So I just bought my cbr, was riding it on the first day and after about 30 min of driving I parked it and it just wouldn't start again. It seemed like the battery was dying because the clicks it makes to spark steadily got slower and slower as I tried to start it until it eventually didn't do anything when I pressed the start button. When it still made a few clicks I was able to pop start it, but it promptly died when I came to a stop and then refused to even try to start again. The battery is only 2 months old, could this possibly be a problem with the generator/regulator? or perhaps as simple as the fuel shut-off valve? Any help would be greatly appreciated. Haha I just wanna ride! Thank you in advance to any who have help!

 

take off your left side cover and look above the passenger peg. You are looking for the Regulator/Rectifier. If it shows signs of heat damage you are in luck. They CAN be inexpensive $30 used to $130 new.
Mine looks like this. You can try charging the battery in-between rides but failure is immanent.

I strapped a 12 volt computer processor fan to my new one to prevent future melt downs.

 

WRONG! the regulator is under the seat, located nicely between the ignition coilpacks.

its probable that it has died. relocating it to a point with better airflow WOULD benefit it significantly to prevent such failure in the future.

 

I guess you ride the 1990 bikes bob. On the 1993 its under the left side cover.

 

yeah, the R/R being under the left tail is F2 and later models. the hurricane always had it inside the engine bay between coilpacks.

if you remove the left side panel, its actually quite accessible without dismantling half the bike. just take a 10mm on a ratchet, and you'll have it out in minutes.

 

I guess they moved it on the 1993 1000fs to just above the left passenger peg to catch more air flow. It didn't work. hahaha

 

I guess not. but under tail fairings is a poor place. minimal airflow=FAILED idea. Yamaha has the idea, theirs is in the airbox. which is where mine WILL go, once I determine how to put it there.

relocating the R/R to get good airflow is a critical thing for charging on these old bikes. Ive seen it a number of times, the r/r fails because the shunt style rectifier generates too much heat, overheats, and dies.

Look for a MOSFET R/R, google will help indicate what models use them. I say find one of these because they generate less heat to do the same job, do so more efficiently, and 1000X more dependably.

 

Ok so I looked in both of those places and I couldn't seem to find it. Is it possible it is part of the starter? Haha probably a dumb question. I did however see a small black box on the right side under the farring with wires coming out of it. I don't know if that's the brains or the regulator or what. I did charge the battery and it started up, still waiting to see if it will die after a little. Will they lose charge if they just sit? Also my buddy decided it was a good idea to tip my bike over so he now owes me a new break handle. Is there a good place I can look to find one of those/is it hard to reinstall a new one myslf? Or can I just JB weld it? Dunno if I trust my life with a welded break handle when I go to squeeze it at 80.

 

are you sure you looked between the coils? pop your tank off, right under it, on the center there should be a section of plastic with a bunch of wire connectors. find the one with 3 yellow wires, follow it, you'll find the regulator.

a quick test, start the bike, put a volt meter on your battery terminals. if you're reading 12v or less, you have a charging fault, or bad battery, possibly both.

 

I'll add to this, if you read a increased voltage when reving the engine the stator is probably fine.