problem. Thanks.

 

A city the size of LA you should have several motorcycle salvage facilities , you might find better prices and lay your hands on parts without waiting on shipping and sometimes a guarantee part works .

 

RR’s are not a high failure item on xj’s
And to have 3 different ones give you a “bad” reading makes me suspect something else is wrong.
Bad ground
Bad brushes
Bad connection
Bad meter
What reading are you getting from
Stator baseline reading (ohms)
Rotor ohms between copper rings
Stator output while running
Battery voltage before startup
Battery voltage at idle
Battery voltage at 3000 rpm

 

Thanks for responding. I agree, I don't think it's the RR.
Bad ground: I'm guessing you are referring to the battery ground which I cleaned up with sandpaper and got them nice and shiny.
Bad brushes: Mine are brand new
Bad connection: I cleaned up all the connection harnesses and also replaced the fuse box.
Bad meter: My multimeter works great if that's what you're referring to.
Stator checks out fine: all 0.4-0.6 ohms
Rotor is fine at 4.6 I believe
Stator output: when I rev it up goes off the charts 30+volts
Battery has been fully charged everytime I conduct tests
Battery voltage at idle: usually somewhere between 12.1-12.2volts which I've learned is normal for XJs
Battery voltage at 3000rpms: If I have a fully charged battery and I rev it to 3000rpms I will get the required 14.5volts of charging output. What seems to be suspect is that after 20minutes of riding I will come home and run the same test and only get 12.5volts of charging output at 3000rpms. Some people on here tell me I don't have a problem with my charging system and that's normal but my battery will get as low as 12volts after a ride but will sometimes charge up to 12.6. It's never consistent so that's why I wanted to try another RR.

 

What's the problem you are chasing? Bike won't after a ride because battery is dead? I have three bikes now and I don't think I can tell you the last time I checked voltage on any of them. I recently checked the voltages on a Vulcan 1500 but only because the bike had a dead battery after riding it and had to troubleshoot it. If the bike starts and rides every time I'm not sure I'd be too worried about it.

You've mentioned in multiple threads now that the voltages drop after it warms up, we've asked twice if you checked the resistance of the stator etc. after it warms up and I don't think I've seen a response on that question. I could've missed it though, my apologies if I did.

@Toomanybikes is correct, I think I've replaced one RR on who knows how many bikes I've owned in the last 25 years.

 

there are 3 grounds on the bike frame (motor)
where the neg cable from battery connects to the motor
then a smaller cable from motor grounds to frame on bottom right of battery box hold down screw.
there is also a ground at the right side ignition coil .

 

I did mention it in an earlier post so yes, you might have missed it but I believe after a ride it went up to about 6.8ohms. I didn't feel this was any concern because I checked the output of the stator and it was still producing over 30 volts ac.

 

Joshua,

With no disrespect, I believe you are making a problem out of one that does not exist.

Other members here have reiterated the same belief.....

I say "button up your bike and go riding".
Go have fun.

 

The stator should be .5 ohms, 6.8 is way out of spec. You could still get 30+ volts without load on the stator.

In case you don;t have it, here is everything you need to know and test on the charging system.

https://www.xjcd.org/node/1250

I am curious if you have an issue though, does the bike not start because of dead battery after riding?

 

My bike always charges at ~14v at all times when I'm above 2000-2500 rpm. I dont experience voltage going back down to 12.5 until I turn the engine off. No matter if I ride across town or across the state, and my voltmeter attached to my handlebars tells me so. Does this mean I have a charging system issue? I had thought this is how it was supposed to function. You dont expect the voltmeter in your car/truck to settle down to ~12v once its "charged the battery back up from starting" or am I way off base? I think Josh has an issue in his charging system, I just cant pin down what it is. I agree with jayrodoh that out of spec is out of spec on the stator. Maybe that's the issue.

 

think about what a stator is, just a long wire wrapped into a coil. what could happen to it, break and it is open or short between the windings and the wire effectively gets shorter, less ohms. so where 6.8 ohms comes from, i don't know, could 6.8 really be .68 ? since resistance goes up with temperature
i could see that being right.
i've never seen my volt meter go to 14, starting around 11. idle after start ~12, riding ~13. by voltmeter sucks and the battery is around 5 years but i'm happy

 

Agreed, I didn't think about it that way. Makes sense. When riding though you dont see your voltmeter go back down to 12 from 13 unless you're stopped idling though correct?

 

My indicator for a charging system issue on these older bikes is when the blinkers stop blinking when the bike is running

 

Reference this thread:

https://www.xjbikes.com/forums/threads/bike-doesnt-start-in-cold-weather.122988/page-7

I think this is the quote he was referring to and the rotor and stator have gotten confused.

"#142- I also checked the ohms on the rotor after the first ride and it read 6.7ohms. Is it suppose to be out of spec when the components are hot?

And from the same thread:

"# 127 Update, stator read 0.7-0.9 ohms after an evening ride. It read 0.4-0.6 ohms before the ride. Going to change out the stator with a used one I found off a Maxim. Stay tuned."

And yes, the charging system should read 14.5 +/- .3 volts with a fully charged battery so there is a problem. If you leave the house with 14.5 and return with out of spec numbers the battery is discharging.

 

Thank you soooo much. Someone finally heres me!! Yes, my voltmeter goes down down down until it is barely over 12 volts. In any case, my readings after the ride were for the rotor not the stator. Sorry about that.

 

The reading was for the rotor not the stator. I don't know why I got that confused. The stator read about 0.8ohms after a ride.

 

Ok, just checking. I cleaned all 3 of those a while ago with sandpaper and got them very shiny so those are good to go.

 

Thanks but I want to take some extended rides not just little neighborhood rides and I'm scared I'll be stranded somewhere with a dead battery.

 

This is exactly what is happening and yet everyone is saying I don't have a problem. Thanks for clearing up everything.

 

In addition to the charging problem I also have a valve issue. A couple months ago my uncle and I did some work on the engine and pulled the head off. After we put everything back together and tightened everything down we measured the valve clearances, purchased the correct shims, put everything together and the bike ran great. Recently, the bike started to act up where there is extreme popping on acceleration and the engine became louder and chattery. I opened the top cover to check everything and it seems all the valve clearances with the exception of one became tight and out of spec. I checked the cam chain and that seemed pretty good. Not loose at all. Before I do a whole new valve job do you have any suggestions of what might have happened that would've made all the valve clearances too tight?