Re-wiring headlight needed?

[Guest]

Just received my new Shindengen RR kit. As I purchased the bike, the wiring set up had one white/green stator wire going into the harness, and a white/red RR wire going into the harness. According to the diagram, both are connected to the headlight switch. So the RR had five wires, of which two come from the stator, one outputs to the headlight switch, one (solid red) goes into the harness, presumably to the starter solenoid, and one (black) to battery negative.

The five wires on my new RR don't match that pattern. Now there are three stator input wires, a single red output, and a single black negative.

The question is, how should I re-wire the headlight? Should both the white/green and white/red be connected to the main fuse? Or only one of them, and if so which one and what should I do with the other?

Thanks.

[BassCliff]

Hi,

Do you have an actual headlight on/off switch?

My headlight is "on" all the time, as mandated by the US Government. There is no physical on/off switch any more. But the wiring harness still includes a loop of wire to a non-existent headlight switch. That circuit was designed to disable one leg of the stator IF you turned off your headlight. This would help prevent boiling the battery from over-charging.

When I installed my new stator and r/r units, I simply disconnected those wires going up to the non-existent headlight switch, taped them off, and secured them so that they would be out of the way. I then connected the three output wires of my stator directly to the input wires of the r/r unit.

I explain this, with pictures, here:

Regulator/Rectifier Replacement

And this is how my charging circuit looks now:



(Note: If you have a 5 wire r/r unit, disregard the "sense" wire connected to the tail light at the brake switch. The above diagram is for a Honda-type r/r unit. That's why it has a green ground and black sense wire.)

Connect the three stator output wires directly to the three r/r input wires. Connect the r/r ground wire directly to the battery negative terminal. Connect the r/r output to the harness so that it passes through the fusebox as it makes its way to the battery.

The output from the r/r may be connected to the solenoid at the same place as the positive battery terminal. But the r/r output (red wire) must be fused before it reaches the battery. It usually goes through the fuse box.

Thank you for your indulgence,

BassCliff

[tom203]

You want to bypass headlight loop, so just take that green/white wire (from stator) and attach direct to R/R and just leave the red/white wire(from headlight switch) unconnected. This way all three stator output wires are direct to R/R. Make sure your new R/R has good ground connection to battery negative.

[MisterCinders]

I have a headlight switch. True story.

[FiremanBob]

Thanks, Cliff and Tom. I did read Cliff's article on replacing the RR. My bike does have a headlight switch but I think it has a tab on it to prevent switching it off. I am aware that all three stator wires will go to the new RR, but am asking about the best way to re-wire the headlight.

As I understand it now, I have two positive wires that lead to the headlight switch. My first inclination is to siamese them together and connect them to the fuse box, but I don't know if that is correct.

[BassCliff]

Hi,

There's no need to "re-wire" the headlight. The headlight is driven by the 12vDC from the battery and is not directly dependent on the AC from the stator. Just disconnect the unnecessary wires, tape them off, and secure them out of the way.


Thank you for your indulgence,

BassCliff

[Flyboy]

No need to rewire the headlight;

leave the red/white wire(from headlight switch) unconnected

That wire, as I understand it was to bring one of the stator coils off line when the headlight is swiched off, thus reducing the stator output when not needed to prevent over charging.
The headlight will function just fine without it.

[tom203]

I have a headlight switch. True story.

Me too, and it used to have a stator loop thru it, but now all it can do is turn the headlight on/off as all three stator outputs go straight to my 30 year old R/R!