bikes dont have alternators. they have stators. alternators have a belt.

 

It's essentially the same thing. But since I already sent you payment for that windscreen I'll be nice and not be rude. LOL

 

tell you the truth i didnt see who wrote that until after i posted. my bad. kinda funny how things work though, huh

 

HAHA, love ya man. It's cool yo

 

an alternator has a stator in it as well so yes its the same thing

 

Got my new battery today. Cruised for a few hours and everything went well!

 

ok well my understanding is that an alternator has two coils of wire, one is electrically charged to turn it into a magnet and induces power by magnetism to the other coil of wires. A generator which most bikes have have a stator which is just a wound of coil and uses high strength permanent magnets to produce the same thing! This is what I was taught! But alternators are much better at charging, just heavier and take up room, which on today's bikes..there is none! But yes running with a dead battery can hurt your charging system. It puts a strain and can overheat your reg/rec which then can overheat your stator. First to test anything with the charging system you need a good battery that is fully charged. Then turn on the bike and check voltage going to your bike. Should be in the 14 volt range, with low beams on and play with your throttle to see what the max output. If things check out there, then you don't really need to go any further. If something is wrong then you go deeper, but only when it needs it

 

I hope you guys know that the battery is only used to start the vehicle right? Once your bike is running you can actually disconnect it and car will still run, but if the battery is too low then it wont stay running. I know it works on my car ive done it lol

 

You kinda owned yourself with that statement. LOL. I guess the battery isn't only used to start the bike. Thanks for your help though.

 

Not really, it is only used to start the bike but if its too low it wont run right. battery has 12 volts, alternator itself produces 13.8+.

but hey try it, get your bike running then take your positive cable off your battery.