GS650 Katana regulator wiring

[Guest]

Hi everyone and greetings from South Africa!

I'm hoping someone may be able to shed some light on a wiring query.

I bought a second hand GS650 Katana (1983) and its regulator is shot - to the point the connectors/plugs had melted and fused together.

Bought a new regulator from a local dealer (a generic one they assured me would work), but it seems to be missing a wire when compared to the fitted one.
The old regulator has 3 yellow wires and 1 red wire running to the connector/plug, and a 5th black wire that's connected to the negative battery terminal which is also earthed to the frame.
Strange thing is an extra 3 wires, 2 brown and 1 blue - the brown ones are cut and sealed off, whereas the blue one runs to a relay. Two wires leave the relay and run into the main loom. I have no idea what this wire is for and the new regulator doesn't have one.
Some online digging seems to indicate that this is a sensing wire that's connected to the ignition/right hand controls. Is this wire necessary? If so I assume I don't have the correct replacement or is there a workaround for this?

Photo of the current regulator and a close-up of the extra wires exiting it:

image.jpg

Any help would be most appreciated!!

[Brendan W]

Hi SA-rat and welcome.
In case you haven't yet found it there is a lot of info here http://members.dslextreme.com/users/bikecliff/
You probably have a sense wire unit. They are pretty much interchangeable with the five wire units.
But...............
The unit you got is most likely a shunt regulator and they just love taking out stators. It doesn't even look new. The local breaker gave me a bucket of regulators for free when I wanted a stop gap for a few days waiting for my new SH775 series regulator.
I suggest you find Posplayrs sig and get reading about charging system health and grounding strategy and stator testing. At the end of that you would be in a better position to make an informed decision about where to go with the bike.
I wouldn't try to work around that unit as the chance that it will cause problems is high.

[SA-Rat]

Hi Brendan W,

Thanks for the reply! I've looked at the link you provided already - busy downloading some of the manuals currently to see if they will point me in the right direction. Getting a server error on the wiring diagram links unfortunately.

I'll admit I'm a bit of a noob (so excuse any ignorance - I'm learning as I go along), but can you point me in the right direction on how it may be interchangeable?

Also this is the new (supposedly generic) one I had bought - I was planning on cutting the plug off and just soldering it in but didn't proceed in fear of it being wrong one and this way I can still return it if necessary:

20160121_202517.jpg

[Brendan W]

http://www.v-strom.co.uk/downloads/DL650K7Wiring.PNG

My mistake I thought the original pic was the new r/r. The above link is for the newer bikes that seem to use this type of regulator. The three wires come direct from the alternator. Of the others the red ones are heading off to the ignition switch and back to the battery through a fuse at the starter relay. The black ones look to be collecting the return currents from the harness and the battery .This is pretty much the way I would wire up a GS anyway. It doesn't really look like a sense wire arrangement as I know them anyhow.
I wouldn't cut the plug. I'd be looking for the other half of one and do the soldering on the far side.
Looks like you have five wires on that thing. Three for the alternator, one to the tee in the harness and one to ground

[Brendan W]

Yes but...................
Read up on single point grounding ( spg ).
The r/r is a power station that runs the bike's grid. The battery needs to be wired in like any other load and all the return currents collected in one place. Not having an SPG won't prevent the regulator working but it will make it's job a lot easier.

Oooops! Your post disappeared there somewhere

[SA-Rat]

Yes the new one has 5 wires - haven't managed to find the female plug for it which is why I was considering cutting it off and simply soldering it in. Perhaps I should be more patient in finding one though. :P

So, I hope I'm understanding you correctly - my suspicions were correct? The blue wire on the old one is the sense wire that's not really necessary?

I based this on the info here http://members.dslextreme.com/users/...eplacement.pdf and http://www.thegsresources.com/_forum.../t-192466.html

If that's correct I assume it's also safe to remove the relay that was connected to the other end of the blue wire running to the main loom and just sealing off the ends?

[SA-Rat]

Yes but...................
Read up on single point grounding ( spg ).
The r/r is a power station that runs the bike's grid. The battery needs to be wired in like any other load and all the return currents collected in one place. Not having an SPG won't prevent the regulator working but it will make it's job a lot easier.

Oooops! Your post disappeared there somewhere

Sorry I replied to add more info, then when it refreshed, saw you had already replied and decided to read and delete my other post to avoid further confusion.

[Brendan W]

I would connect the three phases into the three same colour wires, send the red to the tee in the harness and the black to the (single point) ground. You could use female spade connections on the plug, not ideal. Mine is wired that way temporarily until I get a plug. The cleanest is cut and solder. Not as if the r/r will be coming off every week , you hope.
Not sure why a relay was installed on the previous set up.

[SA-Rat]

I would connect the three phases into the three same colour wires, send the red to the tee in the harness and the black to the (single point) ground. You could use female spade connections on the plug, not ideal. Mine is wired that way temporarily until I get a plug. The cleanest is cut and solder. Not as if the r/r will be coming off every week , you hope.
Not sure why a relay was installed on the previous set up.

Okay epic, that was my thinking. Thanks a lot!

I'll give it a shot and report back on my results.

[Brendan W]

Those links to the 650 diagrams aren't working alright. Found this http://www.suzuki-katana.com/images/...ng-harness.jpg
It's an 1100 but should give you a general idea how things were organised back in the day. Notice one of the stator phases going on a round trip to a handle bar switch. Most dispense with the loop and go direct to the r/r with the three phases.