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Possibly shorted my stator

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    Possibly shorted my stator

    Ok. So this is a survivor/rescue bike. It is 1978 GS550. I basically rewired the whole bike because it was tore up where the instrument cluster was and was just too much of a cluster for me. We have actually had the bike running for about two months just idling and revving in the garage. The carbs were gummed up pretty bad from sitting for almost 20 years. I got the carbs back on on thursday last week and the bike ran really well finally. I was still having trouble with one of the cylinders either not firing or providing fuel(may have narrowed it down to fuel).

    Well I got brand new tires and tubes for it today and was ready to take it for its first test ride. I thought I would check one more time and wanted to check for spark. I pulled the two plug wires for the right bank of cylinders with one affecting how the motor ran and the other not. I then moved to the left side of the motor to test that side. Granted I was wearing welding gloves while I was pulling the wires, but the first wire I pulled on the left side shocked the crap out of me and then the bike kind of cut out and died. I did not think much of it and put it back together for a test ride after one more round of checks.

    I killed it trying to turn the bike around 180* on the next block over from the house. Well, I could not get the starter to turn over. I could kick start it and it would fire up though. So I rode it about a mile or so and went back to the house. After messing around with it, it was clear there was something wrong. The starter would just not turn over. I got the voltmeter out and finally traced it down to the battery not having 12v. I figured I would jump it and try the starter button. It fired right up. So I let it run and started metering things. It definitely was not charging.

    The bike still uses the stock ignition components. Everything is just run off a simple rocker switch with a push button for the starter. Some more testing revealed all of that was still working correctly and not melted or damaged. I am not sure what it is called as I am a total greenhorn with motorcycles although I have been racing cars for 15 years. But the little box that has a wire coming from the positive side of the battery and the other side of it goes down into the engine case for what I presume from diagrams is the stator and rotor. That little box also has two smaller gauge wires with one that goes to the starter button(went to the stock starter button before rewire). I am not getting any voltage from the stator side of this box. And slowly but surely the battery will trickle down in voltage.

    There is only one stock fuse left and it is not blown. I cannot find any burnt wires and all systems work aside from the battery charging. The first thing that made me think it was not charging was the headlight was dim.

    Anyone have any ideas on how to test that thing on or off the bike? It was running well before the thing shocked the crap out of me. I can only assume I shorted out the stator. Unless I killed what ever that little box might be. The one with the battery cable hooked to it that is.

    #2
    Originally posted by biglady112 View Post
    But the little box that has a wire coming from the positive side of the battery and the other side of it goes down into the engine case for what I presume from diagrams is the stator and rotor. That little box also has two smaller gauge wires with one that goes to the starter button(went to the stock starter button before rewire). I am not getting any voltage from the stator side of this box.
    The part you are describing is not the stator, it is a starter solenoid. It operates the same as it's car counterpart. The stator is located under the left side engine cover, the one with the Suzuki decal on it.

    For your charging issues, see this post. http://www.thegsresources.com/_forum...31#post1138531
    De-stinking Penelope http://thegsresources.com/_forum/sho...d.php?t=179245

    http://www.thegsresources.com/_forum...35#post1625535

    Comment


      #3
      Greetings and Salutations!!!

      Hi Ms. biglady112,

      These old bikes need a lot of maintenance, and it has to be done properly. Start with properly cleaned carbs, test and service the charging system, adjust the valves, repair the air intake system. Then move on to the fluids, filters, brakes, and tires. You'll find a couple of maintenance lists in your "mega-welcome". These tasks are pretty much mandatory. Skipping steps or taking shortcuts will be frustrating at best, dangerous at worst. You'll find "how to" guides and other documentation on my little website. Here you go.

      If you are here you probably have a 30 year old motorcycle that needs about 20 years worth of maintenance. In the links below you'll find maintenance lists, documentation, wiring diagrams, "how to" guides, vendor links, tips, tricks, and a whole lot of GS goodness. This is your "mega-welcome". Let's get started.

      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!

      More links to helpful threads in the forum:
      Help! Your Bike Won't Start
      DON'T DO THESE THINGS
      Help! Your Bike Won't Run Well
      Oh God! Pods!



      Thanks for joining us. Keep us informed.

      Thank you for your indulgence,

      BassCliff

      Comment


        #4
        I was looking in the dark last night. Definitely the starter solenoid. Is there any way to bypass the r/r? A quick search came up with nothing. What does r/r stand for? Still have yet to see the answer.

        Comment


          #5
          You need to read and follow Basscliff's post

          Comment


            #6
            R/R stands for Regulator/Rectifier. The output of the stator is A/C voltage. The rectifier converts it to DC voltage. The regulator keeps the charging system from overcharging the battery or anything else in the electrical system (an unregulated system can burn out your headlight, for example, or melt your wiring).
            An essential part of your charging system. On your cage, the R/R is built into your alternator, which outputs A/C voltage by default. A/C stands for alternating current, which is why it is called an alternator on a cage.

            Comment


              #7
              stator? you can test it on the bike...go here! http://members.dslextreme.com/users/bikecliff/ and look for "Stator tests" ..
              but no, you can't run the bike by "bypassing" it.
              If you like, AC is like a water pump with no check valve- it blows and sucks so nothing ever gets full. The rectifier is the check valve ...it "rectifies" AC to DC and your "bottle" (ie:battery) fills up.... meanwhile the regulator is a pressure valve, so your "bottle" doesn't blow up ! and as Koolaid mentions the "plumbing and taps" (lights and wires) also need the pressure valve or they will blow up too.

              Comment


                #8
                I test the four wires coming from the R/R. Test done with bike running.

                White with blue stripe-5v
                Red-battery voltage(trickled down to 8v before I stopped)
                White with red stripe-not hooked up
                Yellow-5v

                Both of the white with blue and yellow wires were actually 4.5-4.75v. But we can assume that they were 5v if I had a good charge going.

                The 5th black wire goes to the ground/mounting point.

                Are we safe to assume then that my rectifier has gone bad? All the factory ground are still in place by the way.

                Comment


                  #9
                  I admit to being totally lost as to what test you are running. That is not that easy to do, so you deserve congrats.
                  Did you go to BassCliff's site and select some particular test, or set of tests, as has been suggested?
                  Your regulator should have 5 or six wires. You mention 5, so I'll go with that.
                  3 go to the stator. Hopefully, when you installed the new stator you bypassed the headlight loop and ran all 3 wires to the regulator.
                  1 wire goes to ground.
                  1 wire goes to the battery (eventually, at any rate).
                  You need to run the stator tests first (again, on BassCliff's site) to verify the stator first. You cannot proceed without doing this first.
                  Then you connect the stator directly to the regulator and test its output to the battery. Use the quick test (again, on BassCliff's site) to verify the regulator output.

                  Takes a max of 30 minutes to do this.
                  BTW, if you still have the factory regulator and the stator tests pass, get one of the recommended ones (again, you know where the list is) and replace it before it burns out your new stator.

                  Comment


                    #10
                    I have not swapper any parts yet as I have none to test. I will work on testing the stator at some point today. All I did was test the wires on the regulator.

                    Comment


                      #11
                      O.K., I suspected as much. You really can't tell much by that, except for the output (red wire), which should have been 12.7V minimum. And, as I mentioned, there should be a minimum of 5 wires connected. If you only have 5, and 1 is not connected, you have connection issues. (I was gonna say you have issues, but I don't know you, and most of us do have issues, but that is another story. )
                      Good luck.

                      Comment


                        #12
                        When I rewired the bike there was two wires that did not share the same color. So one I apparently cut the end of it off and the other I left unplugged. The wire I cut was coming from the stator. The wire that was left unplugged was one of the three wires that were not ground or power coming from the R/R. After some more testing and talking to a helpful person I was told the three wires from the stator hooked directly into the R/R. So I wire the two different colored wires I had left over together and immediately it started charging 12+V. The only issue I then had is after this past month or so of messing around with this thing and draining the brand new battery so many times I essentially killed it. I ran to the parts store and they exchanged it no questions. The new battery actually charges at 13v+.

                        So it was one wire essentially that was holding me back. Issue solved.

                        Comment

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