Looking at '83 R80RT with electrical problem

[58fleetside]

There is a local '83 R80RT for sale. It seems to run well and looks pretty good. It has a charging problem that the owner has not resolved. Periodically the volt gauge drops to 11 volts for a period of time then later goes back up to 14 volt charging level. He has replaced regulator, battery and some other parts but has not solved the problem. Does anyone know what might be causing the problem? He is asking $4200 for the bike with 30,000 miles.

Thank you, Stephen

[35303]

Snowbum has accurate info on airhead charging and other electric and mechanical info. It is verbose and good reading.

http://pweb.jps.net/~snowbum/techindex.htm

[20774]

There's a few other things that can be replaced. The rotor would be a good candidate...it might be going open at odd times. Also the brushes could be hanging up in their holders or the snail springs might not be giving solid pressure of the brushes onto the rotor slip rings. There's always the pesking diode board. Could even be an issue with grounding... Does the '83 have the solid mounts??

The brushes and rotor would be the likely next things to have checked.

Kurt in S.A.