Rectifier and battery issue.

Sorry for such a boring post. But any advise is welcome.
VFR 800fi 2001
About 5 days ago i said to my girlfriend "i love my bike, i'm so happy with it and i've had no problems with it". So obviously 2 days after that i had my first problem. The low LED on the heated grips started flashing every few seconds. Then after a 5 mile ride the bike cut out completely, luckily right outside my back gate.
I guessed it must be the battery. Took it out, took it to my local bike shop to be tested, bought a new battery, installed the battery, problem solved. But the heated grips were now flashing all three lights untill i started riding. I don't know if this has any significance?
However after having rectifier problems with my last bike (DRZ 400) i decided to take the bike back to the shop to make sure the rectifier is doing his job.
Well there's a problem. the battery isn't charging properly.
He's ordered a new rectifier, and after £120 is quid hopefully this will be the end of the problem.
My question is, is this heated grips flashing in this way typical of rectifier problems? or perhaps something more serious?
Also can someone give me £120 to pay for a new rectifier to be fitted please?

 

Okay, we'll get the easy question out of the way first: No, I won't give you 120 quid for the new rectifier.

The new R/R should have fixed the problem unless the stator is also doing a nosedive. You need to check voltage across the battery, with the bike off, with the bike on at idle, and with the bike running at varying rpm up to around 6,000 rpm. You should be seeing 12-13 volts with the bike off, 13+ volts with the bike running, and the voltage should increase at higher voltage to a max around 5,000 rpm. The highest voltage will vary but it should be anywhere from 13.8 to 14.5 volts.

If your readings are not near the above voltages then you need to check the stator. That's covered in the manual, and someone else should be along to give you some more guidance.

 

Sure but there's an up-front £180 fee.

 

Bobdigi - the R/R are well know to be a piece of garbage - I mean rubbish - on these bikes. The good news is there are plenty of options on what to replace them with.

There's also some preventative stuff you need to do - swapping out the R/R is not necessarily going to fix your problem (at least not long term). You need to check readings. You need to look over all the various wires and connections, as its quite possible you've toasted some of these wires/connections.

You bike should easily be able to handle heated grips if the electrical system is up to par, and assuming they weren't installed in a completely fucked up way.

For clarification, are you saying its 120 quid for the replacement part and the labor, or is he charging your 120 each? (either way, that's still really expensive). Changing the R/R is simple, even for a non-mechanically inclined person like myself.

Take a look at this thread. Read it. Learn it. Know it. I realize (realise) you might be taking this to a Honda mechanic, and that most shit on the internet is bull, but this is a topic that's highly discussed, and you'll find the information in this thread to be useful and accurate. If you're mechanic is planning on doing nothing more than installing a new R/R, you'd be tossing your money away.

http://vfrworld.com/forums/showthread.php/39277-How-to-fix-common-regulator-Stator-failures

 

Before you part with your money ask the mechanic EXACTLY what he is planning on doing and if it is just replacing the rec/reg tell him, thanks, but I can do that myself, it is the other bits you need checked and you can get every bit of info you need here, the tricks were not put in the manual by Honda. But if you do get them to fix it you need to come back here and go through the wiring loom to see what is going on, and fit a volt meter to your bike as well

 

You may also wanna get rid of the Stator/RR connector and solder the wires directly to each other or at least replace it with a connector that's properly gauged for the load.

 

Thanks a lot. He is testing everything and i'm expecting £120 to be the maximum it'll be. But no i's not going to a Honda mechanic. But the place that's doing it have a reputation for being a little expensive but thorough. I'm buying a battery tester, and intend on replacing any future RR's myself in the future. And i'm certainly going to read/learn that link you gave me. Thanks a lot, much appreciated.

 

Thanks. I think this forum is going to prove to be invaluable. Thanks a lot. I'm going to wait to get my bike back, ask what he's done and come back to this thread to ask what i do next. Thanks.

 

Yeah i'm not stupid. You're trying to stiff me out of £55.