5th gen R/R replacement

As many of you know, I had some issues back in May. After a wonderful weekend at R3, I broke down near Bakersfield, Ca with electrical issues. That incident was the third strike for my R/R. First was a dead battery that was only a year or so old. Second, blown headlight that was only a year and a half old. The third ended up being my "Fuel pump relay" a little black box on the right rear of the sub frame that turns the fuel pump on and off at the proper time.
I decided to just go ahead and swap out the R/R before anything else blew up and before I got stranded again.
There are a billion threads on how to check the R/R for output and the like, so I will not go into all of that. I just thought I's post some pictures on how to do the actual replacement.

First, I rolled the bike inside cuz it's too damn hot work on it in the garage.


Making sure to protect the hard wood floor so the wife and the land lord do not murder me.


I have a alan type bit for my drill to make fairing screw removal a snap.


Just remove the seat


Remove the fairing screws


and unplug the tail lights


The R/R is located on the left side of the subframe on the 5th gen


There are 2 plugs covered by a rubber sheath. These tend to burn or turn brown and brittle when it fails all together.


The bolts are 10mm with lock washers on the back so you'll need a small wrench to hold them.

 

Ok...............Now what?

 

Wow, Drewl, you make me wish I had a 5th gen with R/R issues so I could do that too!! Good job on the pics!!

 

The new one should be here any minute, I'll post the rest when I am done.

 

Drew: "How do you keep an idiot in suspense"?

Randy: "I don't know. How?"

Drew: "I'll tell you tomorrow.

Disclaimer: The names above are random and have no resemblance to any members on or visiting this forum. Any similarity to any member is purely coincidental.

 

:rofl::rofl::rofl::rofl::rofl:

 

It took a looooooooong time for the UPS guy to come today. Of course, just because I was waiting for something.

Good old Rick's


Side by side. The old and busted vs. the new hotness



Adjustable screw holes for fitment


Plug and play


The anal retentive among you may choose some zip ties for the wires, I just bunched them in as I am wont(look it up) to do.


And Home, happy, and all together after a quick test ride. No hiccups to report.


Overall difficulty=none. Hardest part was taking the rubber sheath off the old one and putting it on the new one.
Beer rating=1. Only because the job took about an hour start to stop with pulling the tail and all.

Added bonus=I found a burned out tail light and replaced it with one I had on hand.

 

I don't understand.

BTW. I found out I had a burned out tail light just this morning at 05:00 when a nice policeman from Abbotsford told me about it when I was going through and 80km zone at 130......

Nice and simple write up Drewl.

 

Great write-up.

Having just got my 1998, would it be a wise investment to replace my R/R even if I've had no problems? More as a preventative measure.

 

Not everyone has issues, just alot of us.
The one from Rick's is $150 bucks, which is cheaper than a tow and diagnostic bill at the shop.

It's entirely up to you.

 

Good one drewler...........only thing missing from the thread is pics of your wife's facial expression when she came home and found a bike in the kitchen.

On second thought, maybe we dont need to see that.

 

Nah, she's a keeper. Her only reaction was, "Oh, there's a bike in my livingroom."
She does not care as long as I don't make a mess.

Oh yeah, don't forget to check blah blah blah OHM METER blah blah blah DIELECTRIC GREASE blah blah blah DISCONNECT BATTERY blah blah blah

 

Nice job Drew!! Pics are so much better than just words...

 

Thanks Drew. I just went out and looked and my 5th Gen has the old R/R. I am going to Colorado in a couple of weeks and I just thought it was prudent to replace that faulty piece of kit. Just sent my order to Rick's.