I've enjoyed this forum for sometime since becoming a happy and satisfied RS owner. Now it's time for me to call on my roadie brothers.
In '05, I brought a stock '01 1600 with 8800 miles. Now I have 34K (the therapy has been working). The only pertinant upgrade I did several years ago was add some 55wt passing lights (that are on full-time)and a 50wt bulb for the headlight. I've been running it like that with no problems for several years. This winter I thought my battery was giving up the ghost because if I didn't get it started within the first or possibly second effort, I had no juice left. And If I did get it started and ran it for 30 minutes or so the battery did not charge up enough to restart when I was on the ride. So I purchashed a new battery but contimue to have the same problem. I've read past forums about an upgraded warrior 1700 starter, but I've also found information about possibly needing to upgrade my alternator and regulator. Are these stock items preety wimpie over time? How do I know if I need to upgrade the starter or just the alternator kit? You guys rock!

A warrior starter won't help you. It would probably make things worse. The 1600's have a weak charging system. You can upgrade the stator and the Regulator / rectifier. There's an write up about that in the tech articles.

twowheeltherapy I run my passing lights all the time and my stereo also and have no problem with stock stater I do have a big bore battery so was your new battery fully charged and have you tested it there is the chance that the battery has been on the shelf for who knows how long

Twowheeltherapy!

Yes, the new battery has been fully charged on several occasions by my battery tender. Like I said I've run these lights for several years with no problems. I even took the old battery in for a bench test, wondering if I just wasted my money on a new battery, and their tester still rated it a good battery. That's why I'm questioning the rest of the charging system. Thanks for your imput.

Put your voltmeter on the battery at start you should not drop below 10volts and you should get a reading of 13.5-14 volts at idle if your charging system is doing its job if it is not then check the resistance of the stator coil ..Coug

Cougar wrote:
at 5000 rpm

Musky wrote:
Cougar wrote:
at 5000 rpm



okay had my coffee sorry about that.All the service manuals read 14 Volts @5000 r/min so I edited it out to avoid the confusion.I just look for 13.5 to 14 volts ...thats what I get for looking at specs pages I guess he could test his rev limiter and voltage that way ...just kidding thanks Musky....Coug

You won't get 13.7 V at idle ... it needs to rev higher to get this reading.

I usually take it to about 1/8 throttle ... my guess would be about 2000 rpm.

Doc