Jonny Bones
XS400 New Member
Hey Guys,
I'm new here and hoping the hive mind can help me out. I'm the proud new owner of a '81 XS400 custom hardtail bobber. I bought it off the builder and he said there was a charging issue, which he believed was due to a blown reg/rec, he suggested a solid state all in one unit, gave me the link to the part he suggested and said it should fix the issue. I ordered the part, wired it in and I'm having the same issue. Bike starts up and runs like a top with only 1 kick, but it's drawing straight from the battery, so it dies after about 30-45min of riding. My more mechanically inclined buddies helped me open up the stator, everything looks clean as a whistle, no frayed, cracked or burned looking wires. We do a resistance test and it seems that the stator is not producing any power. My buddy believes he's narrowed it down to the Stator Armature, but that's just his best educated guess.
I'm wondering if anyone has some suggestions of what else we could test to try and figure this out. Seems like it should be a simple issue, but upon doing some forum searching it seems like fairly common issue. I just dont' want to buy parts I don't need and waste my time doing trial and error replacements. Been looking for a local bike mechanic that could tackle it, but not having much luck out where I live. I don't mind doing the work, I just hate wasting money on parts I don't need.
I've been told that I could get a PMA unit, which would let me completely bypass the battery altogether, which sounds amazing. But when I look them up, they all appear to only work with the XS650. I emailed MikesXS and they said they only carry one thats compatible with the XS650 as well.
Any thoughts or leads help. I'm fairly new to bikes in general, so forgive me if I ask a lot of questions. I like to learn. Always like to know the "how" and "why" to an issue.
I've included a couple pics of the bike. She runs great, but with it drawing straight from the batter, I have to keep my rides very short, and toss the battery on the trickle charger in between rides.
Thanks in advance!
- Jonny Bones
I'm new here and hoping the hive mind can help me out. I'm the proud new owner of a '81 XS400 custom hardtail bobber. I bought it off the builder and he said there was a charging issue, which he believed was due to a blown reg/rec, he suggested a solid state all in one unit, gave me the link to the part he suggested and said it should fix the issue. I ordered the part, wired it in and I'm having the same issue. Bike starts up and runs like a top with only 1 kick, but it's drawing straight from the battery, so it dies after about 30-45min of riding. My more mechanically inclined buddies helped me open up the stator, everything looks clean as a whistle, no frayed, cracked or burned looking wires. We do a resistance test and it seems that the stator is not producing any power. My buddy believes he's narrowed it down to the Stator Armature, but that's just his best educated guess.
I'm wondering if anyone has some suggestions of what else we could test to try and figure this out. Seems like it should be a simple issue, but upon doing some forum searching it seems like fairly common issue. I just dont' want to buy parts I don't need and waste my time doing trial and error replacements. Been looking for a local bike mechanic that could tackle it, but not having much luck out where I live. I don't mind doing the work, I just hate wasting money on parts I don't need.
I've been told that I could get a PMA unit, which would let me completely bypass the battery altogether, which sounds amazing. But when I look them up, they all appear to only work with the XS650. I emailed MikesXS and they said they only carry one thats compatible with the XS650 as well.
Any thoughts or leads help. I'm fairly new to bikes in general, so forgive me if I ask a lot of questions. I like to learn. Always like to know the "how" and "why" to an issue.
I've included a couple pics of the bike. She runs great, but with it drawing straight from the batter, I have to keep my rides very short, and toss the battery on the trickle charger in between rides.
Thanks in advance!
- Jonny Bones
