[Poacher]

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I bought my first wing a 1986 GL 1200 a few months ago. I got it at a good price because there was a problem with it. After about 3 miles she would cut out and would not start again for about 1 hour. The seller figured it was the fuel pump, he had already replaced the ignition system and the stator was replaced last year. She sounded great when she was running. Over the last month or so she got harder to start and eventually just died.

Going through the threads on this forum I got the suspicion that it may be the Pulse generators. I ordered the gennys and timing belts (no point in doing one without the other)

Yesterday I decided to take the bull by the horns and make a start. Armed with my Haynes manual I removed all the body bits and timing covers-- This was a lot further than i had expected to get.

Started back at it again this morning , everything was going fine until i tried to trace the route for the pulse generator cable, I eventually got the new one through- this must have taken about 2 hours. Replacing the belts, checking tensioners and leaks went well. I had everything back together by 3pm (excluding the body parts, I intend giving them a good cleaning while they are off).

I gave it a few turn overs without the plugs fitted just to make sure there were no funny noises--sounded ok. Now for the real test---With fingers and legs crossed I pushed the starter button. Eureka :clapper:She started first go. Sounds sweet. Left her running for about 30 mins and she has started every time since. I havent had her out for a drive yet but it looks like my problems are solved.

I then decided to fit a optimate 3 charger connection to maintain the battery over the winter. Good job I did, I discovered that the 3 wires from the stator had fused together, they had been rubbing off the metal holder where there should have been a connector block. This was easily fixed and properly protected. I only hope that the stator has not been damaged.

:stumped:Next job is to fit a Ammeter or Voltmeter which is the best option ?

 

[Goldwinger]

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Congratulations, it's sure feels good when you fix something your self and it works great. Did the conductors of any of the threeyellow wires coming from the stator actually touch each other??Check the other side of the battery for the starter relay / main fuse assembly, they can get a little warm and tend to melt all together. Ammeter is the best option, volt meter is by far the easier of the two to install.

 

[Goldwinger1984]

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That is wonderful news Poacher. Hope for your sake that the stator windings haven't melted also. That entails removing the engine.

Vic

 

[wexy]

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Well done Declan:clapper: ,it is a great feeling when you can get the thing fixed yourself ,,Now if it all works fine and no futher problems I think you will deserve the GURU satatus ,,,That is one up the nose for redwing ,,He cannot even put air in a tyre and he wants to be a guru .....HA hA ha ,makes me laugh the tought of it ,:waving:,cheers Ciaran

 

[Guest]

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wexman wrote:

Well done Declan:clapper: That is one up the nose for redwing ,,He cannot even put air in a tyre and he wants to be a guru ...

:crying::crying::crying::crying::crying::crying::crying::crying::crying::crying::crying::crying::crying::crying::crying::crying::crying::crying:

:crying: :18red: :crying:

 

[exavid]

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Poacher,

Take a look at the info I posted from the net for Philcsand under topic "1984 Gl1200 won't start when hot". It mentions checking out the stator windings.

I'd go with a voltmeter, lots easier to install and less chance of disaster.An ammeterhas tobe in series with the main battery lead which means big wires leading up to the meter. The volt meter will give the important information, whether the alternator is operating correctly.

 

[Jason]

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Paul is right, the voltmeter is safest. With an ammeter, the main power leads from the battery will have to be routed through the ammeter before going to their destinations. This leaves a lot of room for damaged power lead, fire risk etc.

 

[Brojees]

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Excuse my ignorance, but I am curious about the Ammeter installation. Why cannot a simple shunt be installed at the battery, the voltage developed there across the shunt can be read by a remote meter using quite manageable leads???

 

[Goldwinger]

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Your right Brojees, there are systems out that do just that. But still not as easy as a voltmeter that can be plugged into any live wire in the bike and give the information. Of course we recommend using one that is only on when the key is on.

 

[exavid]

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You can do it with a shunt and put a voltmeter across the shunt calibrated in amps, but why? You can find digital voltmeters cheaply or analog if you prefer, and there's no bother calibrating things.Not to mentionyou don't have to add anything in line with the bikes wiring! When you get down to it, it's the charging voltage that's important. You don't seen ammeters in cars anymore because with alternators there's usually no discharge of the battery even on idle. This wasn't true with the old generators, they usually showed a discharge on idle. If you put a ammeter in one of these bikes you should always have a near zero discharge at idle anyway unless you've loaded up with a lot of accessories. It might be useful to hook up an ammeter in series with one of the battery leads if a bunch of accessory stuff was just installed to see how the load looked, but after that the voltmeter keeps track of things with a log simpler installation. With a voltmeter you have a lot of options of where to pick up the +12V without running a lot of wire back to the battery location.

 

[Dave Campbell]

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Stator connector cannot damage the stator unless the shell melts and terminals touch - then its toast. An "open" stator connector cannot possibly damage the stator, that old wives tale violates all sort of electrical physics laws.

Ammeter is useless except to measure the parasitic drain when the ignition is off, shouldnt be more than 7 - 10 milliamp (0.007 - 0.10 amp). Put a voltmeter on board connected to the battery through a 1 amp fuse. Dont use the accessory terminals, theyll typically drop 1.3 - 1.5volts due to bad connetions in the wiring harness.

The battery charging voltage must read 14.5 - 14.8 VDC under any condition, including idle speeds down to 400 RPM or the charging system has failed.

Now that its "fixed," it may happen again, from another source. Remove the connector from the starter solenoid and look inside. If the terminal on the Red and Red/Yellow open-circuits, youll lose all power and this can be dangerous. You may be without engine and lights on the highway.

PS dont fear a stator change, its easy. My best time is 2 hours and 2 minutes.



"Excuse my ignorance, but I am curious about the Ammeter installation. Why cannot a simple shunt be installed at the battery, the voltage developed there across the shunt can be read by a remote meter using quite manageable leads??? "

It wont work because an ammeter shunt is typically 0.01 ohms or less (depending on teh current range to be sensed. 30 amp (max for the main fuse) across 0.01 ohm will cause the meter to read (30 amp x 0.01 ohms) = 0.3 volts, which isnt what the battery sees.

 

[exavid]

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A shunt will work but you will lose a little voltage to the bike under load and you'd need a low voltage zero center meter to show both charge and discharge. The formulafor voltage across a resistance is E=IR, so a shunt of .01 ohms will drop 0.3v (300mv) at 30A. You'd need a volt meter with a zero center and at least 300mv full scale either way. These can be found at electrical supply houses, but the real question is why? A voltmeter is better for the purpose.

Charging voltage indeed will vary, depending on the state of the battery, especially when idling when the alternator output is lowest. That's why Honda calls for a specific voltage at a given RPM to check out the alternator (stator+rotor=alternator)

The amount of available power (W=E*I) in this type of DC circuit is proportional to the rpm of the rotor. The rectifier converts the AC voltage generated by stator from the influence of the rotor's magnetic field, and the voltage regulator keeps the voltage from climbing beyond the 14v+ set point. At idle, especially a bike with a lot of added load such as accessory lights, etc. will have enough power needs that the output of the rectifier may not be up to the regulator set point and the voltage will drop. The regulator actually is only a limiter, it can't prop up low voltage