Have you expercienced failures with the newiest regulator (since 2001 with cooling fins ) ?
My 2001 VTRis about 26000 kms, one battery replacement last year.

Do you think I should fit a cooling fan on it ? Or is this "new" regulator more reliable ?

I would prefer mod it or replace it by a reliable one instead of taking the risk of a ECU unit fail or other electrical problems ....

 

I replaced my failed stock regulator at the beginning of last summer and hadn't had a problem since. I've roughly ridden about 7,000 miles since the replacement. I did scrape the paint off the sub frame under the regulator and apply some heat sink compound to aid heat transfer to the sub frame. A lot of the day's I have ridden have been over 95 degrees. I think the new one is a lot more robust.

 

Don't use another Honda unit! I haven't heard anything good about them yet. Use an R1 unit. They are cheap on ebay and a much better design.

Here are 2 guides, one by a member on this forum.

Guide 1

Guide 2 with stator replacement as well

 

i also found this one on ebay...regulator

 

But this one is half the price

 

If I'm not mistaken I believe the R1 regulator that's used in superb pages that Mithrandir refered to here are from '99 '00 '01. These are the same part number and are all 5 wire regulators. I'm not sure but I think the regs from later years have been changed. The Yamaha part# is 4JH-81960-01-00 ('99 - '01) and the 'new' price is only about $60. Even though I picked up a used one for $30 the $60 price for a new one is a great deal compared to Honda's alternative.

 

True. But newer ones also work. The second link was to one using an '03 regulator.

I am debating this mod as a preventative measure. Any opinions on that?

 

The way I look at it, if the rect fails it leaves me stranded, so - I replaced it ahead if time, not after the fact.

 

Aye, if you've got an older bike, then preventative maintenance is a good idea. I've been left stranded once before by a failure (VFR400, not the VTR).

I don't have much experience with the post 2001 bikes. My XX, which is an 02 and is the first of the XXs with a redesigned r/r now has 32K miles on it and not a hint of a problem. However, it is a monstrous item compared to the pics of the new VTR item, so I can't really give you any assurances either way. I'm putting together a VTR streetfighter right now and will be using an R1 unit. I've personally changed about a dozen bikes over and I'm aware of around 50-odd VTR/VFR/XX's that have done the mod and never heard of any troubles since then.

 

What's the indicators that the rr may be failing? My signals are slow to respond, especially when it's cold out. Could that be an indication that it's about to go? Also I replaced my battery because it gave me trouble starting. This was back when it was colder out.

 

My failed R/R became evident by the smoke pouring out of my rear fender! Most likely oil from a blister on the R/R that was burning on the frame. I had no other electrical symptoms. I replaced mine with the OEM part which now has cooling fins and seems beefier. We'll see what happens.

 

john2kvtr have a look earlier in the thread where I've posted a link to one of my articles about it. There's some very simple clues such as browning leads.