Yamaha rectifier

[josephu]

Hello, I have an 81 gs850. The battery won't charge and I'm electrically dumb. I don't own a multimeter, (but I will buy one in 2 weeks when I get paid), the problem is I need to ride now, ( i work 60 hours a week, I have 3 kids in baseball, and I go to college) so I need this bike for the mpg's now. Im not rich in fact Im the opposite. I understand that the stator and rectifier need tested, (although the process is intimidating for me), I've researched about the honda r/r upgrade, and I was looking through an old bucket of motorcycle parts I have an found a rectifier in there. I googled the part number (rd1143) and it came back as a yamaha xs rectifier. It has 2 leads (1 with 3 white wires and 1 red and 1 black) and (another lead with 2 wires, 1 green and 1 brown). Could I get lucky and make this work? Even temporarily would be nice, trust me if I had the money I'd go out and get a multimeter now and a brand new stator and r/r today. (even if I borrowed a multimeter from someone, Im still not a grand master at using it and I doubt anyone has a r/r I can borrow) Is there anyway to make this Yamaha r/r work?

[razor02097]

What part of the world are you in? If there is someone on the forum near you they might be willing to lend you a hand in troubleshooting your bike.

[josephu]

Im in Springfield Illinois

[spyug]

Welcome. Sorry to hear of your issues. It may or may not be possible to have that Yammie R/R work but without knowing the exact model I'd be hard pressed to say for sure.
Now before we get to that, how do you know its not charging? Flat battery all the time? See without putting a multimeter to it you may be making some faulty assumptions 1) it could be a bum battery 2) it could be the stator, 3) it could be the R/r 4) it could be wiring or the fuse block. So I wouldn't go jumping in to bodging in a part you may not need.

I think you should beg borrow or steal a multimeter (kidding about the stealing) and check things out thoroughly to know where your problem lies. The tests are not hard and if you follow the flow chart in the Stator Papers you will quickly learn what the issues are.

I'm afraid that if you go at it the other way you will only become more frustrated and the issues will become bigger than they really are.

I would also suggest that if you are looking for help on this board, you are most welcome but to help us all out please provide more information that could assist us in getting a diagnosis. Things like the type of bike, what the bike is doing or not doing, what the history might be, any work that you have done on it, when the symptoms appeared etc. etc. The more info provided, the more help you may get.

Good luck with it. Round up a multimeter and we;ll help you figure it out.

cheers,
Spyug

[rustybronco]

http://thegsresources.com/_forum/showthread.php?t=134690

(Yamaha XS1100 Unknown RD1143 RG)

It's unknown if it will work.

You'll need to find a wiring diagram to see if it will or will not work as a replacement for your stock R/R.

[josephu]

Thank you for the response, its an 1981 gs850. I've owned it for about a month, it has 18000 miles and its in decent shape, runs great. A few days ago, I went out to start it and it started a little slowly (like the battery was low) I rode it and then went back home and parked it in the garage. The next morning I went to start it to drive to work and it wouldnt start, the engine turned over but very slowly and turned over slower and slower until it wouldnt turn over anymore (battery obviously dead). I pulled the battery and took the battery to work ( in my truck) I put the battery on the charger, it had less than 12 volts and its percentage of charge was 70 percent., I charged it, it charged to 100% and the charger indicated the battery was good. I took the battery home, installed it and the bike fired up great. I rode it, put it away. went out the next morning to see if it would start for work and it did, it started fine (no apparent draw on battery) drove it to work. Stopped at the gas station (actually I stopped 4 places before work, trying to find cocanut juice, I like it and its hard to find around here) started up fine every time. got it to work, put it on the charger, again at 70%, charged it up to 100%, drove home, started up this morning drove to the gas station ( 2 different ones) at the second station it did seem to turn over just a hair slower than before, but it did start up. Im at work now and have yet to put it on the charger to see what the charge is.

[tom203]

josephu said......."It has 2 leads (1 with 3 white wires and 1 red and 1 black) and (another lead with 2 wires, 1 green and 1 brown). Could I get lucky and make this work? "

To me that R/R sounds like the type that controls the field strength ( like a car alternator)- some yamahas used alternators. If so, it won't work.

[BassCliff]

Greetings and Salutations!!

Hi Mr. josephu,

I don't think that part will work either. There are some Yamaha r/r units that will work but they are Shindengen parts. See THIS LIST (r/r list near the bottom of the page.)

You'll find much more testing and replacement info in the links below. If the bike is under-charging, or not charging at all, then I would suspect the stator. Proper testing is needed before you start throwing parts at it. Let me dump a TON of information on you and share some GS lovin'.

I just stopped by to welcome you to the forum in my own, special way.

If there's anything you'd like to know about the Suzuki GS model bikes, and most others actually, you've come to the right place. There's a lot of knowledge and experience here in the community. Come on in and let me say "HOoooowwwDY!"....

Here is your very own magical, mystical, mythical, mind-expanding "mega-welcome". Please take notice of the "Top 10 Common Issues", "Top 15 Tips For GS Happiness", the Carb Cleanup Series, and the Stator Papers. All of these tasks must be addressed in order to have a safe, reliable machine. This is what NOT to do: Top 10 Newbie Mistakes. Now let me roll out the welcome mat for you...



Please click here for your mega-welcome, chock full of tips, suggestions, links to vendors, and other information. Then feel free to visit my little BikeCliff website where I've been collecting the wisdom of this generous community. Don't forget, we like pictures! Not you, your bike!

Thanks for joining us. Keep us informed.

Thank you for your indulgence,

BassCliff