Its not just checking your charging volts though its more complicated than that to make sure the regulator rectifier is not going to toast another $180 worth of battery. It takes ten minutes to fully test it and then you know it won't blow another battery. Also for some strange reason rr's don't behave like mechanical parts do where if its broke its broke sometimes at idle it will read fine but under driving loads is spiking like crazy. Some start letting ac current slip pass the rectifier and will read as good voltage at the battery but slowly drain the battery because of the negative positive pulse of ac canceling itself out. Batteries are batteries if its twelve volt it will be happy at 14volts any more and it can blow. Yuasa sounds like to me is saying the battery you put in is more sensative and will blow faster then the original, but it still doesn't answer why if it was getting the right amount of voltage did it explode. We just don't want to see you have to buy another battery after its all said and done.

 

Sure... They do make the batteries... Not the charging circuit though...

If you don't want to believe in me... Have them explain the difference in the two charging circuits and if they can give an exact answer as to the difference... Well then I'll believe it...

Until then as far as I'm concerned an list of identical parts will end up with the same result... Regardless of model year and parts number...

The stator is the same... The R/R is the same... the cabling is the same... The purpose is the same...

Convert AC to DC, smooth out the power throughout the rev band to a manageable voltage range for the battery and burn off excess as heat...

There is no difference...

 

Also for some strange reason rr's don't behave like mechanical parts do where if its broke its broke sometimes at idle it will read fine but under driving loads is spiking like crazy.

Thanks for all the help. Well, I talked to the shop this morning, and they were very fair. Turns out they did not make a test of charging current underload, at temp (they stick it on the dyno) and then stuck in this up-rated battery. Which boiled to a frazzle in no time.
They are returning the 01-05 battery and crediting me full amount, they have a 98-00 battery on the shelf, and are ordering in a voltage regulator. The Honda voltage regulator is very expensive about $150 and I've seen 'em for cheaper, but it is plain that Brother's Powersports is willing to stand behind their repairs, so I'll go with them. If there's any further problem I'm sure they will stand behind it.

Although in fact you guys are right about the RR spiking, and the electrical system being the same (and thanks for the advice) at this time we're gonna stick with all stock.
And I appreciate the fact that Brother's Powersports of Bremerton Washington, stood behind their repair, and did not attempt to stick me with the cost, nor did they insist the boiled battery could be further used.
Of course, as soon as my bike looked to be incapacitated, hor's de frickin' combat
the weather turned beautiful, some of the best riding weather of the year. But I'm used to that.

 

So it turned out the advice on the voltage regulator was good, and I thank you all for it, but there's a deeper more terrifying aspect to this story. I love motorcycles, have all my life, been riding for 35 years now, but I have a curse on me: As soon as I take my bikes there, a service department goes to hell. No kidding, I am like Typhoid Mary for motorcycle service departments. All I have to do is walk in and ask for a oil filter, and people start drinking again, or stop taking necessary medications, or have marital problems, or stop contacting their probation officer and a once smooth-working organisation turns into a mess. It's a curse, and I know it, so I don't even get mad when this happens. Okay, I was a little mad, haven't slept for a week, just sit up all night with the VTR manual and a bottle of vodka, groaning occasionally, but ****, who isn't doing that these days?

 

Oh yeah- Brothers says that from now on they are going to put all new batteries on the dyno and check charge at speed and load, to avoid another incident like this.

 

service dept do get a lot of bad press, good for them to stand up and take care of the situation. it would have been nice if they would have been more thorough the first time through ... dead batteries in the spring are all to common. probably 1:1000 have a charging problem.

tim

 

Glad you got it cleared up!

And if it weren't for the known issue with our R/Rs I'd not have been so sure of the issue. (I had the exact same thing happen to me..)

 

Yes, thanks again for keeping that R/R issue at the forefront. And I'm satisfied: I am not being stuck with any charges other than the battery and RR and one hour labor. Of course, I nearly had an expensive battery blow up on my legs and strand me far from home, and it will end up taking three weeks to get this right, but what the hell!
Like I said, as soon as I come near them, service departments fall to pieces. It's a curse.

 

Derbig Mooser... Glad it worked out... Hope I didn't come on too strong... I'm kind of stubborn at times...

Good on them for standing by their work and clearing out the mess...

BTW... You and me might have the same curse... Hence the reason I try to do as much as possible myself... Last time my VTR was at the shop, a police car managed to back into it on the yard and I ended up getting a new fairing and brake pedal...

The police garage and this shop shares the yard... But still what are the odds? Altough it keeps down on the break-in attempts for the shop owner...

 

BTW... You and me might have the same curse...

At one time I had three BMW airheads, and I couldn't get them serviced right. Is there a simpler bike? I like to do my own stuff, make my own chains, blend my own oil out of kitchen grease and hand lotion, make my own tires out of discarded hair-bands, stuff like that, but it's nice to have reliable service nearby. I also make my own fuel out of rubbing alchohol and Coca-Cola when fuel prices get too high.
The battery is there at the shop, the Honda RR is on it's way. And if the RR doesn't work (I got a dead one for my VFR couple years ago, no return) it'll be their problem.

It is a little discouraging. Simplicity and easy servicing was one of the reasons I chose the VTR.
I should go get my 900SS ('93) all fixed up. That's what got me started on this whole v-twin sport-bike thing. BTW, the VTR is twice as much bike than any of the air-cooled Ducs.

All praise to my wife, incidentally. I sent her down to the bike shop this morning to negotiate the deal. I would have started swinging right away, I was so pissed. But she straightened the thing all out, while I sat at home rocking back and forth and tearing my hair out, what little is left of it. It's like "Cripple Creek"- "I don't have to speak, she defends me. A drunkard's dream, if I ever did see one!"

I guess that's way before your time. Oh well.

 

Thanks again, all. Now if you kind folks will excuse me, I'm gonna go leave no turn unstoned.

 

Well... it might be before my time... but I still have seen it...

The damned thing is... The VTR is simple to work on... You try them newfangled ones with a brain... I design circuits for a living and I still wanted to take a hammer and beat the **** brain thingy in my brothers newer GSXR into itty bitty pieces when it decided it was the boss, not me...

I usually end up having my gf do the negotiating aswell... Not cuz I'd start swinging (well, that too...) But becuase when you jump up and down and yell incoherently people tend to not understand you... It just infuriates me even more...

 

Tweety, I still have not seen the bike, in my opinion, that can do anything more for me, on the road, than the VTR. And it's faults (a little overgeared, cheap springs and shocks, seat sloping forward) are easily and cheaply remedied.
If the reliability of motorcycle charging systems is not too good, why would I want to buy an electronically fuel-injected bike? The miscommunication and wasted time and effort involved in getting a goddamed battery does not encourage me. So what happens when I bring my Ducati 1138 in for service? And what happens to fuel-injection brains and pumps if they are subjected to unregulated generator output?

I have got to look into the other forks which can go on the VTR. Since they are the male-slider type, you swap out everything down to the steering-stem? Or machine the triple trees?

Oh yeah, and the curse came through again! Turns out that the guy who ran their service department and race team for many years left the shop recently, on to other things, and the service department is still a bit shaky on the customer-communications side. And I got caught in the middle.

 

Well... That's the very reason I'm tinkering with my VTR... Not much left that came out of the factory by now...

 

I wonder how grafting on a new front end compares to having the stock forks rebuilt with progressive springs, better valves?
Did the 1000RR forks on your bike simply go on at the steering stem? Or do you machine the triple trees? Steering stem, right? is there an adapter involved?
A new front end gets you new brakes, radial, too. There's a Ferodo oversize rotor kit for the VTR at about $700 (two oversize rotors and caliper spacers)

And I've seen some bikes here which have featured extensive engine mods, increased compression and aftermarket cams.

 

So you are using 16-42? I'm using 16-43, which I like a lot.

 

If you search for "fork swap" you will find a lot of threads on this.

You need different triple trees to do the swap.. The normal setup is CBR 929/954 triples with your choice of upside down forks.

 

Yes, thanks, I've been looking into it. I think some new springs and valving would do me fine, along with a better rear shock. But a complete change of front end might be the way to go.
Ah well, first I gotta get it back and make sure the new battery/regulator combo is working right. And that won't be til Fri. at the earliest. More likely Sat. Or next ******* tuesaday!

 

Nurse! Bring the crash cart... I think we just lost another one...

Yeah I tried a bunch of different ratios... The 15-somethings where to extreme... I ended up here... but 16-43 is also a good choice...

The CBR 1000RR front with wheel and brakes incl radial master cylinder is basically a bolt on affair with the 929/954 triple tree... A little clearance issues with a bunch of hoses and such and the radiators... but surprisingly easy...

I did the springs and valves on my stock forks... it was a marked improvement... The difference to this though is mindblowing... The first reaction was "naah... nothing special...squirms just as before..." Then I looked down at the speedo and realised I was doing my favourite road at about twice my normal speed... At which point I would have ended up in a ditch long ago with the stock components...

 

16-43 just perfected the driveline for me. Oh, crap! It just hit me! I guess R/R problems would become evident with the engine spinning a couple hundred RPM higher!

A new front end would be great, but I have to apportion my motorcycle modification dollars between three bikes. There are two major shortcomings in the SuperHawk front, bad "stiction" over small, sharp bumps, and bad springs. And 900SS needs,at the least, a new rear shock. It has Showa upside-down units in front very similiar to those on the 90's GSXR-750.
And there's always the question of who to take it to. The conventional forks on the Hawk seem not impossible to take down and re-assemble at home. Looked yesterday and found sources of R/R and stator for my VFR, including the pesky Y-W-Y silver-tinned (?) wires and connector. About $300, all told. And I've got to get my wife to stop sprinkling tacks and chunks of broken glass in the driveway when she wants me to stay home, so she can tell me to go away. Tires are expensive!

Stopped in at the local BMW dealer, where the salesman was nearing a sort of chronic apoplexy I have noticed many BMW owners are afflicted with. Us SuperHawk guys, of course are all urbane, sophisticated yet down-to-earth types, irresistable to women, yet forming splendid, manly, male bonds (when we are not trying to unload bent forks or burnt-out Power Commanders on each other) just like Pythias and Damon used to have when they were just bro's, chillin' and hangin' before they sold out to the myths-and-legends industry. We are redolent of fine cigars and old brandy, good judges of woman and horseflesh and breeding, button cute, rapier sharp, wafer thin, and yet withal still we commune with the masses and are always at the head of the popular front.
I mean, haven't you noticed that?
Oh, the BMW salesman? He was all het up about BMW's new sport bikes; 4 across-the-front, with a cassette 6-speed, and a chain final drive And don't believe anyone saying you can't hiss a word which starts with "ch". Ach, these BMW guys!
Now, if you don't mind, I'll just sit here and have a good cry over selling my three air-heads. I could have kept those bikes till the end of my natural life, or up until my wife shoots me like she did her first husband. Gotta go, Tweety, can't type and sob at the same time. I never get a break!

 

I would sure like to find a minature voltage gauge, maybe an LCD, something wafer thin and button cute to mount on my instrument panel so I can keep track of my regulator failure. I have a volt gauge on my VFR and it has saved my *** many times. When it starts hanging at ten volts, go home immediately!
Does anyone know of a suitable voltage gauge?

 

Well... If you want to know actual voltage I cant help you... but If it's a question of knowing when to go get the toolchest I came up with this simple idea...

https://www.superhawkforum.com/forum...ad.php?t=11410

 

Tweety, thanks for responding. Yes, I too wondered, what the hell happened to the old charge light? Even my duc has a charge light.
I was looking around, and there are lots of LCD voltage gauges, very small packages. Just wire it across the battery, right?
My VFR has a 2 1/8" hole in the fairing for an accessory clock, into which I put a standard gauge, but that won't work on the Hawk.
I like the gauge because it can also warn of overcharging, as well as undercharge.
Of course, I will defer to you on electrical matters, you being already an electrical mayven.

 

Anyway, I got the bike back on Saturday, rode around a little, and it sat idle on Sunday, for religious reasons. But in a few minutes, our interminable rain having at least temporarily abated, I will throw on the old leathers and start the bike and do a few errands. If it starts!

The suspense is awful.

 

Sorry Tweety, I read it again and your device does warn of overcharging. I just think a miniature voltage gauge would be simpler.
But I just found another excuse to go for a ride. Got to go to the bank, and sign this and that. Bye.