My M1200R is back with the dealer, it's burnt out the reg/rec yet again leaving me stranded and having to be recovered. The dealer has replaced the reg/rec 3 times now in less than 200 miles. This is clearly treating the symptom and not addressing the root cause; the bike will be returned to me and it'll fail again presently. They tell me that they've opened a ticket with the factory but have not come back with any insight thus far. Any thoughts from the collective wisdom here based on the above? EDIT - The bike is 14 months from new, ca. 1900 miles, I'm the only owner.
Stating the obvious, but the fault has to be elsewhere in the wiring. Battery connections etc etc need checking. No other issues?
On finance or owned? If on finance you can back it and get another. They’ll even compensate you for the inconvenience and time spent off the road.
I'm no electrical guru by any means, but logic tells me that the problem either lies upstream of the reg/rec e.g. the alternator kicking out too much A/C, or the reg/rec heatsink design or earthing is poor. It should be a piece of cake for any mechanic worth his salt to eliminate the alternator by testing the output with a multimeter. Your dealer would not be filling me with confidence at this stage! Likewise, I would assume that testing the reguator earth and resistance should be straightforward if you know the specs, which they should . . . Trouble with a lot of the new mechanics these days, is that they are just 'fitters' and not proper time served mechanics that have the background knowledge and logic to work a problem through. Even if they do, they're under pressure to turn around as many bikes through the workshop as possible to make money for the business. Spending time on warranted work and more complex probs doesn't make the same profit as an oil change. Time to get stroppy with them me thinks. Mentioning Small Claims Courts works wonders I find Look out, here comes the first rattle out of the pram!
The chances of the alternator putting out more than the regulator can handle are virtually nil. But if the connections to the battery or earth are poor the regulator will be unable to cope and will fail quickly. They should be checking for continuity between the reg +ve output and the battery +ve terminal and the regulator -ve terminal and earth.
Does the dealer have a workshop manual for the bike, as the modern charging system is such a tried and tested design? If yes then get them to use it!
Interesting - thanks. It's a main dealer and you'd hope that they'd have a manual. But these are strange times. A poor earth sounds like a good bet. They've been quiet for a couple of days now so I'm tempted to give them a call and start pushing. The problem I face now is when they send it back with an 'all fixed now sir' it's unlikely I'll be riding until next year to find out.
Just got a call from the dealer - Sure enough they're saying it was a loose earth that was causing the reg/rec's to blow. They're going to send me a photo which I'll post here when it arrives. https://imgur.com/8RrFPjp
So the dealer replaced the second and third rectifier without questioning why do they fail....as @Samurai wrote "Parts swappers" at best. My friend had a 990 Duke that was slightly overheating (he bought it used with 4k miles on the clock) been at 3 dealers they flushed the radiator, changed thermostat(I bet they never tested in hot water). He got fed up and we took it apart in my garage...pistons/cylinders scored, conrod bearings scored. Engine rebuilt by a KTM specialist. Probably a lot of cold engine wheelies... I am only servicing at private specialists or ex-race mechanics.
It is somewhat disconcerting that they take the path of least resistance unless pushed. My previous dealer, St Neots never operated in this manner.
