My 84 Shadow (Avenger II) was giving me all the signs of a dying battery: ran fine when running, but hard to start after it sat for a while. Trusty meter in hand, I dove into the charging circuit.
12.5v on the battery with the key off, 15.5v with the engine idling. 16v+ with the engine at 4K.
Too much voltage. So I figure the regulator is bad. This is an aftermarket unit, so someone has run into this before.
Thanks to EBay, I found a used Honda unit for $45+free shipping, and it arrived Friday. Saturday afternoon, I swapped it in. The battery was rather dehydrated, which is probably why it was so hard to start: the higher voltage boiled off the electrolyte. It took about 8 ounces of distilled water to cover the plates. I also did not solder in the 3 yellow wires onto the replacement unit, as I want to road test it for a while to make sure it works. You never know with used electrical parts.
After putting it all back together, the battery showed 14.2v at idle, and 14.4v at 4K. Sounds like it's fixed. Updates to follow.
Hope this helps.
Luke M
Used to have a 1979 CB750L, sold it as a parts bike, now riding a slightly modified 1984 VT700C. Network/Field Engineer. Central OH, USA, Earth, Sol System, Milky Way Galaxy, Universe.
Locked
