The clicking sound is your regulator/rectifier dying - it sits behind the left rear section of your panel, just under the tailpiece. If you carry on it could melt ( like mine did) and damage your wiring (like mine did). It's probably pretty much past it already, so get your wallet out and buy another regulator - there's a company in the UK called Electrex who manufacture reg.recs (much stronger than Honda part, and it comes with a 12 month guarantee) Price is around $116 US, incl postage.I've been dealing with them for 3 years and they are really good. They build a big heat sink into their units which the Honda unit doesn't have. Honda parts carry NO GUARANTEE, so if it pops in a week you're pretty much screwed......Part No for a 1990 model is RR23, not sure for yours but the price list is easy to follow. www.electrex.uk
A temporary solution would be to remove your headlight fuse which wil give you about 1 volt extra to run the bike, but I would suggest you have that stator checked and rewired asap.Your field coil is fried, I think (like mine). When you want to remove the stator, I'll give you step by step info on how to do it - takes about 15 minutes for my bike.
The bike is stalling because there's insufficient current getting to the motor to run it. Charge thee battery every night, and with no headlight you'll get maybe 70-100 miles from a charge, if you keep the revs above 4000. Good luck.

 

The part no for your regulator/rectifier is RR87, and $130 plus postage - ouch.

 

It would look like there is forward progress at this point.
You have two choices:
(1) Follow Shadow1’s advice
(2) Beat the hell out of your bike with an olive branch while smoking a banana driving all evil spirits from the depths of the oil sump.

 

Yes, yes. Hilarity ensues. Okay, I'm definitely not riding the bike until I get this fixed. I've already had enough electrical problems that I don't want to take any chances with it. Thanks for the link, shadow, for the part. Any experience with a shindenger part? Quality, etc.? I can get one for around 50 bucks if it's worth it. Also I'm going to try smoking a banana in the meantime. As soon as I get the regulator I'll probably try the stator as well, so I'd love the step-by when you get a chance, shadow. Question #b is whether or not I should just go ahead and replace the alternator while I'm at it.

 

Firstly, smoking bananas is bad for you - at least with happy tobacco you feel a lot better about the problem.......!! The olive branches are good, but you must draw a circle around the bike and have a good shaman present, to rattle the bones.........!Thanks TBT !
Seriously, though, I'd replace the STATOR section of the alternator, not the whole thing, for two reasons:
1 Getting the entire alternator out can be a helluva problem, as there are all sorts of bits on the inside which have to do with other issues, not the current problem.Picture of whole insides for my bike attached, and pic of just the stator. 3 alan-heads, remove the 6 point wiring point, and it's off.(that's of course after you've removed all the left side fairings)
2 Just buying the stator will be much cheaper, and having it rewired will be cheaper still BUT
If you want to do a proper job, don't just replace the reg/rectifier, sort out the stator at the same time - see earlier post from JB (thanks JB)! on this issue.......or you WILL burn out another reg/rectifier soon.....
At least have the resistances checked on the stator and the field coil, which was what caused me so much aggro over the past 3 years .Check manual on the forum for resistances etc.
Sorry no info on the part you mentioned - never heard of it....!
Shout if you need more - your alternator will look a little different to the one shown. Shadow1

 

So what is the clicking noise? Are the Honda R/R's solid state or point type?
Has anyone had one apart?

Charging systems are my week area. I know that a car alt/reg uses solid state Positive-Negative (PN) material in the rectifier to direct the AC to DC. The PN is also called a diode. When they get week and fail they let current leak back and drain the battery. When working correctly, they are a one-way door for the current. When they fail they leak current back to the ALT windings draining the battery. They are made of a positive impregnated ceramic butted up to a negative impregnated ceramic. As opposites attract and similar repel, the AC is directed to a DC direction. It is easy to fry a solid state REC when using jumper cables or you are pushing too much current through the diodes.

To my knowledge the point type R/R’s are more like having Tinkerbell flying around waving a wond.



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When I cooked my first regulator I noticed a "popping" noise from about the area the r/r sits.
I found the r/r had MELTED, and the black goo had run down the frame and made a helluva mess. The wiring close to the r/r had overheated to the point where the wire had blackened, and hardened-must have got so hot it nearly burned, by the look of it. I'm not sure, but I think the popping is an electrical charge from the stator trying to get through to the battery - almost like a dead short. The reg/rec had diodes, and is I believe solid state. You need to whip off the tailpiece and look on the left side for a small oblong box - check for burning........
And I don't think you can get one apart without losing all the values on the electronics, TBT.
I have no other suggestion. Subsequent units didnt "pop" but then I knew the symptoms earlier.

 

Yep! I forgot about that melting thing. I had a '79 CB750 that stopped charging and when I looked under the seat I saw the dreaded black goo. Now you have me thinking. I am planning on a couple of cross-country trips this coming summer. As I said earlier, the diodes get weak with age. Now I plan on replacing the R/R before leaving home and packing the old (still good) one as a backup. Thanks for that reminder.

 

This is what my new one from Electrex.UK looks like - HUGE heatsink, 12 months guarantee, and new connectors for old and new wiring. They are very good and will have one to you in under a week.

 

There's a secondhand regulator for your bike on e-Bay UK for 10 pounds (20$ US) +postage
Look under CBR1000F in Honda spares, and you'll find it. I've bought them secondhand before - never had a problem. It's a cheaper option than Electrex at 130$ US+postage !
I've just bought a secondhand stator for my bike for 30$ US + postage.....!(as a backup)
(there wasn't one for your bike, I checked)
New Stators seem to go for around 180$ US in the States.......