Hello everyone i recently purchased a 2000 f4 with about 11000 miles on it. the bike sat for about a year and a half, and didn’t start so I did a carb job on it and bought a new battery. After a few day of riding i began to notice a lack of power (electricity) when idling so I shut the bike off and tried to start it, it turned over but was defiantly weak. From that point on I had to charge my battery every time I ride to ensure ill make it home( I know its not good for the battery, but I love to ride so until I figure it out, o well) I suspect the problem is either the regulator or the stator. Last night I looked at the regulator and found it is aftermarket, everything seems to be in order. Which lead me to turn to the stator, can I test it, and if so where can I locate the wires running from it? Any help would be much appreciated, also where can I get a good price on one if you also suspect the problem to the stator.
thanks

 

I just had to figure out what was wrong with my charging system using this link - http://www.offwidth.co.uk/bike/gener...lt_finding.pdf

I don't know about the f4 - on my f3 the wiring harness from the stator to the r/r was under the gas tank - easy for a bike newbie like me to remove and test out. I belive the best tests for the stator are both output while running and continutity.

If you decide you need one - google it - there are several online companies that will be relatively the same price. I ordered mine out of spite and being tired of dealing with it - but I think it was fine. Now I spent money on a new one that I can't return and an old one sitting in a box

As a hint (for what it's worth) I think my problem was either/or a loose ground or loose harness. All my unconnecting and wd-40'ing and scrubbing out the mounting points for the grounds solved my problem.

 

The best method for testing the stator alone is by measuring its resistance across the 3 leads. However, you can start the bike, place a volt meter at the battery terminals and see what it measures. If its near 14, your probably ok. With the meter still on the terminals, reve the bike up to about 8 grand or so slowly. If the volts drop, do the resistance check on the stator. if they do not drop, there is probably nothing wrong with your system. remove the battery and have it load tested.

It sounds like a bad battery to me. If the stator was bad, you wouldn't make it more than 5 miles without the bike dying even with a fully charged battery. Since it sounds like you can drive it as long as you charge it first, the battery would be my first look. If the battery is more than 3 years old, its probably the issue. I've seen batteries last 6 years, but also have seen them only last 2.