The International CBX Owners Association

My 79 suddenly started melting the green wire that comes (as I recall) from the volt reg and, at least as I have it wired, goes to the negative battery post. I put a new regulator in about a year and half ago and it always worked fine. About 6 months ago I got one of those new gell batteries (I think they are gell). I had to replace the green wire about two weeks ago. Two days ago the meter showed it was not charging so I thought it was the wire again. It was. I replaced it but then found that the batter was more than dead, on a volt meter it registered maybe 1.5 volts. Hmmm. So I charged it a bit with the positive off the post. Then I put the positive on and it was like a short. Some strange noise came out of the bike and, believe it or not, I heard and felt a puff of air on my leg from the shifter side. Maybe, just maybe, the regulator blew out? I don't know cause I have not gotten under there yet. Other than that, I can't imagine where the air could have come from. Any hints on the trouble, and any hints on troubleshooting it? I use the bike everdya to go to work, but today I was x-less. Thanks, Kim.

Okay, I started troubleshooting it and found that the positive battery cable would slip to ground randomly before the solenoid. The insulation was cracked and it hit ground right after the post, but not all the time. Anyway, I bet that is why the battery was dead. So, I charged the battery, insulated the cable, and it started. Now, though, it is not chargiing at all. I am wondering if the cable going to ground would have fried the r/r and have been the cause of the r/r ground sire overheating. Any ideas? Thanks.

Got it fixed. The occasional short going to the solenoid (the insulation on the positive battery cable got a bit cracked) was the source of the problem. It ended up melting the ground wire and blowing the regulator/rectifier. I taped the battery cable, charged the gell battery, swapped out the r/r and now it is charging fine. All that's left is to make sure the cable doesn't go to ground and all is well. Kim

You're damned lucky you didn't let ALL the smoke out. The puff you felt on your leg could have meant disaster.