So it's been three weeks since I've ridden, due to the electrical problem. I just ordered a new Rick's motorsport RR from a vendor to replace the failed Kwak OEM unit.

In testing the charging system, I've found my stator to put out 69 VAC at the stated 4000 rpm. This seems... excessive, since the factory service manual says that "nominal" is any value over 41 VAC.

Could too high a voltage come out of a bad stator/rotor and cause RR failure? Is my root problem this instead of a bad RR?

 

I think the manual says 41 VAC minimum for the 2009 and later models, and more than 34 VAC at 4000 RPM for 2007 and older. Below these values the stator should be replaced. The aftermarket stator should produce more energy than the stock unit. Measure the regulated voltage. If it is fine then I would not worry.

 

So I think I've got it figured out.

I ordered a Rick's Regulator from Regulator Rectifier dot-com. Installed, it's putting out 14.5VDC at idle, and 14.5 VDC at 4000 rpm. Interestingly, it's both smaller and lighter than the factory original. It comes with 5 wires into the plug, which plugs directly into the six-wire factory harness, leaving the Brown wire connection (top middle) unconnected to anything. Looking at the wiring diagram, it goes to the white side of the ignition switch.

The bike runs just fine... but guess what? The headlight's low beam is burned out!

I took off the fairing, and had to take the front fender off to get the headlamp out (PITA). Sure enough, the low-circuit filament is broken. I also notice it's a Phillips lamp... odd, that. Probably NOT factory original. Which means it's been replaced.

I put together what happened - underneath every panel on the bike, there's dirty water splashes. I think the previous owner took the bike through a water crossing, which cracked the regulator rectifier, and allowed 19+ volts through the electrical system, burning out batteries and the headlight. Instead of finding the solution to the problem, he kept swapping out parts.

Knucklehead.

I also put Mark Kreiger's cam-chain tensioner in, and WHAT DO YOU KNOW, no more crappy rattley chain slap! Now I have to buy an H4 lamp to put into the bike tomorrow and I can go off for a ride.

 

Way to go FOG. Your diagnosis and followup on all these issues seems to have been very thorough. Good fix.

 

Oh how I love follow up threads. Glad to see you got everything working. While you can blame kawi for a poor tensioner design, you can't blame them for previous owners. You may see a few more bulbs go since they were stressed by 19V. If the display craps out there are aftermarket upgrades for that as well. Congrats on getting it fixed!

The white wire goes from the battery to the ignition switch which switches 12V on to the brown wires throughout the bike. I wouldn't bypass this. Everything would be on all the time... but you probably know this.

 

Looking at Rick's website it seems that they may reference output voltage internally. The wire coming from the ignition switch can be used as a reference but it may also 'turn' the regulator off when the key is off. That is how most internally regulated alternators work-they need to see a switched voltage to operate. I would just verify that the lead from the switch has the same voltage as the battery(no voltage drop) and if it's good then connect it to the brown wire just to be safe.

 

So I wrote to Rick's asking them about the missing wire - it's a ground that's handled internally. True to form, the bike is up and running perfectly.

People, I'm putting this one to bed. Be careful during water crossings; that RR gets hot.

 

FWIW my 09 had a Philips headlight from the factory.