Stator

[Wayne]

Installed new stator on my Vision, cut connectors and soldered leads direct to harness. What is the best insulation to put around solder points. Tks Wayne

[Lucky]

unfortunatly it's a little late now, but heat shrink tubing is the best to use on soldered wire, then wrap with electrical tape.

If your new here you may not know, but this charging system produces a lot of heat, and that quickly takes it's toll on the R/R & stator. it's not unusual to see these things fry in rapid succesion.  soldering the connections is only half of the fix.  the other half consists of fashioning a bracket and mounding the R/R on the rear passenger foot peg. this puts the R/R in the cool air stream instead of boxed in behind the battery, cooking over the rear exhaust.

to do this you will need to lengthen the wires so they reach. you don't need to unsolder your work then, because if you just cut the wires at a different spot then you can slip the heat shrink tube over your solder joint. (if it's not obvious, heat shrink tube has to go on the wire before you solder)

make sure you have the tubing far enough down the wire so that it doaesn shrink just from the heat of soldering.

long winded ain't I? lol

--Lucky

[Wayne]

Thanks Lucky on tip regarding shrink tubes. Can still install them. Have used this trick before. Slit two tubes length wise, put them over correct spot with each slit on opposite side of one another. Worked great last time, will try again. Tks Wayne

[Lucky]

Interesting trick, i'll have to try it sometime.  i suppose using larger shrinkwrap and overlaping it might work as well.

you should really save yourself a headach & more $$ and relocate the R/R now before you burn out another stator.  it's a bit more hassle, but you won't have to be so worried about your charging system anymore. (worry if you don't move it over)

--Lucky

[Wayne]

Lucky-I am going to take your advice and move the R/R(pardon my ignorance) as soon as I figure out what it is. Wayne

[h2olawyer]

Hi Wayne -

The R/R is the Regulator / Rectifier.  It is currently mounted to the back of your battery box.  Relocation is the simplest and surest fix but there is another that a couple of us are trying.  You can get a 12 volt CPU fan and mount it to the R/R.  I tapped into the tail light circuit for power.  Just one season - about 2500 miles on it so far - but it seems to be working well.  Had it in some rain and several 100 degree days as well.

Used a remote temp sensor on the R/R & temp between the inner cooling fins never exceeded 120 degrees F.  That was after I shut off the bike.  Heat from the exhaust raises the temp in that confined space when there is no air movement.  As long as the bike was running (with the fan), I never saw temps over 105, even when stopped & idling.

H2O

[Lucky]

H2o, How do you know if the fan is working (hasn't failed)? Does it make enough noise to hear it, at least at idle?  I've seen PC case fans fail plenty of times, and usually when the computer is moving at 0 mph, lol.  i'm not saying it's a bad idea, i just wonder if there is a more reliable fan out there for this kind of use.

Wayne, the R/R is mounted to the back of the battery box. even if you place a fan on it as h2olawer suggests, you will need to do some additional soldering.  

the R/R has 2 harnesses comming from it. one you've already soldered (the 3 white wires from the stator)  the other harness goes to the bikes wire harness. this connector also melts, usually at the heavy black ground wire in the connector.  

also, when you do this you'll notice a thinner yellow wire at the connector that doesn't go anywhere. you can fold this wire ofer & heatshrink the end. the yellow wire was used on some yamaha's that used the same stator for switching auxillary lights, but not on ours.

[Wayne]

Gentlemen, thanks for all the advice. I purchased a Vision in December of 04. I had never seen one like that and just had to have it(You know, one born every minute).The previous owner took care of bike, no scratches, dings, 100% original.Bike was kept covered in a garage since new and is close to show room condition. The problem I encountered is that all he ever did was change oil, filter, air cleaner and that is it. 14,000 mile and had never been tuned. My first ride on it was akin to riding a a wheel borrow with a attitude. New plugs, carbs rework, and new stator and it runs like dream. I rode it 3 miles and parked it in garage with battery tender on battery. I am aware of all the little problems Vision have from studying the Vision home page, so, I am going to address all those before I ride again.It is too nice a bike to not take care of. Thanks for all the info, I really appreciate it. My last little chore before riding again is to coat the inside of the tank. Now, that will be a experience since I have never tried this before. Again, Thanks Wayne

[h2olawyer]

The fan makes enough noise to hear with the engine off & power on.  I listen for it before & after each ride.  Like I said, relocation is the more reliable cooling method but there are some things about this bike that vanity keeps me from doing - like relocating the R/R to the passenger peg.  If the fan does fail, they're pretty cheap & now that the R/R has the small mounting holes drilled in it, replacement would take very little time.  I might look into a more weatherproof fan before this one fails, though.

When I get the full fairing, I will consider mounting it up front, below the headlight, though.  In the meantime, Walt has had success with the CPU fan and my experience has been positive as well.

H2O

[Lucky]

The 83 fairing I sent to Superfly (that he crashed, gee thanks!  ;D ) was preped for the R/R up front, you can see some of how it would have fit on this old page: http://www.xz550.com/fairing2trade.html you can see where i've cut the front of the fairing for the R/R & scoop.  wish i'd have taken pics, i didn't have a digital camera at a time. look at the 4th pic down.

I also grabbed a 3rd brake light out of..i think a toyota... and used the shell to create a scoop to hide the R/R more than direct air over it.  I wish I had pics of that.  I used a spring to hold it on, just to test fit stuff.

i bought another fairing & never finished the project before i sold the fairing to Superfly.  hopefully he still has the 'scoop' and perhaps can hold it up under the fairing & take a pic to give an example of what i'm trying to desribe. it woulda looked neat!, lol

--Lucky

[h2olawyer]

I remember when you were working with that front R/R project.  Sounded interesting then & that's what gave me the notion to move the R/R up there when I get the fairing.  No real timetable on that project yet.  Didn't remember what you used for the scoop.

All you Visionaries out there in the northeast enjoying your blizzard?  Sounds fairly nasty from here.

H2O

[Lucky]

15" - 30"++ inches predicted, with hurricaine force winds possable (if they hit 74 mph).  I was 13 when we went thru the blizzard of '78.

really getting tired of this crap...

[h2olawyer]

Winter can be a real pain.  For me, it is still my favorite season.  I even still enjoy shovelling snow!  ::)  It helps to have a good snowblower, but I still have a fair amount of manual labor around the truck & front door area.

Well, to all you folks in winter's grip, stay safe & warm.  Remember - Spring is only 2 to 4 months away!  :D

H2O

[Walt_M.]

FYI, my CPU fan is still working, had it out in some light rain yesterday. Not much spray but it is still running. Still not sure about relocating the R/R to a fairing duct. It may not get much airflow at low speed and may not at higher speeds either, depends on design.

[Wayne]

Will locateing the R/R to front of the bike affect the electrical performance of units due to extra length of wire? Wayne

[Walt_M.]

Not if your connections are good and you use the same or heavier gauge wire. Just locate it where it can get some air flow. The R/R doesn't normally run very hot but it, and the connections to it, can heat up when something goes awry.

[Superfly]

I wrecked it, but I am trying to fix it now!! ;D ?I saw the spring & cover, seemed like a good Idea. ?I am under the fairing so much (I put about 700 miles on her in a week!) it would be another thing to take off and put back on, so I have mine over the passenger footpeg. ?with my single exhaust, I do not have any problems with it there.

[Lucky]

do you think you could hold the cover up to it or tape it & take a pic so they can get an idea of what i'm talking about?
--Lucky

[Superfly]

Unfortunately I do not have that mounting system anymore, and I fiberglassed the lip shut during the last round of fairing repairs.  Sorry about that guys!

[Kevin L Clinton]

I mounted the rectifier off of the fender mounting bolt in front and above the rear footpeg mount, it is a little more out of the way there. I used a 1"x4" L angle piece of aluminum. :) kevin