Wire Stator Directly to R/R Problem

[Guest]

My bike still had all the stock wiring, no mods to the stator and R/R. It has been running and charging well.

I had been told of the evils of the stator wire looping through the hareness. So, on everyone's advice, I bypassed the wiring harness and connected the stator's white/green wire directly to the regulator's white/red wire. Now the voltage has crept up to about 13.4V at idle but doesn't charge the battery as I increase the RPMs.

What might be the issue?

Thanks!

[gspower]

What bike? What was the original problem? Why fix what's not broken? Suzuki had it wired through the harness for a reason -- no reason to change it AFAIK.

[snackie]

I have a '81 Suzuki GS650G. If you read the forums regarding this, there is a high risk of harness damage from over heating. The forums recommend bypassing the wiring harness and connecting the stator's white/green wire directly to the regulator's white/red wire.

[Nessism]

Yes, bypass the harness and run the stator wires directly into the R/R. Not sure about only one wire though. The typical advice is to run all three stator wires directly into the R/R.

[OldVet66]

If you are connecting to a R/R with a matching color code, you are using a shunt type R/R and need to keep the headlight loop as designed. With a modern series R/R you can eliminate the loop because it can adjust and will not overcharge as a result of burning out a headlight. Holding on to old design crap is just that a crappy solution where there is now a fix.

[BigD_83]

My bike still had all the stock wiring, no mods to the stator and R/R. It has been running and charging well.

I had been told of the evils of the stator wire looping through the hareness. So, on everyone's advice, I bypassed the wiring harness and connected the stator's white/green wire directly to the regulator's white/red wire. Now the voltage has crept up to about 13.4V at idle but doesn't charge the battery as I increase the RPMs.

What might be the issue?

Thanks!

When you say it isn't charging the battery, do you mean you are not getting an increase in voltage at the battery, reading post to post, as you increase rpms...i.e. steady 13.4V at all rpm?

[snackie]

Correct, after connecting the stator's white/green wire directly to the regulator's white/red wire, there is no increase in voltage at the battery. The bike was charging fine prior to this mod.
OldVet66 says, if I am using the stock shunt regulator (with a matching color code), I need to keep the wiring harness loop in tact.

So, who's right? Eliminate the loop or keep the factory design?

[gspower]

If you are connecting to a R/R with a matching color code, you are using a shunt type R/R and need to keep the headlight loop as designed. With a modern series R/R you can eliminate the loop because it can adjust and will not overcharge as a result of burning out a headlight. Holding on to old design crap is just that a crappy solution where there is now a fix.

Exactly. No reason to change the original electrical system unless you are upgrading, for instance, with the SH-775. I did this myself. Until then though you should really leave it as is. Suzuki got some things right. That being said, this is an odd problem even after bypassing the harness. Hope someone here can help you.

[BigD_83]

Eliminating the loop should not result in no rise in voltage, so there is something else going on...

Opinions vary on whether one should or should not eliminate it with a shunt-style R/R.

I put the FET-driven FH0020 in my 650, and eliminated the loop, two (+?) years ago, and I have nothing to report on the negative side of things. I had the stator out while replacing the engine cover recently, and it all looks good, no over-cooking going on there at all. Like Nessism says, though, all three wires should be going directly to your R/R from the stator.

[snackie]

All 3 wires are connected to the stator. The other 2 are connected via the R/R connector but the white/red wire had to be cut to connect it directly to the stator's white/green.

[Steve]

The only plausible 'reason' to maintain the stock wiring through the harness is if you have an older bike with a switch that still operates the headlight AND a shunt-style (stock) R/R.

The 'harness loop' goes to a second set of contacts in the headlight switch, so when you turn the headlight off, you also disconnect one leg of the stator, so the R/R does not have to work so hard shunting all that excess current to ground. If you have a newer series-type R/R, that will not be a problem.

.

[tom203]

Eliminating the loop should not result in no rise in voltage, so there is something else going on...

Yes, I ran mine with stator direct to original stock R/R- got better results (higher voltage). then switched to honda R/R (with sense wire), still good results, Finally last year opted for the SH-775 when testing proved it was superior.