Replacing R/R

[CalvinFold]

Flickering dash and headlights, had the shop check the electrical system. They said it's the R/R.

QUESTION: Do you have to remove the left side rear body panel to replace the R/R our can it be done without all that trouble. I've had that apart once before and you have to take half the rear of the bike apart just to get that panel off, and the R/R is just "right there" in plain view. ;-p

Also, it's a 2007 with the original battery...would you suggest a new battery while I'm at it?

THANKS!

[Buffalo]

I don't see how you could change it without pulling the panel. You might be able to get to the 2 bolts that hold it on using a long extension but I don't think you can get to the plugs. They sit above the filler neck tube right below where the grab handle bolts on.

[CalvinFold]

Darn, knew there had to be a catch. Yeah we thought it would be okay for a while yet, but I got a little scare as I left work and on the way down the parking garage the bike lost power and every dash light came on, then off, then the bike came alive again. Never done that before.

Not sure I want that to happen while I'm doing 70mph on the highway in the fast lane (or even 55mph in the slow lane, for that matter) so I'm going to have the shop ship me the R/R and just take public transportation in the meantime, just to be safe.

I'll ask again though...2007 and OEM battery with 53,000 miles. I get the impression from the few threads I found that I might want to also consider getting a new battery, while I'm doing "electrical stuff"?

[Buffalo]

I replaced my battery about year ago at around 60,000 miles so I would guess yours is close to the end of it's life. However the on in my 06 400 is still going strong.

[zeco]

Replacing the rectifier is not hard, but will take a bit of time. Don't sweat it and don't rush it. All will work out fine.

[CalvinFold]

Yeah I know the R/R is not "hard" just time consuming.

Talked to shop. They will order R/R then ship it to me when they get it (Suzuki won't drop ship). So probably weekend after next until I get things back in order for riding.

Also talked directly to mechanic and he says while the R/R check did indicate it's failing (and that it's the R/R not the stator), it might not be the cause of the flickering lights and the bike suddenly losing power yesterday. He says that's still a possibility, but it's also possible when I dropped my bike while on vacation (was stopped, so "parking lot dropped") something or more than one something has come loose. He recommended I remove the front cowling and just check and resnug everything, as well as check the battery connections.

Had the shop order a battery. They don't recommend OEM, they said about 3 years ago they started getting unreliable and now they spec an aftermarket gel battery.

Also was warned that it's not unusual on other Suzuki's to replace a failing R/R only to find that now the stator is registering as failing. Not too surprised...that issue isn't limited to Suzuki's. Another reason why I've opted to stop riding the bike--stop riding on the weak R/R and not risk the stator (which from threads here is an expensive replacement). I'll have the electrical checked again the next time I'm in for service.

Shop is going to see if the R/R is covered under my extended warranty. Probably not, but they're going to give it a whirl. ;-p

[ErikDK]

The charging system is not rocket science. We have a stator with 3 wires going to a regulator/rectifier, from which a positive and a negative cable go to the battery. All three main components and the connections between them have to be in order. Nothing more, and nothing less. A bad battery disturbs the whole system, a new one is relatively cheap and easily installed. But remember to charge it fully first.
With the new and perky battery installed do the troubleshooting YOURSELF and take advantage of the fact that you have the time to do it right and think, whilst the mechanic is under pressure to earn money, including on unnecessary spares. It's bad for revenue to do multi-hour troubleshooting and not sell spares, it's much better to bill 2 hours for one spent and sell a bunch of spares. Maybe they don't cheat you, but time spent on you can not be used on the smaller jobs, where rounding up means that that you can bill 12 hours or more on a single shift.

Read this thread, and see for yourself: http://www.triumphrat.net/speed-triple- ... grade.html


Think about substituting Suzuki's bottom-of-the-line regulator-rectifier with a mosfet type.

The stator can be rewound, and some sources say that the core is shared with other Suzuki's, only the cable length and the connectors differ.

Now if the choice was between the scooter being fixed with genuine spares from day to day, and hunting down alternative spares for a week or two, I could understand why you would chose the former, but that's clearly not the case, people report of several weeks or longer delivery times. And the rectifier installed is the same cheap type thatburned out in the first place.

[dsfraser]

Flickering dash and headlights, had the shop check the electrical system. They said it's the R/R.

QUESTION: Do you have to remove the left side rear body panel to replace the R/R our can it be done without all that trouble. I've had that apart once before and you have to take half the rear of the bike apart just to get that panel off, and the R/R is just "right there" in plain view. ;-p

Also, it's a 2007 with the original battery...would you suggest a new battery while I'm at it?

THANKS!

It can be done, with difficulty. My bike broke down. The rectifier was known to be the problem and the shop mechanic replaced it without removing the tupperware. It took him 90 minutes of cursing and swearing while I pried the tupperware apart so he could reach in. Two people --- 90 minutes.

There are four pieces of tupperware to remove for clean access. The two at the back are held by a pair of pins and come off in two minutes. The seat tray and side panel are more involved... they take maybe ten minutes. From there, replacing the rectifier takes all of a minute --- two screws, two plugs. So, fifteen minutes apart, fifteen minutes together, two minutes for the repair, as opposed to 90 minutes with a buddy, cursing all the while.

Replacing the regulator without removing the tupperware seems like a short-cut. It isn't. Do it the right way, and it's much quicker and easier.

Scott Fraser
Calgary

[CalvinFold]

Your cynicism about mechanics is appropriate ErikDK, which is why I ride an hour out of town to get to my current Suzuki shop, because the closer ones have proven your point--they are truly aweful (East Bay Motorsports in Hayward, CA being the worst of the lot).

My current mechanic I actually trust and he seems to know what he's doing. More often than not they bill under what the Suzuki books say (in terms of amount of time a given service will take), and even advised ways to save money on certain scheduled services, or found cheaper ways to accomplish the same task. You know, like you or I would.

Frankly, if I end-up distrusting one more dealer and feel I have to resort to doing everything myself is the day I give-up owning motor vehicles of any type. Just gonna throw in the towel on the whole deal. Aweful close to doing that now, despite having a good dealer.

[peelbrow]

You are right to be cynical about 'mechanics' . I recently took my Ford Focus car in for its yearly MOT. It passed ok, then a few days later they phoned to tell me that the Ford's warranty had run out. I explained that of course it's warranty had run out - It was probably because the car is 6 years old! They rely very much on customer ignorance and will try anything for profit. Kenp

[JamesR]

Mine had flickering lights (intermittently) for several years then it quit me altogether.
Might be worth checking the harness ground.
viewtopic.php?f=4&t=54197

[CalvinFold]

I noticed you had the entire trunk off the bike, but can you get at the connector by removing the seat and also the "tray" under the battery, which is considerably easier? I'm referencing:

http://www.burgmanusa.com/forums/viewto ... 97#p500098

I think you might be on to something and I might check this as I'm replacing the R/R, since I'll have quite a bit of that apart anyway.

[Buffalo]

You don't have to remove either the trunk or the seat. All you have to remove is the side panel with the gas filler in it. The plugs are right behind that side panel. Of course to get that off you have to remove the passenger grab handle, rear center panels and the lower panel under the floorboards.

[JamesR]

I noticed you had the entire trunk off the bike, but can you get at the connector by removing the seat and also the "tray" under the battery, which is considerably easier?

I removed the seat for extra working room as I didn't know how much body work I was going to have to remove to find the problem.
I didn't remove the trunk, just the battery tray.
Two Phillips head screws and two 10mm (wrench size) one of each on each side is all that's required to remove the tray.

[CalvinFold]

You don't have to remove either the trunk or the seat. All you have to remove is the side panel with the gas filler in it. The plugs are right behind that side panel. Of course to get that off you have to remove the passenger grab handle, rear center panels and the lower panel under the floorboards.

I just meant I'm already disassembling annoying parts of that side of the bike, doing the battery tray is not as much extra pain in the backside as say taking the front cowling off. Sorry for the confusion. I was just commenting I may try checking that connector before going under the cowling.

[CalvinFold]

I noticed you had the entire trunk off the bike, but can you get at the connector by removing the seat and also the "tray" under the battery, which is considerably easier?

I removed the seat for extra working room as I didn't know how much body work I was going to have to remove to find the problem.
I didn't remove the trunk, just the battery tray.

Two Phillips head screws and two 10mm (wrench size) one of each on each side is all that's required to remove the tray.

I thought that is what I remembered. I've been under there at least twice before to tap into the harness, but that was about 3 years ago. The first time I did it without removing the seat, and that was a royal pain. It's worth the extra time to just unbolt the seat from the hinge to get better visibility and accessibility.

Appreciate this little tip (to check the harness ground), and won't be too surprised if this is the culprit on the lights flickering. At least I hope it's that easy.

[CalvinFold]

I've started a new thread specific to the flickering electrical, since it may or may not be related to the R/R:

viewtopic.php?f=4&t=54945

I did check the frame ground connector: white connector, single flat blade, one end goes to the negative battery terminal, one end disappears into the left-side harness?