Glad it worked out for you. And bonus points for buying a Genuine H.D. regulator. That's the least troublesome route, in my opinion. Saving $20 and frying a stator is no bargain.

 

Actually, apart from considering the Compufire 40-amp 3-phase kit (if it had turned out to be the stator), it never occurred to me to buy anything other than a Genuine H-D regulator. After all, the original H-D regulator DID last for 15 years!

Plus, I got it TODAY, and Bertha is back and healthy!

Thanks so much for your invaluable help, Doc. I really appreciate it.

 

When you get electrical stuff from some vendors they have HD and HD part numbers on them.

 

Ken,

I've been away for a few days and missed all the excitement! Pleased to hear everything is OK. Time for more cake....

 

MMMMMMM.... !

I was wondering why you hadn't chimed in, Graham. Yeah, having Bertha towed home was pretty embarrassing... esp when I got to my neighborhood, and of course tons of people were outside, staring... But at least I got out of it cheap with just the regulator, and H.O.G. paid for the tow.

All's well that ends well!

 

I wonder how they get away with that and don't get sued, since they aren't licensed H-D dealers? The new swingarm isolators and front motor mount that came with my True-Track Trackula kit were H-D parts, too... complete with H-D part numbers on them. Maybe the MoCo has a stealth OEM sales division!

 

With some MFG's and certain parts, you'll find that the MFG controls the design to the point that they might sell the product to the aftermarket for "reboxing" and selling outside the dealer under their own name. Similar to Walmart selling a Motorcraft product. Even though tMotorcraft is an extension of Ford, its an independant company and the part might say Ford on it. And because the aftermarket sells to more venders than the MFG, the price can often be reduced for the same part...

Now, for whatever its worth, I've learned over the years in the auto biz, that there are certain things that simply NEED to be purchased from the dealer due to quality standard that the aftermarket just doesnt follow.. The issue I've got w/ HD over the last few years, that keeps me from buying nearly anything in the dealer, is that most of their junk is imported from China....... So, even stuff that was a superior product 10-20yrs ago (when most of our bikes were new(er) is now cheap chinese junk.. The MOCO has sold out and become an embassasment to me, still love their bikes, but what a dissappointment.. I'm not trying to turn this thread political in any way, I'm a bit curious if there was a "born in" tag on that regulator..

 

Not to further threadjack this, but the reason I try to purchase genuine HD parts is that there's a lot of crap out there in aftermarket. There's some good stuff and some that's better than OEM. The problem is that I'm not a business and I don't buy that much stuff and I don't know which is crap and which is better than OEM and which is the same. I know that genuine HD is probably as good as what came on the bike or as close as is available now. Greg's observations about current quality slipping are noted.

When I was battling my Dreaded Click, I bought a new Accel solenoid from JP at Sturgis. It made things worse. It was chrome, though. I bought a new HD solenoid, special order at the local dealer. It was identical to the Accel unit except it wasn't chrome. I know it was identical because I had both pulled totally apart and compared the guts side by side. I did this because it didn't fix my dreaded click either.

Anyway, with things like stators and regulators, I know from past experience in shovelhead days that what was sold as aftermarket then (custom chrome, chrome specialties, etc.) was total junk compared to OEM. I've also still observed in the age of teh intrawebz, yo, that people that put aftermarket stators and regulators on usually have them blow out again. Now that 3 phase system from someone seems to hold up, but the stock replacement aftermarket stuff doesn't. And I want to be able to go to any dealer and buy a new regulator if I'm on the road and not need a 3 phase regulator from a single manufacturer that may or may not be in business in 20 years, 'cause I'll still have my bike then.

 

I share your pain! Having got my front brakes to work a few weeks ago, after problems bleeding them, I replaced the brake lever and set off on a trial trip. After a few miles the front brake jammed on and I had to get trailered home.

Part of the problem of keeping our 'old' bikes going is that Harley no longer supply such things as levers and my new pattern one stopped the piston returning properly in the master cylinder. Easily fixed with a file, but bl00dy embarrasing, having spent so much effort on the other end of the bike!

 

Doc - you're not hijacking at all! Bertha's problem is fixed anyway - so I welcome the ongoing discussion. Very good point you bring up about NOT having critical stuff on the bike that you might or might not be able to get parts for down the road. I never thought of it that way... that's the kind of stuff you've learnt the hard way then?

BTW - the only way I finally fixed Bertha's Dreaded Click (or as I call it... the "Click of Death") was to buy a new Ultima 1.4 Kw starter (almost certainly made in China or somewhere else in Asia) for $140. So far, it has performed flawlessly, and it actually sounds much sturdier than the original H-D starter did - quieter and smoother when cranking. It's also real chrome BTW... and I'm a chrome addict, as you can see. But it's one of those parts that I could easily replace with another one from the MoCo or from any other manufacturer down the road, without affecting anything else. It's not part of some aftermarket "system" that uses unique parts that are only available rom a single manufacturer, as you pointed out.

Greg - I hear what you're saying. I know we're not supposed to get political... but I have felt for years that all the outsourcing of manufacturing to China, etc. was someday going to come back and bite us in the *** - as well as costing American jobs. There is indeed a lot of Chinese junk out there - including quite a bit of "Genuine H-D" stuff from the dealers. But at least with a Genuine H-D part - (1) I get the backing of the MoCo if it fails, and (2) I'm not taking any unnecessary chances with parts of unknown origin.

I try to buy American whenever I can... but the facts are that the choices available to we consumers are getting slimmer and slimmer by the day. It's really difficult to run American manufacturing operations these days - simply due to personnel costs and ever-increasing government regulations (OSHA, EPA, etc.). Also, things used to be made to be able to be repaired - but nearly everything these days is made to be simply disposed of and bought again new... hence the all-too-common "No User-Serviceable Parts Inside" sticker on just about everything nowadays.

I don't like it... but that's the way of the world now and, this old fart certainly can't change that. We just have to deal with reality, and enjoy our motorcycling hobby as best we can.

I like working on Bertha - but I like RIDING her even more!