Crashrat

Hi guys,

So I finally got my seat off and had a look at the rectifyer / regulator. It obviously has been upgraded at some point. Does anyone have an idea what it might have come off of..? Should I assume I'm safe? the bike just turned 22k and some change...

Thanks!

Randy

lazn

That appears to be the aftermarket direct replacement one that goes under several brands and is usually made in China. see: http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/CBR-6...Q5fAccessories

I have one in my bike too as it was the only thing available locally when mine died. It has been good to me for a few years, but once it goes I will be looking into a blue tungsten one from motovoltage.

Crashrat

Huh. I guess that makes sense since the plug is intact. I guess I'll just keep an eye open on Ebay for a cheap used R1 to do the conversion in the spring. Thanks for the help! -- Randy

thumper61713

Absolutely not... That is a stock R/R. My 2001 had the same exact one. It is the new and improved R/R for the superhawk as the other ones did not have a heatsink on them.

I replaced mine with brand new one and if your bike has 22K miles on it I would think about replacing that one or at least getting a new one just in case.

I can tell it is a stock R/R because I had the same one, I will post a picture. Also it has the plastic white piece that the spade connectors plug into so that they dont come loose. An aftermarket R/R installed by a person would probably be soldered and heatshrinked onto the R/R and also they are much larger.

thumper61713

It does look like someone messed with it though... Because the paint is grinded away where the ground attaches. Maybe they replaced it with hondas newer improved R/R, However it looks crusty and old. I replaced mine with a Yamaha R6 R/R. I bought this brand new on ebay for around 70 bucks....

lazn

Did you bother to follow the link I put up? I have an aftermarket one that looks identical, plugs in directly, no soldering, with the same white plastic piece and everything.. Mine was sold under a parts catalog brand name, but I have seen the same thing sold under other brand names too.

Heck I could take a Pic of it when I get home if needed.

I guess it could be the newer Honda OEM one.. I expect that they are all made in the same factory in China, just some of them get shipped to Honda first, and others directly to the market with other brand names.

thumper61713

I just meant that my bike had that one on it stock.... so it is a aftermarket honda part...???

nuhawk

The grounding surfaces are critical to the proper operation of this device. These need to be cleaned now!

Erik S.

I'm going to disagree nuhawk. My R/R from CircuitBrnr sits in the seat tray, it's only ground is to the battery. The stock uses a ground to the battery through the harness.

lazn

LoL. Perhaps. Lots of parts for cars and motorcycles are mfgd by 3rd party (eg Dana Axles for pickups) and so you can often find the exact same part as OEM in the aftermarket under a different brand.

Crashrat

Thanks all. I'm still a bit confused. Maybe the "new and improved" unit was seated differently on the subframe and that's the reason it doesn't match the early bike's mounting points? If I disconnected this thing would there be a part number stamped on the bottom?

Sounds like I'm best off doing the R1 / R6 mod anyhow, when funds are available. With winter coming I'm hoping the prices of things drop on ebay...

Randy

VTRsurfer

If you're going to leave that one on there, I'd drill another hole for the second mount to prevent a vibration problem from screwing up the ground. That ground wire is there for something. And clean up the rust as stated above.

Crashrat

Will do. I've had the bike about two weeks. Soaking up the wisdom here. Thanks for all the help. -- Randy

skokievtr

Uniform and tight VR-R~frame interface (contact) is critical for heat sink; i.e., the sub-frame conducts heat away from the VR-R. The VR-R is not grounded to the sub-frame, but the adjacent eyelet connection does require good contact for proper grounding. Clean (remove rust and smooth surface of sub-frame) and paint with an epoxy except for the ground eyelet contact (use dielectric grease there as well as on all electrical connections to prevent corrosion) ASAP. Apply some heat sink paste between the VR-R and sub-frame too!

I have my original (knock on plastic) 03/1997 VR-R but added a finned CPU heat sink & 12V cooling fan attached to it's outside face, and heat sink paste between the heat sink & VR-R as well as on the VR-R's interface to the sub-frame.

Crashrat

I think I have a write up on add the CPU heat sink and fan here somewhere, but I'm not sure I know what heat-sink paste is..? Is this something that I could pick up from a Radioshack, say? -- Randy

Crashrat

Ah, this write-up mentions paste, too:

http://www.burniemorgan.com/firestorm/reg_heatsink.html

Seems like a low-cost operation...

skokievtr

Yup, that's what I did. 1st CPU fan lasted about 30k miles and second now about 15k miles (knock on plastic - KOP). total cost maybe $20 and an hours time. Still have original VR-R NOP!

BTW, my original OEM Yuasa battery is still functional after 10 years & 60k miles now! Love the Deltran Battery Tender+; which I hook-up thru my coaxial auxiliary plug that my heated vest and other accessories in to (like my stripped-down tire air compressor, cell phone charger, camp light, etc).

Crashrat

I know I'm a dolt, but I hate electrical systems. I walked through Best Buy and Radio Shack today and found they do sell CPU fans fairly cheap and something like "heat sink" paste, but no "heat sink." (Or little ones for computers, but nothing that would work on my bike.)

Anyhow, here's a Ducati regulator / rectifyer with an AL plate as a heat sink.

http://www.ducati-upnorth.com/tech/i...ewRRDesign.jpg

The article this comes from says the sink also deflects heat from the cylinder. Would it make sense to mount something like this under the unit between it and the frame rail or am I making more of this?

Thanks! -- R.

lazn

The frame was intended to be the heat sink by Honda for the original R/R. (A heat sink is just something to absorb and disperse heat)

I don't know how hot the subframe gets, but if it is cooler than the R/R (and I would expect it is) then a good contact with some thermal paste (heat sink paste, same thing) is what you want. (this increases thermal conductivity)

Yes you can get Heat Sink Paste (thermal paste) from Radio Shack, or Best Buy or any similar place.

As for a heat sink, these days computers use heat sinks that are far too large for your needs. (the big chunk of finned aluminum or copper with a fan on it is the heat sink) Radio shack should still sell older ones from the Pentium 3 days, or for cooling MOSFETS (transistors)

Your R/R already has a small heat sink built in. So if you were to add just a fan it would help, or you could add a heat sink to the other side where it connects to the subframe..

Really I haven't done anything with mine (it's like yours) and it has worked well for years.

Crashrat

Thanks! I had a bad rectifyer experience with a VFR700 a few years back and last year went through an absolute nightmare on my Buell M2's electrical system -- yes, I replaced EVERYTHING piece by piece -- so I want to do this as well as I can, given my limited finances. I'll gab with my Radio Shack guy tomorrow. Those guys know everything. R.

Crashrat

Hi guys,

Just wanted to let you know that I did the mod this morning. The CPU fan I used was 400 mm, I think. The 800mm one I bought originally was too big. The whole operation -- including remounting the rectifyer to its original holes -- took about 30 minutes. Most of this time was spent removing the seat.

A side note about this: On my bike, the seat has been covered in what looks to be tar paper and removing it caused lots of tears. Hehehehe.

Thanks again!

Randy