Boxerworks.com

G'day,

My bike doesn't seem to be charging as well as it should. No, I haven't checked anything yet and that's not what I'm asking about. And no, I'm not asking about repairing diode boards either. As the bike is pushing 30 years old ('86 R65) I reckon a spare diode board sitting on the shelf would be comforting. The options as I see it are:

The Enduralast from Euromoto for A$76
The Euromoto OEM looking one for A$65
The Motoelekt Omega for A$90
The Motobins OEM looking one (same as Euromoto?) for A$86 or
A second hand working one for about A$50

I have no special needs like heated vests, driving lights or coffee machines and the one on the bike is probably the original so it's done pretty good. Do I just buy another one the same as the original or is one of the others so much better I'd be mad not to?

There's also Thunderchild. They're good.
I expect any of them will work ok and as good if not better than oem.
You could try John aka Bulldust over @ Advrider. He's in Brisvegas.

New Brushes. $14

Thanks---that will certainly rectify something.

I used the The Motoelekt Omega for 5-6 years until I sold my R100.
Worked perfectly.

SteveD wrote:There's also Thunderchild. They're good.
I expect any of them will work ok and as good if not better than oem.
You could try John aka Bulldust over @ Advrider. He's in Brisvegas.

Steve, I can't find rally-sport-imports@bigpond.com. Are they still in business?

just some randon thots':

if you don't have a bigger charging system, you don't need a bigger or "heavy duty" diode board. But they can save some weight---in your wallet.

old saying in Graphic Design: "if you can't make it good, make it big. if you can't make it big, make it red." it's a statement about marketing I don't forget. Offer people something flashy and they'll think it's better than the grey thing they have. And the more they pay the better they'll think it is.

if I got an after market board, I'd retire the tried and true one I have and run the aftermarket one as long as the warranty lasted. They can be defective and you want to find out while it can be replaced, not later.

Ditto some mystery meat used board off FleaBay. Minus the warranty. A used board from a reputable boneyard is a far better bet. (and some of those are on Fleabay as well as their own stores)

Diode boards were killed by heat on certain bikes with certain fairings. The rubber mounts broke on rubber mounted ones resulting in the board coming loose and shorting (fatal) against the case. Owners Failed to remove the battery ground before removing the front cover, kissed the board with the top edge of the cover and shorted them. Insta-death again. Other than that they don't just get old and wear out. it's a massive board for a weak charging system. I've had one the shelf for 25 (?) years. Never used it. I have two with 40 years and >100,000 miles (161,000km) on them. No change in performance. Don't mess up your service procedures and replace rubber mounts with solid ones and they are the last thing that will fail. You go through a lot of alternator brushes and a starter or two first.

My stock boards have proven themselves over a huge number of years and miles. No aftermarket board can claim that although they might some day. Come back in 40 years and see if the Chinese board is still going strong.

Spare rotors is another matter. I have two of those on the shelf. I've needed them too. #1 point of failure in the charging system (after batteries of course) Upgrading to the new type voltage regulators can have advantages. I keep spare headlight bulbs and relays on hand. For the /5 and similar with the elaborate starter relay with the protection circuit, have a spare or a plan on how to ditch it. They fail. The later simple type of starter relay seems to be unusually bulletproof. But you can replace with any relay so moot.

The boards we use( stock) are used on a number of other brands and models of bike. Not super specialty items that are going to dry up and go away. And the aftermarket boards aren't vanishing either.

The "extra" electrical loads you put on determines what you need in an alternator. The diode board then follows the alternator capacity. The stock 180 watt alternator used the 180 watt diode board. The 280Watt used the 280 watt board etc. An aftermarket board with more cooling is good if you are running very hot---but running very hot is it's own problem and should be resolved.

Having certain known good spares on hand can be handy for diagnostics---just for speed. Maybe electronic ICMs and coils (both keep well). All components in the charging system can be tested directly so little point doing the swap-in-a-good-one routine. Having good parts on the shelf is nice to keep you running in a flash in case of a failure. But you can get charging parts in 3 days most places, so hardly a big deal unless the bike is your only transportation to work. On a long tour, carry a rotor or have one packed up at home with someone that can overnight it to you.


Looking at the plethora of aftermarket offerings, you would think they must fail a lot and there is a big market. Actually a lot of those support bigger aftermarket charging systems. Then you sell more to anyone you can talk into it. If you are having a vendor make them there is a lot of capital invested. Others cover people that damage theirs. (do they 'fess up? Nooooo...)


A charging system failure is not a "stopper". I've completed at least one long tour with a car battery lashed on the back and a dead charging system. If it's an only-way-to-get-to-work deal or something you can be running again with any charging system failure as quickly as you can buy a cheap battery and patch it in. Should take under an hour. So---low anxiety compared to may other more likely failures. if it's keeping you up at night, get some professional help. depending on your insurance it can be costly but it beats piling up parts.

One of my spare boards came from a running bike I bought and parted out to my self over many years. The other from a wreck I bought. If one comes to you for cheap (think the right thoughts and this will indeed happen), I'd snag it. I wouldn't go out of my way to score a spare however.

I just photographed a stock diode board to put on eBay. It came off of a good R50/5 engine that was replaced with a 750 cc engine at about 30 K miles. I suspect that the diode is still good. I will sell it for $10 plus shipping of $4 in the USA, more abroad.

If interested, let me know today, or it goes on eBay.

The rotor and stator will also go on fleabay shortly.

Duane Ausherman wrote:I just photographed a stock diode board to put on eBay. It came off of a good R50/5 engine that was replaced with a 750 cc engine at about 30 K miles. I suspect that the diode is still good. I will sell it for $10 plus shipping of $4 in the USA, more abroad.

If interested, let me know today, or it goes on eBay.

The rotor and stator will also go on fleabay shortly.

Is that setup 180W? If 280W is it large stator or small?

The engine came from a 1970, or 71 R50/5, so originally it was a 180 watt job. I didn't pay attention if it had been changed. I think that the rotor is the major part of the larger capacity. I haven't removed it yet.

The rotor could have been changed, but I have no history.

Someone rounded out the Allen bolt heads, so I have to cut it off. What a pain.