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'93 FXR Charging Question. Help !

kenshapiro2002

kenshapiro2002

Member
A month or so ago, after 130 mile run, the bike refused to start, even with a new battery. I replaced the stator and voltage regulator and everything seemed fine. Yesterday, after another 130 mile run, the horn stopped working when I was almost home. It would "squeal" a little but wouldn't sound, especially at higher RPM (3-4,000). It would work intermittently at lower RPM if that makes any sense. When I got home, she would restart easily but the horn would not sound. Doesn't it take more juice to start the bike than sound the horn?

Anyway, after a night on the Battery Tender, the horn is back to life.

Any thoughts? Can the bike get so low the horn won't sound, but the bike will still start?

Also, the front brake has stopped actuating the brake light. That can't be involved, can it?

Thanks in advance for any help,
Ken
 
Harley horns are not very good, so they can do exactly what yours did without your bike having a battery or charging system problem. I would say that if the bike is starting with no problem, the problem is the horn itself. As far as the front brake lever not activating the brake light, asuming the rear brake pedal does, you should check the front brake light switch located inside the right side switch housing to make sure that you have power coming in, and when you release the button on the switch you have power coming out. If you do, you have a problem with the wiring, if you don't the switch is bad.
 
nascar7613 said:
Harley horns are not very good, so they can do exactly what yours did without your bike having a battery or charging system problem. I would say that if the bike is starting with no problem, the problem is the horn itself. As far as the front brake lever not activating the brake light, asuming the rear brake pedal does, you should check the front brake light switch located inside the right side switch housing to make sure that you have power coming in, and when you release the button on the switch you have power coming out. If you do, you have a problem with the wiring, if you don't the switch is bad.
Click to expand...

Thanks...hoping you're right about the horn. I'll swap it out and see.
 
Not only are the horns marginal quality, but they are wired the cheapest way possible. All the current (a large amount) that is needed to blow the horn, goes through the push button on the bars along with all the small 18 AWG wire that is used. They know it's better to use a relay to throw the current but they just didn't want to spend the money to do it the right way..
 
I have a new stator, VR and battery and I'm only putting out about 13 colts when running (measured at the battery). Is that enough?
 
kenshapiro2002 said:
I have a new stator, VR and battery and I'm only putting out about 13 colts when running (measured at the battery). Is that enough?
Click to expand...

Depends on RPM. At what RPM does it start putting out 14 volts or more. I don't have the '93 book in front of me but does your bike have a crank driven rotor with magnets. Magnet strenght is everything on a charging system like this. Magnets will loose strenght over time.
 
Hoople said:
Depends on RPM. At what RPM does it start putting out 14 volts or more. I don't have the '93 book in front of me but does your bike have a crank driven rotor with magnets. Magnet strenght is everything on a charging system like this. Magnets will loose strenght over time.
Click to expand...

At least measured at the battery it never gets as high as 14 volts. The stator is crank driven with magnets.
 
So what is the upper limit on the voltmeter that you read?
What do you read at idle (in hundreds of a volt). And what do you read at a steady 3600 RPM (in hundreds of a volt). Are you using a quality meter that you can trust?

It would be great to see something in the low 14's at 3600 RPM, but you could probably get by just fine with 13.20 at idle and something like 13.80 at 3600 rpm. You have to realize that you have a single phase system with 20 year old magnets.

When it comes to this stuff,, There's "perfection" and there's "what we can live with".
 
Hoople said:
So what is the upper limit on the voltmeter that you read?
What do you read at idle (in hundreds of a volt). And what do you read at a steady 3600 RPM (in hundreds of a volt). Are you using a quality meter that you can trust?

It would be great to see something in the low 14's at 3600 RPM, but you could probably get by just fine with 13.20 at idle and something like 13.80 at 3600 rpm. You have to realize that you have a single phase system with 20 year old magnets.

When it comes to this stuff,, There's "perfection" and there's "what we can live with".
Click to expand...

Only getting 12.6 at idle and holding it at 3,600 gives me nothing more...still 12.6

Where should I look next? I have a new battery, a new stator and a new VR. I'm only getting 12.6 volts at the battery at idle and at 3,600 RPM. It's a 1993 FXLR.

Moved this thread here since the subject has already been started here.
 
Last edited by a moderator:
Re: New Stator / New VR And Only 12.6 Charging

kenshapiro2002 said:
Where should I look next? I have a new battery, a new stator and a new VR. I'm only getting 12.6 volts at the battery at idle and at 3,600 RPM. It's a 1993 FXLR.
Click to expand...

Check your grounds. Take off and wire brush both ends of both battery cables. Then make sure that the VR is getting a good ground. That VR is grounded through the mounting hardware, right?

Check that the Stator is putting out 16-20 Vac/1000 rpm. You can do this with a DVOM across the posts in the plug coming out of the Primary.

TQ
 
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