1998 CBR900RR

The connector that plugs into the regulator has a burnt off terminal. The regulator has some melted plastic around the spade terminal, but not very much.

I'm hoping this problem is nothing more than a bad connection that built up too much heat. The stator ohms out fine.

So now I need a new connector and regulator.

Has anyone ever used a universal regulator and hard wired it in? It seems this would solve two problems by eliminating a connector and possibly being a better regulator.

Would either of these work?


RECTIFIER REGULATOR UNIVERSAL 3 PHASE HONDA YAMAHA | eBay

UNIVERSAL REGULATOR RECTIFIER KAWASAKI KZ550,KZ650,KZ750,KZ900,KZ1100,KZ1300 | eBay



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Either would probably work just fine. the second listing is a shunt-type which is the
older, less efficent style, though. (That's my understanding anyway).

Both look to be a little on the fluffy side though. This is a pretty critical component, I
would recommend getting either the upgraded factory stock (with finned heat-sink) or
try the GSXR750 or 900 r/r's. Personally, I dropped the dime and got the
www.electrosport.com after-market replacement. The sink is massive and they back
it with a warrenty.

As far as hard-wiring it, sans connector, that shouldn't cause any problems,
as long as you get one that will do the job, replacement shouldn't be an issue
in the future.

Good luck, Ern

 

c b r i have fried 6 rr's on my 99 9oorr from fried connectors to melting the epoxy out of them. stator always ohmed out and voltage was good per manual. at my wits end i did a lil research and bought a used 00 r-1 reg. theyre twice the size of our stock units and heavily finned. 4000k later still charging fine!! i also installed voltage gauge so i can always see charge rate as im riding!!!!

 

Did you ever find a reason for the failures?

I've seen so many posts about this issue I went and pulled mine out of paranoia to see what condition it was in and mine is absolutely perfect. Looks like it just came out of the box. But I'm still tempted to 'upgrade' it just in case. Paranoia or not?

 

The main reason for the stock r/r's failures is excessive heat. There are 2 issues
coupled to causing that. The first is an inadequate heat sink, Honda designed the r/r's
to utilize the frame as a heat sink with a metal plate on the bottom of the r/r as a
coupler to the frame. This design has proven over time to not be sufficent.

Exhasperating (sic.) the poor heat-shedding design, the original r/r's were also a shunt-type
voltage regulator, which is very inefficent and creates a lot of excess heat, itself. The
newer ones all utilize a mosfet type design that is much better at the task.

The replacements all utilize a finned heat-sink and the mosfet circuitry to correct the issue.

Ern

 

Hmm.

I assume it would show the typical warning signs before failure , discolored terminals/plug etc ?

 

Thanks everyone for all the good info here! It seems like the R6/R1 regulator is the way to go. I found a new connector with crimp-on terminals for $10, so I'll probably get that as well.


zaqwert6 - I just bought my bike this past summer with close to 40,000 miles on it. At first everything was fine, but then after changing the headlight bulbs to higher wattage bulbs it slowly began to begin being troublesome. At first I would just charge the battery every time I parked the bike, but then it got so bad I couldn't even ride to work and back with out a jump start. From what I've read nearly everyone has a problem with theirs sooner or later, so I suppose the upgrade is just a matter of doing it at your convenience or not.

 

Generally yes, the classic signs described earlier, are pretty much all you need to see,
to know that that's an issue.

On the good side, it generally fails slowly. So if your bike starts to run like crap, throw
an eye at the r/r, first thing. Then if it's showing the scorch/melt/etc., replace it. If
not, THEN, keep looking to find the source of the issue, saving the cost of
replacement for if/when it is the issue.

Rather then, pulling the carbs, blah, blah, etc. and finally finding out it was the r/r.

Ern

 

So a defective r/r can cause an engine to run rough?

Reason I ask is because mine was running rough. It would spit, sputter, and backfire. It seemed worst around 4,500 rpm with no load, but ran rough from idle all through the rpm range. I connected jumper cables from my truck to the bike and it still ran rough. Is this jumper cable method a good test or do I need to have a good r/r on the bike for it to run right? Can running the bike with a bad r/r cause damage to other electrical components?


Also, I really like the voltmeter idea from above... I'm going to try it when I get this thing going.

 

Greatly simplified, (google if you want to understand the real picture), the r/r is a hall monitor, it tells the current where to go and how much should go there.

It regulates how much current is going into the system/battery. It also changes AC current (from the stator) to DC (to the battery). When it goes bad, it will no longer be able to keep the bike supplied with a continous current load.

What will happen is you will excede the electrical systems ability to supply spark to the engine. It will stumble, refuse to rev smoothly because the cylinders are missing
the ignition componet of the air/fuel/spark trilogy.

Heat is the enemy of electrical components, as the bike heats up, the r/r gradually falls farther behind. When it cools down it will start to operate better again. As it fails, more heat is generated and further's the decline to total failure, eventually.
Thus, "it runs great for a few minutes, then dies, then starts fine in a few minutes".

Ern