I am buying a 1989 CBR 600 F tomorrow that only runs for 15 min and then dies. I was told by the previous owner of it that it might need a Voltage Regulator or a Alternator. Does anyone one on here have any ideas of what this might be and if it does sound like what he said it might be?

Also how hard is it to install the Voltage Regulator or an Alternator?

Thanks in advance.

 

well, if you are going to install the voltage regulator, you are going to have to take off the gas tank and it sits bolted up by the front side of the battery box. new it is gonna run you around $200, you can get one off ebay used probably for $30+. Now the alternator, stator rather, is a bit more difficult. you will have to drain the oil, remove the right plastics and the side casing and the stator is in there. my bike would do that as well, and it was the regulator as well as a slew of other things.

 

I tried to follow the How to Diagnose Charging System that is posted on CBRWorld.net and the part where it says that the battery should read between 13.5 and 15V at 5000 RPM Mine does not do. My voltage actually drops dramaticly to like 7 or even 5 volts sometimes. I had it running for about 30 min at a idle and the voltage only dropped by 1 or 2 volts. But when I gave it gas and reved it to about 4000 RPM the volts dropped to about 5-7 volts until I let off the gas, then they went back up to about 12 volts. When the battery was at full charge it was at 13.2 volts.

Would this be the voltage regulator??

 

well what did the how to say? did it say if it does not do that, that it is bad? i dont remember specifically without looking.

 

the bike isnt charging, and the spark coil is draining your battery (higher rpm=more drain). from what i can gather off this forum, the regulator tends to go more often than the stator, though both are possibilities. its a cheaper/easier fix if its the regulator. you could buy one from some place that has a good return policy, and if thats not the fix, youll likely need to change your stator.
probably what has happened is the connections where the regulator plugs into the main harness have cooked them selves due to developing a bad connection over time. you might find that you can fix the bike by remedying this connection.

Either way, price out the stator, and the labor you or a shop will have to do, and buy the bike according to this worst case scenario. you may get the bike cheap, and end up not spending a alot to fix it. or, the seller wont be willing to go low enough to make it worth the gamble to you.
at the end of the day, theres always gunna be another bike popping up some where, but this one could turn out to be a bargain if you play it right.
If your capable of doing the mechanical work yourself, it will be a good oppurtuniy to familiarize your self with the bike, and save a lot of money. (provided you decide to buy it)

you have to ask your self if its worth it to you.