I've posted a couple times about heat buildup while idling, my answer to this was a bypass on my radiator fan. But while watching the NBA allstar game, i started thinking a bit more about the last ride of 2015.

Basically, the bike died on me while riding on a busy street. thankfully i was able to glide it over to a side street and get a tow.

The result was the battery was dead. Usually when this happens, people would say replace the RR. Which i did 2 years ago after the OEM part smoked out. This one is off a GSXR 1000 and has a sizeable heatsync. Now it wasn't new, taken off an old bike. so i will likely replace it.

However, upon getting the bike back into my garage, i did a test on the battery after being fully charged and it registered 12+ vdc. at start/idle was 13+/-.

Some background on my setup:
I run two 35watt HIDs (at night only) plus some LED strip DRLs (that are on all the time) and LED tail lights plus the override switch for the rad fan.

With ALL of these going, i was getting 11.3 at the battery @ 3000rpm. Now at one point during the summer, my battery was found dead. Could be a power leak some place, who knows. but enough to kill the battery during a regular riding season seams strange, and the batter is only 3 years old.

To summarize:
- battery/charging weak, battery maybe going flat causing current issues, causing heat, causing bad RR?
- possibly over drawing power with everything on
- excessive heat resulting in the bike heating up real fast (fresh oil and engine ice changed at the beginning of the season)

After doing some research, i need to test the stator again, making sure nothing has grounded. But if i do have a charging situation, what are the chances that the excessive heat could be a result of a bad stator?

I do have to take the tank off and check the stator wires for burning or heat discolouration (once the weather warms up)

What is the typical voltage going to the battery from the RR at idle or during acceleration?

And is there such a thing as drawing too many amps causing the bike to lose power and die?

I am at a crossroads on what to start with. I would like to have the OEM rad looked at, maybe rodded. it is 18 years old afterall.

How obvious would looking at the stator be to tell if it's going?

From my internet reading, the battery on the bike is really meant for the electronic ignition. i should not need it once the bike is actually running. so if the bike is dying, is it the RR or the stator?

Is there a safe way to test the stator aside from testing for positive continuity between the 3 yellow wires?

should i replace the battery if its gone dead that many times? is there such a thing as a flat battery causing current/heat issues in the charging system?

Any assistance is graciously appreciated!
Nick

 

I see that there hasn't been a response to your questions and thought I'd leave ya something. Here is what might be going on.
- Your battery is getting a little old. If it's been dead several times, this will shorten the life of the battery. Try doing a load test on the battery to see if it's in good health.
- The voltage at the battery should be 13v to 15v at 5k rpm. If you're below this, the RR possibly on its way out. Here is a link to test the RR (http://www.electrosport.com/technica...ting-guide.pdf)
- Do the normal stator test of looking if it's grounding out on any of the phases.
- Check the resistance between the phases (A/B,B/C,A/C). You should have readings of .2 to .9 ohms. If there is a difference greater than .1 ohms between the combinations, you should replace the stator.
- Inspect the harness from the stator plug to the RR plug. There is a chance it's gotten hot and is now causing excessive resistance. Repair anything that has been damaged.

I was having these very same issues. Hiring up RRs after a year to two years. I solved my problem by replacing wires in the harness for the stator (went up one gauge) and replacing the wires to the battery and ground. I went to the 06 R1 RR. The plugs weren't a big issue since I was replacing the wires in the harness anyway. I also replaced the stator and the battery. To decrease the load, I went through and installed LEDs for all my signals, brake, and dash lights. I am just running the standard bulb for the head light.
Things have been running amazingly! No issues with RR and I spend more time than I would like idling my way through DC traffic.