Wiring Mod for charging issues.

[STony G]

What should it be

[kzmille]

Not sure what he means there. Above 60 Vac at 4000 is good. Zero volts from 1,3 is definitely bad. There are just three combinations to test. 1-2 and 2-1 is the same thing.

[Jeff Banyots]

Hello,

I had already done the wiring mods years ago, but still had poor charging, but somewhat usable.
Bike sat for a few years due to it needing a few things. To get it running again bought a Battery Tender 240amp Lithium Ion battery.
Ran great for 1.5 hours at which point it died. No charging to speak of. 12.7 V at the battery.

So, read up on replacements, specifically Mosfet regulators.

Bought one of Rick's Motor Sport Hotshot for Futuras. 159.00 from Amazon. Problem solved.
I can't recommend it enough. Paired with our wiring mods, of course.

Thanks all!
.

[Jeff Banyots]

Didn't realize that I couldn't easily edit posts. I have gotten used to reddit.

Nor did I know it was my first post on this forum after being a member for a decade!

Thanks to all of you for keeping the flame, and this subforum alive for the Futura.
I had thought about the latest VFR as a replacement, but money. And honestly, I doubt I would have enjoyed it as much as our Italian Stallions.

The reason for my second post is that I didn't want to imply in my first post that the LIon battery has anything to do with fixing the charging issues. It was the HotShot Mosfet all the way. Although, it is impossibly light, very small and charges very quickly, and has more CCA than the stock replacement. And was also pretty inexpensive on Amazon.

[FUN DOG]

Congratulations. Sounds like you have a set-up that will last the life of the bike.

I did the wiring mod about a year after I got the bike (circa 2006) and I haven't had any real charging issues since. Still on the stock rectifier. I cut out the brown and white connectors and just soldered everything together and ran an extra wire up to the negative battery post like the wiring mod instructions suggested.

Interestingly, I've done volt-meter readings in the past and recently I soldered an SAE connector to my volt meter so I could just plug it in and monitor charging over the course of a ride. I was amazed to see I was getting such a wide range of charging. Sometimes I'd see 13.7v, sometimes 12.5v, sometimes 13.0v, but when I would stop the bike and turn everything off, the charge was always between 13.07 and 13.20 which indicates a fully charged battery. Go figure. I'd like for somebody to explain that one to me. I've heard if you're not getting between 14.2 to 14.5 all the time, you're battery is being short-changed. I will occasionally see the voltage flash up to 14.1v or so very quickly out on a ride, but it will drop right back down to 13.4v or 13.2v where it usually hangs.

When I'm not riding, the bike stays on a Battery Tender.

[rblue02]

The stock regulator will strand you, and it is less battery friendly.

[FUN DOG]

Got stranded once before I did the wiring mod. Haven't had a problem since.

[kzmille]

If the fans are on along with high beams, brake lights, turn signals, and any other accessories you might be running the voltage will drop to those low numbers you are seeing. Different rpm and different electrical loads explain the changes.

[FUN DOG]

OK, thanks. That helps to explain what I'm seeing. I don't run high beams very often, but the fans will kick on if I'm in traffic and stopping at a lot of lights. Don't run accessories, although I do have a 12-volt accessory plug on the right dash panel I use for my cell phone or gps unit. In the winter I run a standard heating pad inside my jacket and have oxford hot hands grips (temporarily installed for winter), but I won't be running those again until next winter. I believe the electrical pull on all that stuff is minimal. Be interesting to see what readings I would get with everything plugged in at once.

[MatiasH]

Just a quick comment regarding this wiring mod. I purchased my bike 2 days ago, and immediately checked if the wiring mod had been done.

Here are the measurements:
------------ STOCK --- 2 WIRES --- MOD DONE
IDLE ----- 13,08V --- 14,02V --- 14,02V
4000RPM 12,98V --- 13,85V --- 13,87V

So I measured everything first, then I added two new wires from RR to 30Amp fuse holder and battery. Last, I removed the plastics from the brown connector, cleaned all the connectors and connected them with adding electrical tape and heatshrink tubes.

=> The difference between the last mod and the addition of the two wires is minimal, so in my case it seemed that it is the wires from the RR to the battery and starter which were at fault?

Please feel free to disagree, it is my first post and I have a huge experience of two days with the futura

[pmc847]

If my memory serves me correctly, and at my age it usually doesn't , having 2 30amp fuses will increase you overload to 60 amps before it trips the fuse. It would be best to connect the RR direct to the battery and eliminate the stock wires that go to the battery. Hope someone will verify this yes or no.

Cheers

Philip

[rblue02]

If my memory serves me correctly, and at my age it usually doesn't , having 2 30amp fuses will increase you overload to 60 amps before it trips the fuse. It would be best to connect the RR direct to the battery and eliminate the stock wires that go to the battery. Hope someone will verify this yes or no.

Cheers

Philip

Ah, no. That is not how the Futura is wired.

[pmc847]

2 30 amp fuses in series shouldn't make a difference. 2 30 amps in parallel will theoretically increase the trip load to 60 amps if the length and gauge of the wire are equal. Who know what the trip would be if the wiring is different and resistance is different, you would have some really unpredictable results. I learned that on this forum somewhere. I think.

I don't knows what the stock wiring length and resistances are from the RR to the 30 amp fuse but it could be part of the overall problem with the charging system. So the fix using a parallel same gauge wire from the RR to the stock fuse shouldn't be a problem. Adding a different length, gauged and fused direct connect to the battery most likely would result in unpredictable results in case of failures. YMMV and I just might be crazy.

Cheers

Philip

[trailboss]

Had similiar starting problems on my 02 Futura. Battery was not charging at all and melted wiring-long crankover times. Bike had just over 16k mi.
I went the more expensive route I guess and replaced stator and reg/rec with Ricks parts. Also replaced battery cables and starter motor wiring with
a complete set from Motolectric. Ended up crimping the wires coming off the stator, then the attendant shrink wrap.
Reading up on info sent to me by Motolectric, it seems that the quality of stock wiring was a twofold problem, not conducting enough current (26% of
what is ideal!) and the resultant current bleeding off an excessive amount of heat=melted wiring and blackened connectors.
End of story; a 3 day 1400 mile run through the Pacific Northwest with engine firing up in 2 seconds, everytime. Battery voltage was checked
8-10 a day, consistently read 14.2 with engine at "tickover", 13.2 before starting, ignition on.
Bike continues to fire up immediately and perhaps keeping it on trickle charge is a thing of the past. The parts cost 440.00$ in total, shipping was
prompt and free. Feel it was money well spent as this is a fabulous, all day "asphalt inhaler". And a bike is only as good as its starting system, at the
very least. Hope this missive will be helpful to someone out there.
Rubber side down-always...

[kiwi-mille]

Well it's now 2018, and this wiring mod still works. Completed this upgrade as set out by bossbob, adding the 2 extra wires, removing the brown connector, but also removing the white connector.
First test, at idle shows a voltage increase at the battery from 13.7v up to 14.2v.
Easy to do for someone who is pretty inexperienced with wiring and soldering etc.
This should help prolong the life of the new battery I just put in my Gen1 Mille.

Keep up the good work.
Long live the Mille!