Roadster down...any comments? Advice?

[Douglas]

So my 2010 Roadster with 10k miles decided to stop charging the battery (brand new) and eventual diagnosis by the dealership indicated a bad "Stator" which I ended up getting for half the cost of OEM from "Ricks" motorsport electrical...even if I wanted to pay full price for OEM there apparently was not one to be found in North Amcerica.

So now my dealer is telling me that "Triumph" indicates to replace this "Stator" the powerplant must be dropped (I knew that from looking at my manual) resulting in about 8 hours of shop labor to the tune of about 800 American dollars...which I know when they are done will be closer to a grand as there are always little, how shall we say, "cost overuns." I guess I could take this financial injury but to add insult they are stating that this is a "significant" repair and therefore cannot work me in until mid-september...essentially canceling out the rest of my season (I live in Alaska).

1. Are they serious about it requiring 8 hours labor to drop the engine and break it apart or am I getting jacked on this?

2. What are the chances of me, a reasonably competent "do-it-yourselfer," following my manual and successfully replacing the stator?

I may also consider looking around town for a private mc mechanic to see if i can do better time and money wise...particularly time wise as it would be nice to get the rubber back on the road-thanks for anyone's thoughts here. -Doug

 

[1olbull]

Check out the thread entitled:
"transmission noise!!"

 

[R3Tex]

My advice is to do it yourself. As long as you are reasonably mechanically inclined the folks on here will help out with advice and in my experience are a better resource than your dealer anyway. There are at least three folks on here that have had their engine in various stages of disassembly and can probably walk you through it. Fred (Rocket Scientist) just did it, Patrick (Albertaduke) is currently in the process, and Scott (Warp9.9) has probably broken and replaced more parts than anybody on this forum. I would bet they will all pitch in to help you get it done

 

[Wrecka]

I'd buy a new Battery 1st and use that as my second opinion

 

[R3Tex]

I'd buy a new Battery 1st and use that as my second opinion

Good call...let me qualify my previous post...you would probably be money ahead to verify their diagnosis through a few folks here...more than one has found out several hundred dollars to a dealer later that all they had to do was check a fuse

 

[idk]

Have you checked it with TuneBoy or TuneECU? They will show the voltage output etc.

Meanwhile, if you are doing mostly shorter rides, a spare battery when you ride, and a battery tender to charge both batteries when you are not riding, may get you through the season.

The manual, IIRC, has a bunch of tests which you can do with a voltmeter to check exactly where an electrical problem is happening. It may be worth having a read and checking a few of those things yourself.

 

[cr0ft]

Yeah to check this you can just get the cheapest voltmeter there is and hook it up to the battery terminals, then watch what happens. The battery should be giving 12+ volts at rest (ie, bike off). When cranking the starter it shouldn't drop below 10. When the bike is running and charging, the voltage should read over 14. If the latter doesn't happen, then you do indeed have an issue with charging. But even so-called brand new batteries can be duds.

 

[Boog]

As a temporary fix only, a second battery on charge while using the fully charged one and then replacing each day will work in a pinch if you do in fact have to wait for the dealer to work you in. If however your dealer has any pride in their workmanship, they will do as North America's number one Triumph dealer (Triumph Manassass) does which is work on it in-between other jobs like they do for me here when they do not have a schedule opening. I do not understand why dealers oftentimes do not take care of their customers after the sale. It would seem that is where most of their income would come from. Good luck brother and I hope you get it squared away before your summer is over.

 

[warp9.9]

So my 2010 Roadster with 10k miles decided to stop charging the battery (brand new) and eventual diagnosis by the dealership indicated a bad "Stator" which I ended up getting for half the cost of OEM from "Ricks" motorsport electrical...even if I wanted to pay full price for OEM there apparently was not one to be found in North Amcerica.

So now my dealer is telling me that "Triumph" indicates to replace this "Stator" the powerplant must be dropped (I knew that from looking at my manual) resulting in about 8 hours of shop labor to the tune of about 800 American dollars...which I know when they are done will be closer to a grand as there are always little, how shall we say, "cost overuns." I guess I could take this financial injury but to add insult they are stating that this is a "significant" repair and therefore cannot work me in until mid-september...essentially canceling out the rest of my season (I live in Alaska).

1. Are they serious about it requiring 8 hours labor to drop the engine and break it apart or am I getting jacked on this?

2. What are the chances of me, a reasonably competent "do-it-yourselfer," following my manual and successfully replacing the stator?

I may also consider looking around town for a private mc mechanic to see if i can do better time and money wise...particularly time wise as it would be nice to get the rubber back on the road-thanks for anyone's thoughts here. -Doug

I would say by the manual they are technically right. But they say the same for the output drive which is not true. Since I have been helping Patrick with his my bet is the stator will be easier and less of a drop to change. let me look at some pictures and think on it a while.

 

[warp9.9]

OK now that I am at work and have a wee bit of time I can answer this better. Yes you can change the stator without actually completely pulling the engine or in the case of the Rocket the farme off the engine.
Look at the pictures on this page and you can clearly see this.

http://www.r3owners.net/threads/transmission-noise.19841/page-17

That being said you might enve be able to change it with less tear down that changing the output drive I will have to take a gander at my bike which is assembled to see how much less.
That being said I can see a couple hurdles you would have to over come. One is the Tech has to have a open mind and not think he knows everything.
the second has to do with whether the speciffic tech has pulled a Rocket engine before or not. Short cuts are found by doing things the long way or by listening to people who have done it the long way and found the short cuts.

Most Triumph Dealers out there are just some other motorcycle dealer who took on the Triumph and there techinicians just think they are experts even though they have not actually turned a wrench on a Triumph yet. (this is the biggest problem) and if so I advise you let them follow the manual. Same thing if you dealing with some other mechanic who will do it cheaper. You have toi way the fact that his hourly rate is cheaper but will he take twice as long because he has not worked on them before. Then take into the fact that he will not have th etooling to do the engine mounts or pull the flywheel off to expose the stator.
Myself I bet I can do it in 8 hours or less becuse I have been there and further on my bike. This is where experience adds to speed of the job.
Hope this help clarify a few things any questions ask away.