:(i purchased a new battery, and still its not charging, is there anything i can check or replace to get it to charge, i have a 1984 1200 :(

you can have the stator and voltage regulator checked

where is the stator located, and where is the voltage regulator located, and thank you for the help.

... HOWDY ... NEW BATTERIES ONLY HAVE WHAT IS CALLED A SURFACE CHARGE WHICH IS JUST ENOUGH TO GET A FEW STARTS OUT OF IT AND THE MOTORCYCLE CHARGING SYSTEM IS SUPPOSED TO FINISH CHARGING THE BATT. ... JUST BECAUSE THE BATT. IS NEW DOESN'T MEAN IT'S GOOD ... WHAT YOU MIGHT DO IS TAKE THE BATTERY OUT AND PUT IT ON A CHARGER (not a trickle charger) AND TOP OFF THE BATT. ... ALSO IF THE BATT. IS LOW ON ELECTROLITE / WATER THAT WILL HINDER THE CHARGING ... DO YOU HAVE A VOLTAGE DISPLAY ON THE BIKE ??? IF SO IT SHOULD BE READING 13.5 - 14.0 VOLTS ... IF NO VOLT DISPLAY TAKE A MULTIMETER SET IT FOR LOW VOLTAGE AND PLACE THE PROBS ON THE CORRECT + AND NEG. BATT. POSTS WITH MOTOR RUNNING AND THAT WILL TELL YOU IF THE SYSTEM IS CHARGING ... MOST AUTO PARTS STORES WILL CHECK THE VOLTAGE FOR YOU ... ALSO "NEVER NEVER" JUMP START YOU'RE BIKE OFF A CAR THAT IS RUNNING ... TO MANY AMPS AND THAT WILL BLOW RELAYS AND FUSES AND BE CAREFUL JUMPING WITH THE CAR MOTOR OFF ... HAPPY TRAILS ...

i also had a problem with my 84 1200 with charging. checked regulator and stator and both were good. ended uip finding a bad connection for the battery to the regulator .the connection was just behind the battery on the left side. it gets its connection on the top of the relay that has the fuse link on it. Shouldalso mention the bike is designed to charge only above 1500 rpm

Alex
Most mc batts require you to add the electrolite from a container in the box. Let it activate for about an hour then charge it as Ron suggested. Just connect a voltt meter across the battery. Should read about 12V. Start the bike and the voltage should go up to about 14V for a while then drop when the battery is re-charged from the starting process.

Hate to bring bad new but most all 1200 have bad stators. If it isn't gone yet it will be, (The stator basically is the alternator), The motor has to come out to replace it. There is a plug that comes from the stator next to the battery and sometimes that get over heated and melts, you might check that first. I sure hope it's not the stator but on a 1200 It's more likely than not. I had the one on my 85 go out on the way from the Honda after making a deal on my new 92, It cost me about $1,000.00 to have it replaced so I could sell the bike.

Yeah, my '84 GL1200A is currently in a shop 400 miles from home getting the stator replaced - estimate is $1200. There apparently is an alternative if the problem is the stator. There's an aftermarket external generator kit that goes on the front side of the engine - I think it's about $500. Google it.

I just read somewhere that the 1985 LTD had a "bigger" stator.
I took that to mean higher capacity; Does anyone know the answer?
I do know while browsing on ebay, there are separate listings for 1200's and the LTD. Also the price is higher for the LTD's.
If it is a higher capacity...would it still fit into a non LTD 1200?

If the answer to both is yes; Why wouldn't you replace the stator
( if you already had to) with the higher capacity unit?

It kinda makes sense to me that it would be more powerful, since there are extra loads on the LTD, like electric fuel injection...
( more power needed) etc??
Anybody know???

After a little digging; I found out the LTD~SE-i puts out 476W.
The standard on other 1200's puts out 360W.
If or when I need to replace mine....I'm going for the higher output! They must be the same as far as fitting..I've posted that question in a couple of places..no replies yet...;)

After a little digging; I found out the LTD~SE-i puts out 476W.
The standard on other 1200's puts out 360W.
If or when I need to replace mine....I'm going for the higher output! They must be the same as far as fitting..I've posted that question in a couple of places..no replies yet...;)
you'll have to modify the housing to use the higher out put stator. the fuel injected wings had the ho stators to power the fuel injection
and are just as prone to falure as the 360w stator. there is a "poorboy" kit to put an external alternator on a 1200 wing ( i've seen them used on 1000 and 1100 wings too ). most can get the kit and an alternator for much less than 500 assuming thet you do the conversion yourself

detdrbuzzard, thanks for the reply; Can you tell me how/what is required to modify the housing? I can see by the pics of the FI stator that it has two sets of wires & plugs comming out of the case as opposed to the regular stator that has only one plug. I'm assuming the second set goes right to (or powers) the FI circuit. If that is true could that extra plug/wires be used to directly power the coils on a non FI motor?....:confused:

The charging system is very easy to check but could be difficult top fix. At the rear of the left side of the engine there will be 3 wires that lead to a plug beside the battery. Unplug that and with a ohm meter there should be continuity between the three terminals from the engine but not to ground. If this is as above your stator is OK. Then your problem will either be the rectifier under the left side of the false tank or simply a bad connection. More often the stator is bad and the engine must come out to replace it. I just changed mine 2 weeks ago. Good luck

I to have a problim with charging the clymer shop manule gives the info for testing you must start with the engin off and unplug the fitting to the left of battery (it has 3 yellow wires) start the bike and hold the R.P.M.'s it 3000 and check the volts across all 3 leads aney thing under 50 volts A.C. is a bad rotor and the motor must be removed to fix it!! I just foud a complete alternator retro kit on E-Bay for $575.00 I think it might be the fix I"m looking for.:confused:

Mike701
I was tempted to buy the alternator retro kit, it has a much higher out put and would be much easier to repair but I was worried about water and road dirt getting in to the windings brushes ETC. I decided to stick with the OEM stator as the last one lasted 12 years. It was a lot of work but in the long run I believe it will stnad up beter

I just bought the cycle with the bad rotor in it !The guy I bought it from had just had a new one put in 06 and had not road it much, so I got a fair price on it.So the new one only lasted about3 1/2 years.The retro kit I'm looking at fits behind the rad. The bike is an LTD with murels on the bags a hitch and lots of drag goodys on it its what I wanted for a very long time!

The alternator conversion is fairly easy. You need a alternator off a chevy sprint, or like model auto, have it converted to 1 wire hookup at your local alternator shop. the right size pulley for the crank can be found in about any junkyard to use a regular v auto belt. cut a spacer for behind the pulley from tubing add a washer, trim the timing cover cases to make room for the back of the pully and spacer. We did my friends 84 for a total cost of 75 dollars two years ago. Still runs the same belt, and he rides his bike almost constantly year round. If you cant weld or fab a bit the cost might go up to 90 dollars to get the slotted mount fabricated for you and welded on. the back mount is an existing bolt.

ok so I can get a pully at aney junkyard but I need to know the size

You can use either a three four or five inch diameter pulley. My buddies has a three just like on the alternator. Depends on if you want much charge at idle or only when your revving up a little and riding. the three wont put out much until about 14oo rpm then it goes to full charge. the four will charge more at idle the five even more at idle because its spinning the alternator faster. the regulator is built into the alternator so it does away with the stator and regulator both when you switch to this set up.
As far as the crank size ill have to get with my friend and see what it is. I cant remember off the top of my head. Actually as long as it doesnt have to fit very snug. When you tighten the crank nut the pressure from that is what keeps it from spinning on the crankshaft not the inner diameter of the pulley. Ill get with m friend cuz I know he has the measurements we took wrote down somewhere. I do know he as always said he wished hed went with the larger pulley that would charge at idle. Not sure why because unless you leave your bike idling for half an hour or more it wouldnt weaken the battery but that is just him. Ill check the measurements and let ya know:D

is it just tork that holds ether pully on or a locking coller or keyway and what size bolt is on the crank

:D:DThis Is The Best Web Site Ever!!!!!!!!!!!!:D:D

its just the tork and the bolt is already on the end of the crank, the pulley my friend has is a 3 1/2 pully. We used several washers for spacers but you can cut tubing to use. We just didnt have any at the time and were in a hurry. You will need to trim each half of the timing belt covers with a dremel etc enough to let the back end of the pulley go thru and clear them. Just dont trim anymore than you need to.
Mind you now that we had a welder and could fab the front mount for the alternator ourselves. Its not a big thing just a slotted piece of flat bar. basically the same way one mounts in a car. My friend is looking for a copy of the plans we drew out so I can scan them and email them to you.
There really isnt that much pull on the belt as far as spinning the pulley on the crank. All its turning is the alternator. Main thing is to get as small bodied alternator as you can find from a car. You will have to trim a bit of fairing but nothing that can be seen or weakens the fairing.
If you do a google search for poorboy alternator kit youll probably find that kit. But there is no alternator or belts included just a pulley and spacers and some instructions. But will give you a general idea of what you need to do. When my buddy finds the plans ill scan em and send em to you Be safe Ghost

I have a welder and I think I am about to start.I have a set of step drill bits for drilling holes in switch boxes I think that will work ok.the drawing would be helpfull do you want my e-mail adress.

yep you can pm it to me if you want. I sent you a pm with a link to a webpage that has pretty detailed instructions on how to do it, the pics arent that great though. Jim is still hunting for the darn plans we drew. Their either in his garage or his house

what is a P M:confused:

private message

That sounds so awesome. I have an 84 aspencade that has all the light bars on it but I'm afraid to use them much because of the nightmares I hear about the juice they use. I like to be seen out there. Kind of a light geek I guess. I was thinking of converting all my lights to LED but they're not always the brightest lights for all uses. I would love to get a copy of those plans. I plan on tearing down this winter and re-working alot of stuff.

O.K. ifin I get em your welcom to em

Trav went to nothern ohio due to family illness so finding the plans is on hold. Hes moved twice since we did the coversion but if he cant find them in the next week we'll sit down and redraw them ill scan em and email them to you. I did send you link on the internet by private message {look upper right corner of the screen by your name} Those instructions are basically the same with the exception that we fabricated some of the parts instead of buying them. But the concept is the same. :D

Mike your also welcome to call me at 606 296 5170. This next week isnt the best because we are doing a charity haunted house and will be there most of the time during this week. After Halloween between 8 and 10 pm eastern is best to catch me at home.

I started on it today grinding off the brace is trickey without melting the fairing.One of the bolts holding the rad was broken so I ground it off and taped it for a 1/4 20 stud it will make it easyer to put in a spacer.I still need to go to the junk yard and get an alternator and pully;:) I need to know the pully size and belt size or number.:)

I'd like to add to this discussion. I have a 2000 1500SE. I have a battery monitor, add on. I replaced the battery a year ago. On several occassions the battery died while I was riding, leading to a jump.
I watched the volt monitor flash as though the battery was being drained as it idled? I used a tender before starting it in order to ensure a strong battery.
:confused:

OK searched high and low no drawings to be found, Must have lost them his move. Its really a pretty straight forward thing to do. The spacer and drive pulley are the trickest part and thats not even that complicated. We put my friends thru the fuse block but if doing it again I would just run the one wire hook up straight to the battery with a inline fuse. You can go thru a voltmeter if you want to check your charge at a glance. We did on his but be prepared for the voltmeter on the bike to show one volt shy of what the alternator is putting out. His will show 13.5 on the guage when its actually 14.5 checked at the battery. Might be his gauge but the alternator is by far the best set up. The worries about dirt water etc are groundless. Hes been running his for three yrs now on the same alternator belt and timing belts with nothing having gotten in by the drive pully : we checked: Sorry about the plans like I said probably lost in the move but a google will bring up several pages with pics on how to do it. :D:D:D

It is possible that it isn't your stator going bad, either.

The connector between the alternator/stator and the rectifier goes bad.

On the GL1000/1100 there are three yellow wires that run between the stator and the rectifier throught this connector. The connector is suseptable to corrosion. Cut it out of the circuit, solder each wire from the stator to a wire from the rectifier one at a time and heat shrink them separately. See if this takes care of your charging problem.

That connector going bad takes the stator out after a while, and then the rectifier from the strain of trying to push electrons through that corroded set of connections.

Just an observation on my part.

It's been awile but I numers pc problims I did manage to get my alternator installed and was able to ride twice befor the snows hit It worked great !! can't wate till the roads are cleer again!!

One simple time proven piece of advice about electrics,check the simple things first, the connections.How many times over the years I've taken main connections apart cleaned them up,put vasiline on them or dielectric grease and fixed a problem.Doing this first at least eliminates such a simple problem.

-Robert-

I know about loose elictric stuff starting with "74"550-4;"75"750;"76"750 suziki;"79"goldwing;82 ymaha venture royal I still have it.The goldwing ltd shop manual gave me all the info I needed to check it out,and the roter was bad.