Yep ,it's the windings in the rotor that usually give up the ghost .Nothing lasts for ever .
The insulation breaks down due to old age and vibration .You can get new replacement rotors from Mike's XS but they look a bit dodgy.
Better IMHO to buy a Sparx permanent magnet rotor conversion and do away with the electrically excited original and all the original reg/rect gubbins ,especially if you are preparing the bike for a long trip.

__________________
Blessed are the cracked, for they let in the light. - Spike Milligan
"When you come to a fork in the road ,take it ! When you come to a spoon in the road ,take that also ."

I hadn't heard of the Sparx conversion but it sounds like a sensible alternative. I got all of my rotors rewound for about £80 each so I don't know how that compares with the Sparx setup - I don't even know if they're available this side of the atlantic. I'll have to look them up later.

Apart from the electrics I wouldn't have too much concern about the 650 engine for a long trip. The one's I've owned or had access to have been pretty good. The ADV link to the guys doing coast to coast on a bunch of old Jap stuff shows how much fun old bikes can be, although it does help if you've got the ability to grind valves in with toothpaste during a coffee break. I thought it was only old Brit stuff that needed those sorts of skills

Tri-Cor England Yamaha Alternator

A bit more expensive than a rewind , but you do get a new high output stator and a rec/reg unit .

__________________
Blessed are the cracked, for they let in the light. - Spike Milligan
"When you come to a fork in the road ,take it ! When you come to a spoon in the road ,take that also ."

Thanks for all the responses!


Well I get these are old bikes, but we are very familiar with them and there like a trusty old lawn mower and easy to repair. I think I could rebuild the motor on the side of the road. We are both riding one and also know how to use a tow rope!

Anyway, we are working on planning a route. We are hauling them down to texas somewhere with our truck since it will be very cold here in MN. We are looking for other options to get to our starting point if anyone has any great ideas. (Maybe you great uncle Al lives here and you want him to come and visit you in Texas January 27th.

So the plan for now is to drive down and ride to wherever. we are following a couple groups on here now and are deciding on the route we will take.

Since we are taking these old bikes, we really don't care if they come back with us. One idea is to ship them beyond the "gap" and see if we can have them stored for a year and return later and continue south.

How could we sell them or leave them there. I think the rule is they cn charge you 3 times the value if we leave them? Not sure. Anyone with first hand knowledge in this area would be great. We think they are worth $500 bucks a piece here in the states. It would be nice to fly back to Texas somehow and fly back to Minneapolis. (Or drive if we find no other way to our starting point)

So for now we are working on bike visa questions etc. What happens if the bikes die and we come back without them. I know not likely since we can repair most anything, but think hypothetically? Can we sell and pay a smaller fee than the 3x what they are worth?

I'm sure we will figure out.

I read the great link someone sent (John Downs) about the 5 college guys crossing the states. Reminds me of my college trip alone. I wish I had documented as well they did.

Anyone else take a vintage bike down to say Panama?

I will try to post a picture (might have figured this out) of my bike as soon as I learn more about using this site. My 13 year old daughter has painted the tank, side covers and complete helmet. It looks pretty cool. (who lets there kid paint there bike...) ME!

https://www.google.com/url?q=http://...giVIN9_aWbzrbg