This has no doubt been beat like a dead horse but here it is anyway. I have a 10K '74 550K0 survivor that has me scratching my noggin. The battery went flat a month ago and wouldn't start the bike, trickle charged it and threw it back in and down the road we went. Last weekend I made a five mile trip to my local hardware and upon my return, the bike won't start. It wouldn't kick start which it has always done up to now. Get it home and the battery shows almost 12 volts on the meter. Finished cutting the grass and figured why not - see if it will turn over. Fires right up with the starter. Hop on to take a close to home spin and it's running fine except I notice the turn signals don't blink, they just go dim. Return to the garage and dig out the Clymer's manual and start running through the electrical section. Ohm'd the rectifier as written and it's ok according to the book. Checked the stator and rotor in the alternator, stator is on the numbers but the rotor, according to the manual, should show 4.6-5.0 ohms and mine shows about 4.0. I have yet to do the voltmeter/ammeter test - that's next. My question is thus - How does one check the voltage regulator? There is nothing in the manual except a handslap that says most of us don't have the tools or expertise to check and adjust the regulator, so you might as well buy a new one as the old one is probably toast anyhow. The problem with this logic is I called my dealer and the parts babe (and she is) told me the regulator is being phased out and I will have to part with $268 effing semolias to procure a new one. Ouch! Before I get bent over by Honda, I'd like to be sure I NEED to bend over. Thanks for your time and replies/suggestions/sage advice.
