Finally got around to lifting the seat to pull the battery out. Some of its cells had only half the usual amount of acid solution left in them. The insulation around the red wire to the +ve terminal of the battery was all melted, and bare copper was showing through. Ditto red wire to the rectifier.
When I first bought the bike I had observed that it still had the original zener and selenium rectifier set-up. Although I did at the time possess a spare Sparx solid-state rectifier/regulator, I thought, what the hell, if it ain’t broke then don’t fix it! Such would no longer appear to be the case.
I drilled two holes on the steel bracket of the battery cage, so that the Sparx unit could bolt to it and sit in the air space under the RH side-cover. Its four wires were given crimp-on spade connectors, so they can link to the wires that are pulled off the now-redundant rectifier. The zener is simply removed altogether, and its wire is left to just dangle, apparently.
I also had a 12V battery sitting in dry storage, being saved for that rainy day. Motorcycle batteries are scarce in Fiji so I have to buy them dry in NZ or Australia and bring them across in my flight luggage. Now, I went around to Dominion Batteries Ltd and had them fill it with acid for me.
Okay, Sparx unit is installed, and new battery is charged up and in place. But by this time it is 11.30pm so it’s not really politic neighbour-wise to give this bike a kick in the guts right now to see what it runs like.
