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Hi, happy new owner of Vfr800 5th Gen, could not find answers on this problem in the forum. Only have one low beam light working, the right side don't work, have tried changing bulb but no luck, have cleaned the handlebar switch. Can this be a relay issue? The high beam works on both sides

" A dirty fuel filter is a common cause for a voltage regulator to fail on a fuel-injected bike. " I found this quoted on the Powerlet website and thought that it would be interesting to hear people's opinions on it given that the R/R is the the main area of sudden failure on the otherwise indestructible VFR's. Scroll down to Table 4 " What if I don't have enough power?" #3 http://www.powerlet.com/learningCenter/excessCapacity

I have a 2004 vfr800. I had issues with the r/r. I put a new OEM one on it along with a new battery . Now it just turns over but wont start. If my stator is burnt, would it cause a no spark condition? I thought maybe my ecu was fried. I bought a new one and it still wont start. Any help would be highly appreciated.

This is going to be a very long story, but it took me a year. You'll get through it much quicker! I think I'm finally at the end of a year long search for the answer to my intermittent 5th Gen issue of it randomly cutting out while riding. I'll start at the beginning and try to remember everything and the order in which it occurred. First off, 2017 was very tough on my personally and financially much of it spent working 7 days a week for 3/4 of what I was earning previously, and some early parts of the year I was making zero to less than half. Anyway, what that means in the context of the VFR was little to no recreational riding or time or money to diagnose and repair the issue. So I was riding home from work one afternoon. I was on the highway in the left lane, about to pass slower traffic ahead. As I signaled and accelerated, then changed lanes, I hit a moderately severe bump as the pavement transitioned to a bridge. The engine immediately cut off, in gear on the throttle. Dash looked normal, Fi and oil lights on as if key on and stop switch in off position. I pulled in the clutch and tried the starter multiple times as I coasted along to no avail, along with letting the clutch out in gear to let the wheel turn it over. I think I eventually coasted down an off ramp and stopped. I cycled the key and then tried it and that worked. When I got home I, of course, went straight to Stator - R/R - Battery tests. Many years ago I converted to the R1 FH012 Reg/Rec with output routed to the battery + through a 30a fuse and the ground directly to the frame. Later I installed a Custom Rewind rewound stator. I had several years of trouble free charging, so following a severe crash in 2014 and rebuild over the following many months, I never bothered refitting my voltmeter. I had to replace virtually everything in the nose and side fairings and didn't want to cut my new to me, freshly custom painted fairing. Luckily I found a nekkid bike enthusiast with nearly everything from the front of the bike for sale, and I grabbed it up! Headlight was smashed, the gauges looked a little broken but when I got them out of the fairing stay they were flexible due to all the breaks and cracks. I swapped out the LCD to keep my original miles (I'm at 103k now!). The fairing stay was toast and actually snapped one of the mounting tabs off the frame neck! Had to pull the frame off and have it welded back on. Everything plastic forward of the seat was replaced except the little "ears" on the inside of the cockpit. Luckily my SP1 forks and carbon fiber fender were spared! So anyway, I tested everything I could think of and found no faults. I raised the tank and with it running I pulled the fuel pump power. It died pretty fast, which seemed like what I experienced while riding, so I was thinking maybe the original '99 pump was giving up. I think my bike was built in late '98, and it had nearly 102k miles at the time. I actually have a spare pump, not the assembly, so I was thinking to swap it out. But since it's not the complete assembly it was going to be a lot of effort for a hunch. So I ignored it for a few more months. Eventually I decided to try it again, and it did exactly the same thing in the same spot! Duh, of course it did. I coasted a bit trying the same things, but then remembered cycling the key seemed to work before, and it did again. This time without stopping. Still not sure, I continued to ignore. One day I left work and needed to get gas on the way. Started fine at work, but at the gas station it barely turned over. The engine was warm enough to catch though, and I got it home. Back to charging system testing, and I found a dead battery (obvious). Stator tested fine, but the R/R failed on the testing procedure outlined on RoadsterCycle.com. I got with him to order a brand new FH020 and had the battery load tested, it failed. It was a Yuasa for the ST1300, because that was a thing a few years ago that people were doing. Same physical dimensions, but higher CCA. Always on a Tender, maybe 3 years old. With the new R/R, and a battery from my one time project bike, I rode it once again to work. Got there fine, but leaving for home it once again barely started. At home I tested everything again and still found faults on the new R/R. Jack at Roadster said he tests them before sending, but I could return it so he could test it and see what happens. He tested it to be working properly, so I started looking at the wiring. I found the output + wire didn't have continuity, and then found the 30a fuse had blown when the FH012 R/R died. I guess my cheap old mini multi-meter wasn't up to the task of properly diagnosing the R/R. Works fine for continuity and voltage, though. I replaced the fuse and was still getting funky continuity reading through it because when it surged it melted the fuse holder a bit and one of the blades on the fuse was beside the female terminal instead of inside it. I sent another email to Jack and had him include one of his 30a auto reset breakers to replace the fuse holder. New R/R and 30a breaker installed, it charges at 14+ at idle! Yes, back in business! Still not riding much though, cause now it's Fall and still no spare time or money. I did get a new replacement Everstart from Wally World in the ST1300 CCA rating when I sold the other bike. I can't recall exactly when, but I did ride it a few times to work without issue, but those were all not on the same road I was loosing it before. Then I was back on that stretch of highway, but going in the opposite direction and it died, but I was able to cycle the key and get it started pretty quick. Then I ignored it for a few more more months. Not long ago I decided to go ahead with COP conversion and remove the big ugly coils in favor of some Gixxer stick coils, coil on plug, COP. They were donated, and with some research I discovered I could get the CBR coil harness for like $7. Cheap modding, I'm in! After getting them installed I took it for a test ride to get gas. I had previously siphoned my tank because it had been sitting for several months and my car was low. So why let a full bike tank go bad from sitting, plus it's still in the back of my mind that I have to pull the fuel pump. I head out with the gauge blinking at me, knowing I still have plenty, but also having lots of doubt as to exactly how much gas is in there. As I am nearly turning left into the station, I hit a bump and it dies! Of course it does, but did it slosh gas away from the pump enough to kill it, or is it the old issue? Restarts and I fill up and get home. The next day I decide to take it out for a longer test and it dies on my within the first 15 minutes. I cycle the key and start it and continue to ride for a few more hours without issue. At this point, I'm down to one job but looking to get my old one back. So it's plenty of free time but not much money. I saw post on VFRD that got me looking at my main 30a fuse, and not liking what I see. This is the OE fuse holder on the front of the battery box. It's very brown and crusty looking, but not melted. The fuse blades are pretty dark from what I assume is the arcing of a slightly loose connection. I could clean it up and tighten the female connections, or even replace the entire thing with a better more sealed fuse holder, but I decide to get another of the 30a breakers from Roadster. They have nut and bolt connections with ring terminals on the wiring. Much more sturdy connection! Now that's in, and the tail is off, so I decide to really get cracking on this whole thing. I looked up the wiring and found the 2 relays that could have an affect on the fuel pump. I got them loose from their holders and started smacking them around to see if they responded to excessive bumping. Well, I found that if you hit them hard enough they do indeed break connection, but only for long enough to kill the engine. They would reset themselves and the fuel pump would prime, and I could start the engine without needing to cycle the key. Still not it. After the big crash I had the replacement front "de-dumboed" and wired in Gixxer signal mirrors. Looks great, works great, but makes taking the front fairing off a major PITA! My only other thought at this point, other than fuel pump, is the bank angle sensor (BAS). It's the tip over cut off, and I couldn't remember exactly if it needed the key cycled in order to clear it. I did trigger it once while riding, but barely avoided a crash, but I forgot how I got it restarted. But now I have no other choice. I have to eliminate it as a possibility. I finally get to it and unbolt it. If I shake it, it makes a loud rattle. I also noticed a tiny bit of fluid on my fingers after handling it. Is it fluid damped? I don't know! I texted SebSpeed, cause I know he's working on a 5th Gen project to ask if he's got access to the BAS and if he thinks it's fluid filled. He didn't have the VFR BAS handy, but another one from a CBR (I think) was in the shop, and he said he never considered it, but it did indeed seem to be fluid filled. I'm looking at mine, and it's clearly got a little bit of exterior damage, but I never would have considered that it was sealed and now that seal was broken. I plug it in and give it a moderate shake while running, and sure enough it immediately dies and won't start. Here's the thing; the starter turns. It's the only shut off mechanism that still allows the starter to turn but not the bike to fire. Cycle the key and it fires right up! I texted Seb back to see if he knows which wires to jump to make it run. I remembered from the wire diagram that the orange wire on the bike side of the connector has something to do with the 2 relays in the tail. He wasn't sure so I tried a couple things and got it to work with orange jumped to green (ground). I could have tried test riding it with the jumper wire in, but it's too much work to get to. I found a BAS from an ST1100 with the same connector on eBay for $6.50 shipped, and jumped on it. It looked the same in pics, and when it arrived it matched exactly the plug and mounting bolts. I plugged it in and it works! Smacked it round and shook it vertically, and it stays running. I can hear a distinct difference in them, my old one sounded like a bolt inside a plastic box when I shook it, and the other one sounds like it's fluid damped to prevent it moving excessively and shutting the bike down. So that's it! Who would have thought that the BAS could have been slightly damaged enough to work fine for a couple years then start slowly driving me mad?!?! I guess it didn't all spill out, but instead slowly evaporated over time. I rode it a bit yesterday and hit as many sharp bumps as I could stand with no issues. Fixed! Of course I found while the fairings were off that the water pump is dripping from the weep hole. Only one thing that means, water pump is on it's way out. Second one on this bike. I forget the mileage on the first one, 30-ish thousand miles? (edit- Actually more like 50k) I was doing track days and swapping out distilled water and cheap parts store coolant. I figure that I should spring for some fancy silicone hoses while I'm at it. I was looking at another 5th Gen taken apart and the seals for the coolant connections to the cylinders in the V on that bike were perished. So, I'll plan on a full cooling system overhaul in the near future now that I'm earning a proper paycheck again. Probably change the spark plugs too, since I don't know how old mine are and I've got the new COPs. (It never ends!) Apologies for the extreme wordiness of my post, but I wanted to illustrate the difficulties of diagnosing an issue while another crops up in the middle of it.

I replaced the original OEM regulator/rectifier [r/r] on my 2001 5th gen with a Shindengen SH847 series-style r/r from roadstercycle.com. There were no problems evident with my elecrical system, but with 48,595 miles on my old[ish] VFR, I might be on borrowed time with the all-original wiring, stator and r/r. I read through the pinned threads on the vfrd electrical forum: 'stator tests', 'electrical upgrade', and 'tips and tricks' - thanks to everyone who contributed their advice and experiences to these informative threads. Thanks to Duc2V4 for his guidance and for introducing me to roadstercycle.com and introducing me to Jack, the craftsman behind the roadstercycle website. Special thanks to Jack for his excellent suggestions, products, service, and for showing me his amazing shop and machines. Readings before beginning project: 12.9v on the battery with ignition switch off 0.8-0.9ohms across all three stator legs when disconnected from r/r [my meter reads 0.6ohms when I short the two probes together] No continuity from any stator leg to ground 19-20v on all three stator legs at 1200rpm idle [engine temp 174F] 61-63v on all three stator legs at 5000rpm I neglected to check battery voltages with engine running before I began I used this nifty $20 voltmeter [It also has two USB charging ports] from ebay for continuous battery voltage display - plugged it into my always-on steering stem power outlet. I compared it to my multi-meter, and they displayed the same voltages: Here is the original OEM r/r with leads disconnected: The connectors on the cables coming from the stock r/r didn't look bad, though the connector on the stator wires was a bit discolored: The series-type SH847 is $50.00 more than the popular mosfet SH020AA, but operates on demand instead of constantly, runs even cooler than mosfet, and has a 50 amp capacity. I went with it because I've been doing track days and don't want to challenge the r/r if I have to unplug the lights before taping them over [the headlights melt through polyethylene tape if you leave them on after you tape them over - ask me how I know]. The SH847 connectors are built onto the r/r. Roadstercycle sells the SH847 as a kit and makes up the connectors/cables for the battery and stator leads from 10 gauge marine grade wire: The SH847 is a physically larger unit - here it is next to the stock r/r: Before purchasing, I made an actual size mockup and taped it in place to test fit it under the rear cowl in the stock r/r location. It would have efficient cable routing and clear the cowl and passenger rear set assembly if oriented with the connectors facing forward, which would mean the cooling fins would be perpendicular to airflow as I perceived it. Jack said the series-type and mosfet Shindengen r/r's don't care about airflow direction: After visiting roadstercycle.com, receiving an education and a tour from Jack, then picking up r/r kits for my bike and for member Hammerdrill's 's 6th gen, I fit the SH847 in place, mapped out its location, and marked where to drill the top mounting hole [Yes, I cleaned up the hole with a rat tail file after drilling]: This left the new r/r's bottom mounting hole just below the bottom rail of the subframe. I hate mixing SAE and metric fasteners [I never know if I'll remember the right size tools later], but my best mounting solution was the threaded endpiece of this 1/4-20 draw bolt. I used the threaded piece to grab the subframe from underneath by threading it onto a bolt running through the r/r's bottom mounting hole: I cut a 1/4-20 flange bolt short enough that it wouldn't grind into the plastic fender behind the subframe, cut the bottom rear corner off the threaded draw bolt piece so it could clear the fender when pivoted up to grab the subframe securely, then loctited the threads and cinched it all up with stainless washers between the mounting bolts and the r/r: Roadstercycle's kit comes with finished battery cables. I asked for 11" battery cables, but Jack wisely recommended 12" lengths. I'm glad he did, because they fit like this [The nearest black and red cables in this photo are the leads from the new r/r and the red fixture on the left with two bumps on it is the 30amp circuit breaker that Jack builds into the kit]: Per the instructions, I taped off the now unused connector that ran from the wire harness to the old r/r and fastened it out of the way: The kit comes with 18" stator cables, solder-on sleeves, and crimp connectors - you choose whichever connector you prefer. I cut the stator cables to length using cable cutters. I like actual cable cutters for stranded cable because they capture the strands and compress them together so the strands don't get crushed and spread apart between the two blades of regular wire cutters or dikes. Next was to solder on the sleeves, followed by completely forgetting to take photos of the cables in my solder jig, but there's not much there to imagine. Roadstercycle has a good video on how to solder connectors. Just before heating the last piece of shrinkwrap onto the last finished stator connection, I remembered to take a photo: That's it. My final electrical readings are all the same - I didn't change out the stator or battery. I finally took battery readings with the engine running and got 13.3v at 1200rpm idle, 14.5v at 5000rpm.

Maybe it's been covered, or it's in the service manual, but I've not run across a good instruction for testing the Reg/Rec itself. Usually it comes down to battery and stator testing and if those are pass then it's the R/R. Take a look at Roadster Cycle's page of help videos. He's got a simple and informative how-to on it. I even figured it out and was able to learn a new setting on my multi-meter! http://roadstercycle.com/Roadstercycle.com Videos.htm

Hi folks, I started the charging system rejuvenation process last year. My system was working perfectly 12.5-13v at idle, 13.8-14.1v at 1500 RPM & 14.4v at 5000 RPM, but I wanted to insure against future problems. My stator-R/R plug (3 yellow wire) was getting hot, but not yet burned so I cut that out and soldered & heatshrinked the wires. No heat in the wires now. Then I bought a mosfet R/R and installed that. It came with a "kit" of 12 gauge wiring, a new 3 yellow wire plug and a weather-proof 4 terminal plug for 2 red and 2 black 12 gauge wires (1 red & 1 black directly to the battery). When I cut the original R/R harness, I put 1/4" spade terminals on both sides of the cut and matching connectors on the new R/R wiring for an easy roadside swap if it was ever necessary. (I have read stories that not all of these are as reliable or long-lived as they should be and I didn't buy the "name brand". My decision, you may decide different.) That's when the trouble started. Idle voltage was 13v, then 13.8v at 1500-2000 & 13.8v at 5000 RPM. When I unloaded her after the big move, I went for a ride to get gas only to need a boost at the gas station. I found the 3 yellow wire plug had come undone. Aha, I thought. But no, even after a charge and a ride a week later it still cranked over slower than normal. Yesterday I put the meter on it and watched it intermittently lose charge. Hmmm, then I watched the 3 yellow wire plug and saw an occasional arc. One of the terminals had pushed out a bit the last time I connected it at the gas station. I fixed that, but DAMMIT, 13.8v is still not right! So I thought about it and realized that the spades in the weather-proof plug that came with it were less than 1/8" wide. Why didn't I think about that before - nowhere near big enough. This also explains why the wires connected directly to the battery made no difference to the voltage received by the battery. This morning, I went out and snipped out the plugs - both of them. They weren't necessary anyway since I had the 1/4" spades in there for emergency use. I reconfigured the connectors and got 13.8v at idle and 14.2v at 5000 RPM. Then I connected the extra red & black wires directly to the battery and now have 14.2v at idle and 14.3-14.4v from 1500 all the way up to 5000 RPM. So, those 2 wires to the battery are worth 0.5v over the stock harness. This morning I started to do The Drill ( http://vfrworld.com/forums/showthrea...2131-The-Drill ) until I was sure I had no stator or R/R trouble. I also read through Jeff Barrett's write-up on the charging system of his 6th gen ( http://vfrworld.com/forums/showthrea...ectrical-Loads - great job, Jeff). The moral of the story is to go with a mosfet R/R, 12 gauge wire, connect the extra red and black wires directly to the battery and do the 3 yellow wire fix. Cheers, Glenn

My bike left me stranded, 2004 with 22K on it. Was riding, shut if off to get gas, then turned the key on and the dash never appeared - clock was still there so I know there's battery power. Towed it home, went to start it several hours later, and was messing around and it started! Then it wouldn't restart. Here are the details - I have the VFRness - battery is in good shape, 12.86volts off. - when the bike is off, 12.86 volts flow to the two 20 amp VFRness fuses (measured by removing the fuses) - both fuses had some burning look to them (attached) --- replaced the fuses and it still did not turn on for a while - started after that off chance try, but would not turn back on. I did have a change while riding today in that my phone was hooked up to the batter with this battery tender attachment, but since I see voltage at the battery I'm not sure it toasted it. I am thinking it is a faulty connection, but I am not sure where to start looking. Are there common failure points I should be aware of?

Looking at upgrading my R/R as suggested and am torn between two versions from Roadstercycle. I also NEED to do something bomb proofing for my main fuse A AND B. Both are either discolored or slightly melty but nothing crispy yet. So questions: 1. Should I go mosfet or the series? Roadstercycle has both: FH020AA, or SH775 R/R -I've read to stay away from Rick's models for now.. although Tightwad carries the Mosfet but it's a Ricks right? -I also have VFRNess installed so no need to go direct to battery so I assume I'll have to find adequate connectors somehow. 2. Are there any better r/r options in 2015? 3. I do plan on using the metric pack connector as suggested by Mello Dude for the Stator connection so am looking for a good crimper that wont break the bank. Any suggestions? 4. I've seen kits at wiremybike to replace fuse A and B connectors. Is there anything more bombproof? I remember seeing something called "littlefuse"? But cant find it for some reason. Any guidance is greatly appreciated!! Thanks all!

Hi all! I just acquired a 2004 VFR800 (non ABS) with 29,000 miles on it. All was well for about 200 miles, and then it died. The person riding in front of me said that the headlights started getting dimmer and dimmer and then went out just shortly before I lost power. I got the bike home (fortunately only ~70 miles from home), and started diagnosing. The PO was not sure whether the RR or stator has ever been replaced. The battery was replaced in the past year or two with a Battery Tender Lithium Ion battery. The battery was dead, so I charged that. When I started testing, it was sitting at 13.14V. Checked again this morning, and it's sitting at 13.13V so the battery seems to be OK. I tested everything and concluded that I had zero charging going on but it seems like the stator is OK(?). In the process of testing, I found that the connections between the stator and RR had overheated and were likely non-conductive. The char looks recent so I suspect they melted/charred during my ride. I rewired the connectors and tested again. Results: First test (before rewiring, with low beams on): IGN Bike Measured Reading OFF OFF BAT - + 13.14V ON OFF BAT - + 12.78V ON IDLE BAT - + 13.00V (rising) ON 2500RPM BAT - + 12.50V (falling) ON 5000RPM BAT - + 12.50V (falling) Stator tests: Impedance between phases: AB ~1ohm, AC ~1ohm, BC ~.9ohm Impedance to ground: A->G infinte, B->G infinite, C->G infinite AC Voltage: IDLE AB 24.2 AC 24.5 BC 23.9 5K AB 64.5 AC 64.5 BC 65 After replacing yellow stator connections (low beams on): ON IDLE BAT - + 13.20V (rising) ON 2500RPM BAT - + 13.45V (rising) ON 5000RPM BAT - + 13.58V (rising) A few notes: For the impedance tests, the ohmmeter that I am using is not close to instantaneous. When I put the leads directly against one another it rapidly declines from 200ohm to 5 then 3 then 2 then 1.5 then 1.4 then 1.3 and so on. With each downward tick it takes longer (from 200-1.5 takes a second or two, then it takes a few seconds from 1.5 to 1.0, and then approximately ten seconds per 0.1 tick beyond that. I suspect that the stator impedances are lower than 1.0 or 0.9, but I either need a new meter or to be dramatically more patient waiting for it to settle. For the "rising" and "falling" statements, once the voltmeter settled on a voltage (which is fairly instantaneous), I am stating that the voltage is slowly ticking upward or downward. Over the course of 30 seconds at a particular RPM, I would se a rise or fall of approximately 0.15-0.50 volts. There are no electrical accessories on the bike. After fixing the stator->RR connections, when I ran the 5k RPM voltage test I saw the 30A fuse wire start smoking and it was quite hot to the touch. All of that leads me to some questions: Is there anything about a lithium ion battery that would result in me not seeing a higher voltage across the terminals? I've never dealt with a lithium ion battery in a car/bike before so want to make sure that I should expect the same testing behavior as I would a conventional battery. At this point I am planning to rewire the bike (mirroring a VFRness) or order a VFRness and install that. Also, following my tests, I'm going to rewire my crimp connectors (stator<-->RR) with soldered connections. Should I go ahead and order a RR at this point too or do my results seem potentially within the realm of "normal" for overheated/deteriorated wiring? Should I get the wiring squared away, test again, and then decide whether to acquire an RR? In general are the failures frequent enough that I should just keep a spare RR on hand (or on the bike when I'm on trips)? Is there an expected lifespan for a Honda OEM RR? Does 29k miles make it "due" for replacement? Am I way off base on anything I've said that I need to be corrected on? Thank you in advance!

I know there are countless threads about this but I find it overwhelming & I'm too bummed out to read all the info that a search would bring up. So I'm hoping you'll help me. My bikes charging system has gradually been getting weak. I did all the tests yesterday. The DC voltages are all too low but the AC volts and the other stator tests are ok. The yellow stator wires get very hot on both sides of the connector. I replaced the infamous R/R 7 years ago (about 2k miles) with a Honda brand one from the dealer. P/N 316-MBG-305. SH689DA is stamped on it. (Would that be a shunt type?) I also installed a VFRness & replaced the battery then & 4 times over the years since then including 3 months ago. I'm also overwhelmed with all the different types of R/R's & places to buy them. So, which type of R/R should I get & where from? And should I also replace the stator? TIA

I just bought a 92 VFR750 in great condition. I'd love for it to continue running without a hitch. After skimming through the forums here, it looks as though charging and electrical problems are common. I have read a number of things about a vfrness, changing the r/r, checking wiring frequently, etc. and I'd like to know a little more about all this. I am not very electrically inclined, so I'm not interested in doing anything very advanced, but I'd like to do whatever I need to to ensure I don't end up stuck on the side of the road, so here are my questions: 1) what exactly is the electrical problem that is common with VFRs? 2) what can be done to resolve this? 3) should I buy and install a new r/r? is there an updated one for my bike? 4) should I buy and install a vfrness? 5) do I need to keep checking my wires to see if they are melted? If yes, how often should I be checking? Thanks for the advice.

Okay, so you've installed a voltmeter and you're out on a ride and far from home. Scenario #1 : You see > 15V. The battery is getting overcharged. Do you disconnect the stator to r/r connector to protect your battery? So in effect you are running total loss and relying on the battery charge only. You could probably re-connect occasionally to charge up the battery. Scenario #2 : You see < 12V. The battery is not getting charged. Do you unplug headlights, if possible, and disconnect other current draws such as heated gear? What else can you do? Carrying a spare r/r might be a good idea since it is easy to swap out, a stator not so much. Any other thoughts or words of wisdom? I figure I may as well be able to do something other than curse at the voltmeter and give myself the best chance at success.

R/R's: MOSFET + Shunt + Series + Compu-Fire + Factory + Aftermarket + Where To Buy = OVERWHELMING CONFUSION !! Why so many? What's the difference? Which is better? Can they be used on all Gen's? UGG!!

A few years I went for a Compu-fire R/R even thou my current R/R worked fine. I know,.... why? Well, it seems so stupid that changing system has to go 100%, 100% of the time. Well last weekend the Compu-fire died. Details here- http://www.vfrdiscussion.com/forum/index.php/topic/74088-my-compu-fire-regulator-died-today/ I decided to give it a second shot with a Cycle Electrics R/R. Details here- roadstercycle.com/Roadstercycle Series Regulators.htm I ordered it Sunday night and got it yesterday. First thing I noticed was it's size, huge. It's about twice the size of the Compu-fire and some what larger than the factory R/R. I've got the home made adapter plate cut, drilled, tapped, and mounted. I just need to pick up some 1/4-20 socket allen heads on the way home from work tomorrow. Should be able to light it off this weekend.

I read on here that when the charging system shows a low reading under 5k RPMs, it's an indication the R/R needs replacing. Is there a definitive way of knowing it's this and not the stator? Also, if I order an R/R from the dealership now, will it be better than the one they originally put on the bike? I thought I read somewhere it would be. I frequently go on long rides (I just got back from a 1,400+ mile journey) and would certainly not want to have problems out in the middle of nowhere. I started having problems about 40 miles from home (on the way back.) Thanks.

Riding my '94 750 last week. Stop to get gas. Had to push start it afterwards, and decided to head right home. On the way there, at a steady speed, the tach and speedo were jumping all over the dial. Got a new battery after mine tested as irrecoverable, and it had about 7 years on it, though all of them on the Tender. The light behind the clock no longer worked, which was odd, but the clock still did. FIgured it was the bulb, and ordered another one. Then, headed home the next night with the new battery, stopped @ a stoplight it died on me while idling. Tried the push start again, didn't work. Got it jumped started @ a gas station, made it one more mile, then it died in motion while pulling into the garage. Left it off the Battery Tender that night. Tried it next morning, and it wouldn't start, so I clipped it to the Tender again, and rode the 800 to work instead. Today I took the multimeter to it. It started fine on the Tender, voltage @ 12.4V. RPMs up to 4k, but voltage still @ 12.4V. So, I know it ain't charging, but here's my question: do I need a new R/R (this will be my third. OEM one: 32k. #2 was also OEM, though the re-designed finned one: 24k.) or a new alternator? How to tell? Last time I lost a R/R was while riding. Tach and speedo were all over the place then too, but I was doing 65 on the freeway. Loss of power, but I could drop a gear now & then and limp it home, so I did. The OEM R/R had that small solid puddle of black stuff on one side, and it was easy to tell that the R/R failed: the puddle had turned to liquid and dripped all over the frame, etc.

Is this a bad idea?? Installed it along with the VFRness and this was the best spot I could find... Better ideas?