From what you are describe (if all the terminals are OK), it would seem unlikely the fault lies with the alternator, as it can produce the necessary voltage (well almost @ 13.8V), although not consistently (which �could� mean intermittent loss of one of the three phases in the alternator itself, but very unlikely). The remaining possibility that can give rise to correct voltage at tick-over and reduced voltage at higher revs is an open diode fault (failure of one of the bridging diodes) in the rectifier, which also cause the loss of one phase on the AC side of the charging system. This then causes the regulator to see a reduced reference voltage as engine speed rises, which in turns causes the regulator to reduce alternator output current (effectively it inverts everything).

So to cut a long story short, I�d have a stab in the dark that you�ve got a partial rectifier failure, which is why you are seeing some signs of charging, be it erratic and a bit weird, the regulator is probably OK. However, as the regulator/rectifier unit on the XT660 is combined, it of course means that to all intents and purposes the whole thing is shagged!

Bear in mind the above is of course only an educated guess! I would suggest your best course of action would first be to try and find a donor reg/rec unit to try out on your bike to confirm things.


BTW my oil breather fills up about the same as yours - don't get anything in it when riding the back roads, but as soon as you hit a constant engine speed for any length of time it fills up.

As for the connector it should click home, but I must say mine has less of a pronounced click these days due to dielectric grease, ACF50 etc I've used on the connector! Pull it though and it shouldn't come back off (without releasing the tab).

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