The old Super Glide ('96 FXD) needs a new charging system. A piece of magnet let loose and bounced around striping insulation off the windings. One segment is severely burned. DMM ohm reading shows 0.
There sure are a lot of options for parts. An all in one kit sounds good but which one? Cycle Electric kit seems good by their hype as does the CompuFire Kit. The Accell Kit is interesting in that it has a covered/encased magnet rotor but then the really cheap kits look like the same Kit as the Accell. OEM is not out of the question but HD doesn't seem to offer a kit so it's buying individual parts.
How much difference, if any, does a series Regulator/rectifier make vs a shunting type?
Thanks!

 

OEM or Cycle Electric.

 

You asked about series style vs shunting style. The US made Compufire is series style and I chose it due to my knowledge of basic electrons. The shunting units like OEM short the stator at high RPM to prevent overvoltage where a series style opens up to prevent overvoltage. More current = more heat. An 85 evo like mine requires a solid weekend to replace a burnt stator and I have better things to do so I don't want to short the stator.

My bike charges even at idle with a Compufire so I'm sold.

 

Although Cycle Electric do their own stator and very rugged looking regulators, the rotor and spacer they use are just H-D parts. If you had a touring model with a lot of electricity going on, they do a 3 phase 50 amp one but I suspect it is overkill for a Superglide. 35 amp should be fine.

The 3 phase kits produce good charge at low rpm which is useful if you're stuck in town a lot. I'd been caught with discharging batteries before.

If you buy one from them, or any reseller, I would encourage you to get them to open the package and check the items individually for no corrosion and good machining on the H-D bits. I bought one of their kits and the seal face on the spacer was badly corroded, and the rotor was not evenly machined/balanced. It was very disappointing given the cost, and a pain in the *** to sort out because of shipping on a heavy package via a disinterested "boxshifter" (non-specialist bulk reseller).

The CE stuff itself is good, the problem with was the H-D stuff, *but* they really should have checked it before sending it out. Their process may have changed by now.

Therefore, choose wisely who you buy one from.

 

only buy USA made in my shop and they sell in any indys shop the same - we all have seen the chiwaneese junk over and over fail like your bread toaster only cooking it on one side

 

Are you saying you don't like "Texas Toast"?

 

I challenge this so called "shunting regulator" theory. I don't think it works that way, and I've designed regulator circuits from scratch in years gone by. Maybe the old points type regulators from a 1940 something or other, but show me the current draw on the AC side of anything with a modern (say, post 1978) HD regulator. Easy to do: Get a HF clip on amp meter, put it around one of the wires going to the stator. Rev the motor. If it shows varying amps with RPM, up to 25 amps with no other major load going on (like every light plus charging the battery, etc.) then, OK, I'll believe it. Otherwise, nope, don't think it works that way, not buying it.

I have heard good things about the Cycle Electric stuff. I go OEM when I need things like this, but I would think about the Cycle Electric stuff. I have not heard good things about Accel in recent years.

 

Accel was bought or sold out every thing is fake - the out side of the boxes the parts are in says the box is made in the USA < are you ready for that ****

 

I have a 1969 triumph that has a stator, bridge rectifier, zener diode, and a battery. It's stock and there is nothing else in the charging system. I believe harley did exactly the same thing but packaged the rectfier and zener together. You may be giving the Moco too much credit by expecting them to use a "linear/series" regulator. That is the reason compufire and others redesigned it.

Compufire has all of the data supposedly. For example here is a 3phase series vs shunt type. http://s1196.photobucket.com/user/ni...ffe86.jpg.html

 

I recently purchased a compuFire and am very pleased with it. It fit the crank shaft splines near perfect.