Hey everybody! I rode my bike from Columbia, SC to Maggie Valley, NC this past weekend. All was fine, the weather was great, and the bike ran like a top. Shortly after I arrived, I started to notice something was wrong. The bike was making a bad smell and the check engine light and battery light were coming on. I traced the source of the smell (like rotten eggs) to the vent pipe coming out of the transmission. I checked, and even though the check engine light and battery light are coming on, there aren't any codes in. I only found the part numbers listed there. Any idea what's wrong here? How can I test my voltage regulator? Is the alternator possibly getting too hot and cooking the oil? I replaced the battery with no change. Thanks!!

Today was the first time I've had the bike on a trailer. I wanted to put a sign on it saying broken. I hated to trailer it..

 

I checked the voltage at the battery. It's putting out about 12.0 - 12.3v when running. With the bike off, the new battery reads 12.5v, so I guess it's not charging. I tried to check the ac voltage from the output of the stator (at the regulator plug) and got between 5 and 25vac. I'm not sure about that reading, though. does this mean my stator is fried? I still get that rotten eggs smell coming from the vent on my transmission shortly after cranking the bike up. any ideas?

 

Can't help you, but the rotten eggs smell is probably the transmission fluid, which you have already figured out. That stuff makes me want to puke. Good luck, hopefully someone will chime in with some insight.

 

yea, it's actually coming from the primary. I'm going to open it up tomorrow. I had the inspection cover open for a few minutes, and it stunk up my shop. I suspect that the primary must be vented through the transmission. I'm pretty sure the stator and regulator are toast. I don't want to pull out the plastic until I know for sure. I'll see tomorrow, I guess.

 

You are probably right about the source of the smell, but that rotten egg smell can also come from a loose battery cable. Did you check the other end of a battery cable, down below, on the starter, near the trans?

 

You might want to check the voltage with the rpm's above 1500-2000. It may not charge at lower rpms.

 

I checked it with the throttle pretty far open. Stator output was fairly low. My service manual says 20-60VAC is normal. I got 5-25VAC or so. I'm going to open up the case tonight after work. I expect the stator to be burned up or something..

About the starter wire, I'm fairly certain the smell is coming from inside the primary. When I took that inspection cover off, the smell nearly knocked me over. It's nasty!

 

I would drain the primary case fluid and see, if it smells like burning, it could be a bad stator, quite common.

 

I'm almost positive it is. Anybody have a part number or price for one from the stealer? I'd order online, but I have a week off coming up really soon, and I want to ride up to the dragon. I may not wait if the ripoff isn't too bad.

 

I got the stator out tonight. I was pleased to see no shavings or small pieces of anything in the primary. Anyway, it was bad. I ordered another one from Dennis Kirk for $75 and hope to be riding again this weekend! Here are a couple of dark pictures of the damage.