I know this has been hashed over MANY times and posted probably as much as "what kind of oil do you use" but after having one fail on me, I feel like I should post this. If you haven't replaced that stock piece of $hit R/R, DO IT NOW!

Luckily for me, I was just heading out the driveway to warm up the bike when mine failed. The bike just went dead. No lights, no switch, nada. Also luckily, the main fuse was the only damage, not any of the expensive electronics. But, had I been out for a ride, or leaned over through a corner, that little R/R could have given me a really bad day.

For $30 shipped to my door, I picked up a Yamaha R6 unit, which is damn near twice the size of the stock non-finned POS. Add an hour or two of pulling apart the stock plug, taping the connections, and figuring out how to fit the larger R/R beneath the tail fairing, and it's still one of the simplest maintenance items you can do. Do it if you haven't!

 

I'm not into brain-bashing but it really amazes me that Superhawk owners can be so economically ignorant. You buy a $30 RR from an R1 and spend two hours TAPING (really? you must stay out of the rain) to install it when you could have spent $80 and had one with the oem connex that would install in 15 minutes.

The same economics apply to all the conversation and debate over oem cam chain tensioners. For a hundred bux and a little time this engine destroyer can be removed from the playing field forever. But still the debate rages on. A $100 set of parts can save a $1200 engine rebuild. Where's the economy in that?

Just a note on the earlier model RR. When it fails make sure you inspect the connex right under your ******* under the seat. It gets wet, traps moisture and is very vulnerable to failure. It will act just like an RR or stator failure when it's neither. Just cut the connectors out of the circuit, solder and shrink wrap and you're good. Don't use tape and wire nuts.

 

I bought an eBay unit as I wasn't 100% sure that the R/R was my problem and I didn't want to spend $100 to find out that I mis-diagnosed it. I did the manual CCT swap months ago, FWIW.

 

Its not like I taped the wires on to the new R/R, I used the stock wires, which weren't fried, and slid the connectors out of the stock plug onto the new unit. I taped over the wires to ensure most of the elements would be kept out. I had planned on buying a new OEM-style R/R btw, however one of the mods talked me out of it.

 

I'll throw my $.02 in. I fried the original. Fried a used Yamaha replacement. I went with a R/R from MotoVoltage.com CircuitBrnr hasn't been on a while, but he offers lifetime warranty on this electrical part, which is unheard of. This is due to his R&D. His product is currently running on a couple of amateur race teams, endurance race teams, where the R/R doesn't get a break for 24 hours.

Worth the money so far. AND, I can take it off the Hawk, and plug it into any bike I may own in the future.

 

it's better to skip the connector and solder the wires.

tim

 

That's what I did, although I think Eastern Beaver (and probably any electronic parts house) sells connectors that would work quite well for this purpose. I bought a Yamaha R/R from someone on eBay years ago for less than 20 bucks and it has worked flawlessly for all those years. It's a better part than the Honda. I would say the "hassle" of wiring it up was worth saving $80.00. I couldn't have used the stock connector anyway because the old R/R melted it.

 

Hummmmm....... mine works perfect. 12 year old battery was also going strong until last fall when I replaced it with a Lithium pack I built. OE battery would probably still be good.

Here's a tip - bolster the ground path on the battery and R/R and I think you'll find it makes a huge difference. Fundamentally there is nothing wrong with the stock R/R.

 

Bolster the ground wiring from the R/R how? You mean add wire to the R/R's connection?

 

Pretty much. If you do some searches you'll find much better info than I can ever explain. Specifically do a search for 'VFRness' and you'll see that a guy has made an add-on wiring harness for the VFR800's to address this issue. If you examine the ground path from the R/R to the battery you will find that it is not as robust as it could be. Because my VTR's wiring harness was cut back in 1999 (after the original owner crashed it) I unknowingly improved the ground path during the repair. Since I've realized that it's probably the reason my headlight does not dim at idle and why my original 1997-era battery was still good in October of 2009.

I'm not going to make a claim that the ground path is the cause of the every R/R or battery failure, but I feel that any improvements you can make in this area will greatly reduce the stress on these components.

 

I did that too when I replaced the R/R. I used a dedicated ground from the negative battery terminal and tied it to the R/R ground.

 

Can any on tell me how to determine if I have a problem with my r/r or if it is ;possibly something worse. My battery was dead when the warm wheather came around so I replaced the battery. Now it does not seem to be charging I put a meter on the battery while it was running after jumpstartin it and the meter read 11.6-11.8
Please help my 4 weeler was totaled and I have no ride without the hawk

 

Any experience with this RR? Good or bad, seems like it might be a good replacement/upgrade for the OEM part. Just wanted to get some input before dropping $90

http://www.regulatorrectifier.com/ca...ator-Rectifier

 

No, it probably isn't... Chinese crap is more likely...

 

I don't know about the bottom of the line one they sell but i installed this one
http://www.regulatorrectifier.com/ca...-Rectifier-800

Which is a "Tour-Max" unit and it has worked fine with no issues, so if you're going to do it spend the extra $20

 

Did the 2005 Hawks have an updated OEM version RR or do they also need to be replaced even if still working properly? thanks-Mort

 

I had one standard RR die. I replaced that with an aftermarket one with a finned heat sink. This one then failed about 12 months later. At the time I just stuck an old RR off an old RD350LC Yamaha on it. I had intended to swap the old Yamaha one for a new aftermarket Honda one, but it never happened. The old Yamaha one has been on for quite some time now with no problems at all.