MOTORCYCLE - CHARGE CONTROLLER AND VOLTAGE REGULATOR

Do you often burn out the lamps? Or does the battery like to go flat?

The charge controller is often to blame. These small inconspicuous parts have several important tasks to perform on the motorcycle.
On the one hand, they act as a rectifier and convert the AC current generated by the generator, three-phase current with 3 phases or alternating current with 2 phases, into the usual direct current with (+)plus in the vehicle electrical system.
On the other hand, they "smooth" the constantly fluctuating, much higher voltage coming from the alternator to an output value of approx. 13.8 volts, the standard in the 12V network. This prevents voltage peaks.
Furthermore, they regulate the power flowing into the on-board network depending on the current demand. If the battery is empty, energy is supplied for charging. Consumers such as the lighting also receive energy. Most of the excess energy generated by the alternator is then converted into heat in the regulator, and some of it is sent back to the generator via the cables and converted into heat there or along the way.

And these 3 functions lead to quite different defects.
If the regulation of the voltage peaks is omitted and too much energy is fed in, the light bulbs often burn out or cables and switches heat up and burn.
If the consumption-dependent regulation of the feed no longer functions and the voltage is kept too low, the lighting flickers. For example, the headlight becomes significantly dimmer when the turn signal (or another consumer) is activated. Or the battery is no longer charged, because all the energy is also consumed immediately.
If the rectifier is defective, no energy at all can be fed into the vehicle electrical system. Thus all energy is drawn from the battery and it is not charged again.

Most of the time, a charge controller suffers heat death, because it could not sufficiently dissipate the energy converted into heat. The electrical components of two-wheelers are often well protected from external influences and hidden in the center of the vehicle, e.g. under the tank or the seat. There, they cannot dissipate the heat very well. Some models are famous for the fact that these parts burn out more often on these vehicles. In this case, perhaps the voltage regulator can also be moved into the airstream.