Stator Rectifier Regulator Replacement

[Bismonte]

2015 K49 XR just shy of 65,000 miles. I got stranded 250 miles from home last weekend. The story of what happened and how I got home, (12 hours later) is interesting, but wasn't very much fun. A dead battery and no charging system caught me by suprise. Back in the garage it's apparent that the stator output is still in spec, but the voltage rec/reg is history. I have an aftermarket replacement on the way.

The issue I have currently is physically getting the OEM rectifier/regulator out of the bike. The placement is right in front of the rear shock and ESA module. Really tight quarters to where it looks like I may need some type of swivel for a 1/4" socket to get to the T20 fasteners as there is no room to hit them head on.

Has anyone done this job? Any tricks or tips I am not aware of? This should be plug and play but the location sucks.

[Salish1000]

Can't help you but that's a bummer. That's a good amount of miles on your XR and I hope it has been otherwise trouble free. I will watch this thread myself. This is not something covered in Mark's maintenance manual since it is uncommon. I also notice there is a serious lack of youtube repair videos for the XR. No one seems to record and explain how they've done things on our bike.

[Antares]

What I'd recommend is undo the shock from the linkage and let the swingarm drop out of the way a bit more and so you can pull the shock out of the way slightly, and depending on access maybe a long torx going between the spring coils might be a better approach, haven't done it myself but I'd probably start here.

[mjojom]

Behold, finally a helpful tool from the factory BMW XR toolkit 
Right, my voltage regulator has packed up, and after purchasing a new one needed it to fit in.
XR is my third BMW bike in years and all of them need their regulators changed...
Anyhow, the magic tool is a short star 90-degree tool. I think they created the spanner for that reason only lol.
It fits exactly where it needs to, and all you have to undo to have more hand space is cables from the regulator itself, take away the exhaust servo, and unplug the rear height control (I think that's what it is)cable and I've moved the rear sub fairing just to have better hand access.
The regulator also has cable-tied cables from the stator itself to it at the back so just need to break the zip ties and it's free to be removed.
The job itself was an hour and a half, but I was trying to find the right tool for the job in my toolbox think and fiddle about with it, otherwise, it would be a 20-30 mins job, so not that bad at whole.









on the old regulator, something of thick oil consistency leaked out from one of the connectors, I think I may dissect the part to see what's going on.

Can someone do me a favor please and check the voltage at the battery connectors on the idle and at 4k rpm, please? The reason I'm asking is cos the part numbers on the regulators new and old match, and I bought it from BMW directly, but there are some numbers on it that are slightly different, and the new regulator output I would like to think it would be at around 13V which it isn't.

[smithy]

Originally Posted by mjojom

Behold, finally a helpful tool from the factory BMW XR toolkit 
Right, my voltage regulator has packed up, and after purchasing a new one needed it to fit in.
XR is my third BMW bike in years and all of them need their regulators changed...
Anyhow, the magic tool is a short star 90-degree tool. I think they created the spanner for that reason only lol.
It fits exactly where it needs to, and all you have to undo to have more hand space is cables from the regulator itself, take away the exhaust servo, and unplug the rear height control (I think that's what it is)cable and I've moved the rear sub fairing just to have better hand access.
The regulator also has cable-tied cables from the stator itself to it at the back so just need to break the zip ties and it's free to be removed.
The job itself was an hour and a half, but I was trying to find the right tool for the job in my toolbox think and fiddle about with it, otherwise, it would be a 20-30 mins job, so not that bad at whole.
on the old regulator, something of thick oil consistency leaked out from one of the connectors, I think I may dissect the part to see what's going on.

Can someone do me a favor please and check the voltage at the battery connectors on the idle and at 4k rpm, please? The reason I'm asking is cos the part numbers on the regulators new and old match, and I bought it from BMW directly, but there are some numbers on it that are slightly different, and the new regulator output I would like to think it would be at around 13V which it isn't.

Voltage across the battery at idle should be in the 14.4-14.6v range. I'm running a Lithium battery and it sometimes runs ~14.7-14.8v @ idle.

Smithy.

[mjojom]

Originally Posted by smithy

Voltage across the battery at idle should be in the 14.4-14.6v range. I'm running a Lithium battery and it sometimes runs ~14.7-14.8v @ idle.

Smithy.

Thank you Smithy, that did confirm my worries. When checked stator phases they were at about 30V so I thought it was fine, but googled RR voltages on stators, and are in the range of 50-75V.
Stator ordered :)
Any suggestion for a good brand of liquid silicone gasket?

cheers
Joe

[bennymx]

Originally Posted by mjojom

Thank you Smithy, that did confirm my worries. When checked stator phases they were at about 30V so I thought it was fine, but googled RR voltages on stators, and are in the range of 50-75V.
Stator ordered :)
Any suggestion for a good brand of liquid silicone gasket?

cheers
Joe

I use Threebond RTV grey.