Charging Frustrations! Need advice Please

[JackBoots]

After looking at a 2003 non O2 sensor wiring diagram; the r-n (red/neutral?) wire goes to the stoplight switches. The az wire goes to the charge light. The r-ve wire goes 9through the fuse panel) to the battery + . The remaining 2 (yellow?) wires go to the alt. Test the integrity of the wire from the regulator with a test light and voltmeter.Use ana analog meter to induce a load on the circuit. If it shows ok,proceed with the connections to the alternator and to the charge bulb. I like the idea of using a maxi-fuse instead of the ATO fuse. After you get this working correctly you should modify it. I suspect the regulator if the wiring integrity is good.

You should call EuroMotoelectric for parts. He advertizes in the MGNOC newsletter. Google it if you are not a member. HTH!

gene

 

Thanks Gene! I just ordered a regulator from EuroMotoElectric's web site. It is definately a heat related problem and a pain in the butt to troubleshoot. It was not charging properly last night when it was hot but this morning when cold it charges fine. I'm taking a chance and going for the regulator.

 

By the way, my regulator is in a weird place. It is tucked in above the oil cooler and behind what I beleive to be a fuel filter.

It's really buried up above the front top of the motor. I have looked at other people's bikes and none of them are like this. I seem to remember some aftermarket kit to do this but I don't remember why it was done or maybe I'm dreaming. Anyone ever see this or could anyone give me a clue as to the best way to get the regulator out of there without disconnecting oil and fuel lines??

 

 

Cheers!

[gstallons]

Guzzi did not fit the fuel filter and pump in a standard location. Yours is in the "best" location for cooling fuel going into the fuel injection system. The regulator on my bike is locted below the oil cooler and between the horns. My pump is between the lh cyl.head and frame, the filter is on top of the frame.The regulator is a snap to get to. If you have to remove the fuel filter you will lose an amount (small or a lot) of gasloine with aluminum washers on banjo fittings (if they are so equipped). If you need to remove anything keep a visual picture of what is coming off.

BTW, the owner you talk to at EME is not some dummy reseller, he knows what he is doing.Do not be afraid to call him up and ask him ?s. when people are making a sale they are more apt to talk about the field in which they are associated with.

[JackBoots]

Guzzi did not fit the fuel filter and pump in a standard location. Yours is in the "best" location for cooling fuel going into the fuel injection system. The regulator on my bike is locted below the oil cooler and between the horns. My pump is between the lh cyl.head and frame, the filter is on top of the frame.The regulator is a snap to get to. If you have to remove the fuel filter you will lose an amount (small or a lot) of gasloine with aluminum washers on banjo fittings (if they are so equipped). If you need to remove anything keep a visual picture of what is coming off.

BTW, the owner you talk to at EME is not some dummy reseller, he knows what he is doing.Do not be afraid to call him up and ask him ?s. when people are making a sale they are more apt to talk about the field in which they are associated with.

 

Good to know! Thanks!

[Richard]

There is a connector block going to the regulator which should be zip-tied to the front A frame, check this out. From memory it has four wires going to it. When my bike started playing up I found that the wires to this connector had corroded and broken free from the connector...

[rower307]

I fought a similar charging problem for a long time. Problem turned out to be in the connectors from the regulator. They seem to snap together well, but it is the covering, not the metal. I cut away all the plastic, cleaned & tightened the metal connectors, & taped it up good. No more problem, been 2 months now. Also, I installed a voltage monitor LED from Signal Dynamics, gives a constant reading of battery voltage. Charging idiot light cannot be trusted. Hope this helps. JK

[jrt]

Here's my 2 cents- even if your charging system is working properly, I'd bet you have excessive load because of the silly grounding scheme that Guzzi wired in. I think it was Gary Cheek that first pointed this out so I have to give credit to him. Anyhow, run a nice 10 or 12 gauge wire from your triple clamps to the engine block, because otherwise the headlight ground has to run through the steering head bearings (grease and all). OK, that's assuming the head bearings did, in fact, get grease. Still, it's not cool.

On older models, the headlight current runs through the handlebar switch, which is a recipe for disaster. Dunno if it still does (I don't have schematics in front of me), but I ran the headlight through a relay (tail light and brake light also) just for good measure. That reduces a lot of the resistive losses and allows the alternator/regulator to more effectively charge the battery.

Good luck- there's been a lot of good advice here. Mine's more of a rant....

[dlaing]

Here's my 2 cents- even if your charging system is working properly, I'd bet you have excessive load because of the silly grounding scheme that Guzzi wired in. I think it was Gary Cheek that first pointed this out so I have to give credit to him. Anyhow, run a nice 10 or 12 gauge wire from your triple clamps to the engine block, because otherwise the headlight ground has to run through the steering head bearings (grease and all). OK, that's assuming the head bearings did, in fact, get grease. Still, it's not cool.

On older models, the headlight current runs through the handlebar switch, which is a recipe for disaster. Dunno if it still does (I don't have schematics in front of me), but I ran the headlight through a relay (tail light and brake light also) just for good measure. That reduces a lot of the resistive losses and allows the alternator/regulator to more effectively charge the battery.

Good luck- there's been a lot of good advice here. Mine's more of a rant....

When grounding the wiring rotating on the triples, you might also want to follow Carl Allison's tachometer grounding procedure (circa 2003)

http://www.v11lemans.com/forums/index.php?...ost&p=30246

On the older V11s the headlight current not only flows through the switch, but also through the weaker NC connection of the starter relay.

Around 2002-2003 they fixed it so that headlight current does not have to run through that terminal, but there is still room for improvement since the current still runs through the headlight switch.

Here is an article showing how and why to do a headlight relay upgrade, with diagrams by Gary Cheek.

Relays dedicated to the horns are also not a bad idea.

[JackBoots]

When grounding the wiring rotating on the triples, you might also want to follow Carl Allison's tachometer grounding procedure (circa 2003)

http://www.v11lemans.com/forums/index.php?...ost&p=30246

On the older V11s the headlight current not only flows through the switch, but also through the weaker NC connection of the starter relay.

Around 2002-2003 they fixed it so that headlight current does not have to run through that terminal, but there is still room for improvement since the current still runs through the headlight switch.

Here is an article showing how and why to do a headlight relay upgrade, with diagrams by Gary Cheek.

Relays dedicated to the horns are also not a bad idea.

 

Thanks! We'll get this beast running right just yet

[raz]

Relaying the headlight is really a must on any motorcycle where it's not done from factory. If you just manage to lower the total resistance by 0.4 ohms (you can easily do better than that: my original routing passed two switches, two relays and at least four connectors. That is without counting the ground path. And the wires are tiny.) you will actually get more light than if you try to compensate the voltage drop by putting in a 70/100W bulb! The latter will just make your voltage drop even bigger.

 

Sorry, couldn't stop myself but as dlaing said, that voltage drop will also affect your charging in one way or the other!

[gstallons]

My 87 SE had a small birthday candle in the headlamp cavity and would burn up the $170 headlamp swich about every two years. I got the headlamp relay kit and PIAA bulb from MotoInternational. After installation I wired (soldered) a diode into the wiring harness so both hi/low beams would burn on hi beam. WOW!! I can ride at night now !

Lesson.. For what it's woth,the relay is the current carrying device instead of the switch,put the relay kit on and run the ground strap from the steering head to the frame. You probably don't want to price the switch for the V11s......

[raz]

After installation I wired (soldered) a diode into the wiring harness so both hi/low beams would burn on hi beam.

...

You probably don't want to price the switch for the V11s......

That is tempting but have you priced a reflector? With almost twice the power, I'd be afraid of ruining it from overheating. Bulb life should be compromised too. These are just my guesses though.

 

JackBoots, sorry for straying away... keep up posted!

[JackBoots]

That is tempting but have you priced a reflector? With almost twice the power, I'd be afraid of ruining it from overheating. Bulb life should be compromised too. These are just my guesses though.

 

JackBoots, sorry for straying away... keep up posted!

 

No worries.. it's all good

[Slavomir Musilek (R.I.P.)]

diferential diagnose, Foreman, Cuddy, Chase, I want to tell me what happened

 

well. On Sunday my red charging light flashed like a torch. Multimeter showed that no voltage is going to battery. Well, it does but only from 5000rpm up

 

I was 200km from home, what would you do?

 

That was really funny ride

 

add, i have found a producer of reliable rectifiers, czech company VAPE. They specialize on motorcycle charging and etc. Their regulator suitable for guzzi stands for 1500CZK which is like 60€. If anybody got interested, send me PM and I will organize international shipping.

 

documentation for R82 (alternator up to 280W - well guzzi alt gives more but in Czech we have to have lights still on so it is just enough)

 

they do also R84 which is up to 300W but have different desing and is too big to fit V11 without any changes...

[JackBoots]

I ordered the regulator from EuroMotoElectric on Friday and it came in the mail Monday. Not Bad!

 

Shiney new looking with a date code stamp from 2007! This I like! Otherwise identical to my stock unit although I did notice that on the new regulator the "made in Italy" was machined off the regulator case. Whatever... as long as it works.

 

When I took the old regulator out I did notice a lite brown spot in the underside green epoxy right along where the wires go into the unit. It looks like a sign of the wires overheating where they go into the regulator. The new regulator has the same green epoxy but no brown spot.

 

After installing the new regulator, the 1st thing I noticed is that after turning on my bike and before starting it, the charge light comes on. This is what I would expect it to do, however in the 6000 miles that I have owned the bike with the old regulator it has never done this! Once started the light goes out and thus far is charging perfecly. The charging light isn't coming on at idle as it sometimes would before, and haven't seen the charging light come on at any rpm or even flicker.

 

I don't want to say it's fixed yet and have the Guzzi Gremlins bite me. I'll be taking it for a good long run this afternoon. That will be the final test. Let's hope all is good! I'll let you know.

[Slavomir Musilek (R.I.P.)]

my new one looks like this