Rectifier Question

[Guest]

Hey guys,
I have a question that I've been wondering about since I've got my bike. How do I know, or find out, if my rectifier has already been replaced? It looks like it's in great condition, and the electrical quick test I ran last night seemed to show that everything is working like it should be. I basically want to know if I need to replace it or not, since things work good now. Any chance on finding that out?

[Steve]

We could sit here and describe it all day long with no resolution, but if you were to post a picture of it, we could verify it rather quickly.

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[Anthony]

[Anthony]

Wow sorry for the huge picture haha, hope it helps.

[Steve]

Wow sorry for the huge picture haha, hope it helps.

It would help more if you re-size it, then re-post it.

It does show signs of being a Suzuki R/R.

Can't say whether it's the one that was on the bike as it neared the end of the assembly line or a replacement, though.

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[Anthony]

So there's no real way to determine if it's been replaced or OEM?

[mikerophone]

That sure looks OEM to me. Test it per the manual and various posts here, but I'd replace it with a series R/R even if it passes the tests.

Mine only had 5K miles on it and although it was a year newer then yours, it failed. Of course I'm pretty sure they I caused the early death by pulling all my incandescent bulbs and replaced with LED's.

Make sure you don't upgrade everything to LED's like I didn't until you've gone through the electrical system/cleans all your connections and grounds and upgraded your R/R to a series unit like the Polaris or CompuFire unit like in my post here.

[posplayr]

So there's no real way to determine if it's been replaced or OEM?

If you were an expert in Suzuki Motorcycles and you were so inclined I'm sure you could deduce an answer to your question, but alas you are not so I assume you cannot.


You would then be best served by relating the relevant information to the board who has members that are experts. Big Pictures are nice, but that is not a sufficient condition for conveying information.

[Anthony]

So bottom line is, replace it anyways if you can afford it? That's what I've seemed to gather from most threads on here haha :P How much would a Polaris or Compufire R/R run me?

[mikerophone]

I got my CompuFire for $165 shipped on Amazon (see my link above for more) lots of people here have had great success with the Polaris unit here and can be had for about half what I payed for the CompuFire.

Keep reading and clean up/test all your connections - use the links in posplayr's signature and your bike will be glad you did.

[Steve]

So there's no real way to determine if it's been replaced or OEM?

Oh, it appears to be OEM, for sure, but "OEM" is "Original Equipment Manufacturer".

What we can't tell is whether it might have been replaced with an OEM regulator.

It might be the one that was installed on the assembly line, it might be one off the parts shelf. They look the same.

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[tkent02]

Cleaning up all of the connections in the system and testing it occasionally works too. I still haven't had a charging system failure in 350,000 or so miles on a multitude of GSes. Have bought a few with dead charging systems, but they all had a lot of corrosion in the wiring and connectors. Once they were cleaned up and repaired, none have failed.
If you were worried you could throw an extra R/R in the tool bag and not worry about it.
I have a box or about 20 of them here.

That said, I am replacing my Suzuki RRs with the Shendigan series regulators. They are cheap, and they work well. The whole concept of a series regulator is so much better.

Why push my luck?

[Anthony]

So I suspect I should run the electrical tests on my charging system (the in depth ones), and if it turns out fine, I probably don't need to worry about it. I'm sure I'll get a new R/R when I have extra money. But from what you can see in that picture, my bike needs a lot of other things...

[Steve]

But from what you can see in that picture, my bike needs a lot of other things...

Actually, by the time I scroll around the screen to see other parts of the bike, I have probably forgotten what else I have seen.

When you post pictures, try to limit them to 800x600 or, at most, 1024x768 in size.
Still plenty big to see details, but not so large that we have to scroll all over to see the whole thing.

Just for comparison, here is your picture in 800x600:



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[tkent02]

If money is an object, clean up the system, and carry a spare used RR. Test it first.
I have one from an '80 750 in you want it.