98VTR

Hey guys.
I just discovered this site last night and man, what a find. I've had my '98 superhawk for 3.5 years now and love it. Wish I found this forum sooner.....but better late than never I guess.

Anyway, my battery isn't charging.....which pretty much means one of 2 things, right? Regulator/Rectifier or alternator (assuming it's not a bad wire, which I'm pretty sure it's not). I have roughly 11,000 miles.....can I safely assume it's the Reg/Rectifier and not the alternator. I suppose I could just bust out the multi-meter and find out, but I'm feeling lazy and figured I'd check here. The Reg/Rec is pretty expesive so I don't want to replace unless I'm fairly sure. Anyone have any experience here? Also, the bike is bone stock except for slip-ons.

Thanks in advance for any help. Sorry for the long first post.

EngineNoO9

there's no alternator, the stator and R/R make up what we consider to be the charging system on the bike. I'm 99.99999% sure it's the R/R I forget what the check is for it. There's lots of threads are here. and R/R's are cheap dude. Specially since you don't replace with another honda one. I have a gixxer750 one that I got for $25 off of ebay. just do a search

99Timemachine

Just so happens i'm having the same issue with battery charging. The battery in mine is less than 3 months old and i thought i was having starter problems, but come to find out my battery was too weak to turn the engine over fast enough to fire it. I have a shop service manual for the SH so i may have to read up on it and find out what the deal is. If i come up with anything i'll give you a shout. Right now i'm just keeping a trickle charge on my battery nightly to compensate.

EngineNoO9

it's your RR. do a search for regulator or rectifier, there's tons of threads on it

shayne

Early models like you blokes have did not have a heat sink on the R/R. Get a later model type replacement unit and you should be right from now on.

98VTR

Thanks for the info.

Although R/R's aren't exactly cheap......$99 from Parts Unlimited and $175!!! from a Honda dealer. I did check ebay and found a couple cheaper used ones there.....but no guarantee on their condition I guess. New ones on ebay were also around $99 to $119.

RickB

just an FYI '02 and later apparently have the finned version which seems to hold up better.

Rick B
02 SH

superbling

Yes, the R/R was updated so make sure you get a finned one if you buy OEM. The electrotex brand is NOT well regarded in VFR circles (same r/r).

My 98 r/r burned up and took the connector and battery with it. (18v at idle!) I've been running a gixxer 5wire unit for 2 years now. I also installed a voltmeter to watch things. Runs like a clock at a steady 14V. (do a search for the how to)

A voltmeter on the battery should read 13.5 to 15.5 volts at 5000 rpm.

EngineNoO9

buy an r1 or gixxer one. mega cheap. you can spend $100 if you'd like but I spent 25 for a much better quality one

98VTR

Sounds good. Thanks. I'll defiintely do that.....$100 is ridiculous.