Red Diamond Pooped

[Red Diamond]

Red Diamond pooped on me on my West Coast trip, alternator failure. Riding to Redding, Ca., everything just went blank, speedo stopped, tach, but it kept running until I pulled over, then died. Got on my friend's Harley (really embarrassed) rode back to Sacramento about 20 miles, thinking it was the battery. Got to the dealership, bought a battery $97.00, the Harley would not start, alarm set, he has key FOB in his pocket. Got a taxi, $40.00 near death ride, installed battery, cranked right up, friend on back of my bike (more embarrassment), back to Sacramento to pick up his Harley, start ride again, and guess what, Red Diamond stops again, now I know it is the alternator. I won't tell the whole story, but think of "Wild Hoggs, the movie. We had fun anyway, despite the break down. My wife brought the trailer and I loaded the bike and it will stay on the trailer until we get back home.
That bike is doing more riding than I am.(LOL)

[Trynt]

You may want to check the main fuse ( FUSE (55A)98200-65500).  If that goes it will prevent the alternator from charging the battery and your Valk will die when the battery runs down.  I discovered this when the Honda dealer evidently blew the fuse while replacing my valk's clutch. I was left stranded 80 miles down the road.

[tybme]

There is some GREAT riding west of Redding - hope you get to do some of it!

[Mr.BubblesVRCCDS0008]

If you need help with the alt. give me or rocketman a call as we are very well learned at the replacement. I'm running a goldwing alt. on mine, purchased from HDL  and I also replaced the little rubber  pieces that are in there as they get very hard with age. My went out while riding the three sister about two years ago. We made it back as far as Austin and rented a truck for the rest of the trip.

[laserpat]

What is the life expectancy of an alt? what fails? rebuildable?

[Mr.BubblesVRCCDS0008]

Pat I've had two fail, first one rotor went bad, second one the voltage regulator failed. I had the second built and care it with me on long trips as a backup. I'll probably never need it but is there just in case.

[Red Diamond]

A friend had to replace his at about 40k, my bike has 26k, but is 11 going on 12 years old. I have always thought of the alternator as a weak link on the Valk. Some seem to go forever and some short. When I made my West Texas Run, the trip odometer reset, radio and clock reset, but everything else was fine, I made it home ok. I haven't ridden it much since then and maybe it was out when I loaded it for this trip, just running on the battery. I did travel through a lot of sand and dust on a ranch in Yuma, Arizona, but I don't know what effect this may have had on it. I do plan on installing a GW alternator when I get home, But the ride is basically over. Thanks for the response.

[Rocketman]

What is the life expectancy of an alt? what fails? rebuildable?

With or without an amplifier in the fairing?
With an amplifier, ~200 miles if you're lucky.
Without, it varies widely.  I have had one die at ~15k, and the replacement lasted 25k and was running strong when other circumstances killed the bike.
From other discussions, I would expect it to last 50 or 60, but would not be surprised if it didn't last half that, or lasted twice that, too.
Not sure what the determining factor, as there doesn't seem to be any commonality between failures (barring amplifiers).

Mark

[wizard -vrccds#125]

108,700 and never have touched it ! Replaced most other parts but not that ?

[laserpat]

Do interstates fail more often? seems to be a common link.

[Skinhead]

Do interstates fail more often? seems to be a common link.

Do interstates fail more often? seems to be a common link.

Last season we had an IS and tourer alt sh}t the bed, IS on the Blue Gray ride, and the tourer here in MI.  Got both bikes home by swapping batteries with known good bike (MINE) so I'm expecting MY alt to go after recharging 500 miles of dead batteries. (It is really hard to type with your fingers crossed!)