Variety of Electrical Questions Regarding 1980 GS550L.

[Vrian_Sinth]

I am glad I found this forum while doing some Google searches. It has a lot of great information. Please have mercy on me as I am a NewB when it comes to motorcyclees. I am a huge VW junky and love working on my '87 VW GTi and '88 VW Cabriolet, so I have pretty good automotive knowledge.

I aquired a 1980 GS550L from my brother-in-law and have already fallen in love with the bike.

I purchased the bike knowing that the battery would not charged. He told me he thought it was the Stator. I figured that would be an easy fix.

I took off the generator cover off yesterday to take a look and possibly change it out. (What's up with the phillips head bolts?)

I discovered that the Stator only had one of the 3 wires connected to anything. The other two wires were not connected to anything.

One of the Stator wires was connected to a blue/white wire and that was it. The blue/white wire is in a rubber boot along with a capped pink wire and a solo pink/white wire that is connected to nothing.

After reading this forum and posts, I now understand that all three wires from the stator should be connected to the Regulator/Rectifier. I am thinking I may not have an R/R at all. I have looked around the battery, fuses on both sides of the bike. Nothing! I cannot find a single yellow wire.

So I know think I may have a fully-functional Stator, but no R/R. Where should the R/R (Rectifier/Regulator) be on a 1980 GS550L?

My second problem is this. When I lock the stearing (key to the right), the taillight comes on (not the brake, but the regular driving light). Do I need to tear the ignition appart and find a possible short?

Thanks!

Dave

[frosty5011]

I don't know about the 550, but the R/R should be either under your left hand side cover, or attached to the bottom of the battery box.

[Vrian_Sinth]

Thanks for the post! I just went out and looked and don't see the R/R under the battery box or anywhere near the left-side cover. I may not have one. I don't know why not, but it may be that simple.

Assuming I don't have one, I suppose the next step would be to purchase one, figure out where it goes (mounting) and where the wires need to be hooked up.

I know this may require somebody to go out of their way, but a photoraph is worth a thousand words. A picture of the R/R on a 1980 GS550L would be awesome!

[brveagle]

Your r/r should be on the right side of the bike as you are sitting on it. It will be a 2x2 inch block of aluminum with heating fin's on it. The ignitor is the part under the airbox.


But on the steering lock that's normal. If you turn the key in the opposite direction to lock it, the light won't come on. I dont know why suzuki designed it as such.

[Vrian_Sinth]

You were dead on with the steering lock. That is funny that the light comes on when turned to the right, but does nothing when turned to the left. That just saved me a lot of trouble!

I checked on the right-hand side and don't see anything. I can see the fuse boxes and the relay starter, but now R/R. I'll see if I can get some pictures.

[bradleymaynar]

Someone else posted recently about the "P" position on the ignition. I've since noticed that my 1100 has the same on its ignition. The "P" is for parking. It allows you to have the tail light on in parking situations (think of the running lights in a car). I can't remember which thread this was brought up in, but I can assure you that that position allows for the lights(tail light) to be on and the ignition(starter) to be off.

Brad tt

[ddaum]

Pictures

Hi, we have the same bike. Your R/R should be located on the LEFT side of the bike, aft of the battery as shown in my pictures. If it isn't there, look for a similar "finned" object in the vicinity. The black box mounted under the battery box is your igniter unit, not the R/R.
Also, it sounds like someone really messed up your wiring. Keep in mind that your bike's original stator has three wires coming from it that are NOT yellow if the stator is original. Most AFTERMARKET stators have three yellow wires. The three wires from the stator exit from under the starter cover and are probably bundled together. One is White w/ green tracer, one is White w/ blue tracer, and the other is yellow. All three of these wires should connect to the R/R. Yellow goes with yellow, W/B goes with W/B, and W/G goes with white/red from the R/R. Let me know if you need more pics or help.

[ddaum]

Also, before you go tearing into things and replacing the stator when all you need is an R/R, go and buy a quality multimeter. If you don't know how to use it, read the directions that come with it. Then read the STATOR PAPERS and use it to isolate your electrical problem. It looks difficult, but go slow, step-by-step and you won't have a problem troubleshooting, it's actually pretty easy. I printed the whole thing out and took it out to the bike in a binder when I had to troubleshoot my system. that made it easier. Good luck, and ask questions.
-Dean

[Vrian_Sinth]

Thanks a TON for the pictures! I really can't thank you a enough. Your bike is in GREAT condition!

It appears my bike has NO R/R. There is a blinker relay zip-tied in that spot.

My brother-in-law purchased the bike about 6-months ago from a guy who "fixed up" the GS550L. Although the bike drives well (when the battery is charged), it would seem he did not know what he was doing.

Now I need to purchase an R/R and figure out how to wire it in. Should I just look on e-bay or would I be better of purchasing a new one? Any preference between the Electrex or the Ricks Motorsports? I don't want to mess with a Honda R/R. I have heard that they overheat.

I believe I know where to hook up most of the wires, but a little help would be nice. I figure the three stator wires hook up to the R/R. There must be a ground and a possitive lead that goes to the battery. Sound right? Thanks again.

[ddaum]

Before you do anything, fully charge a known good battery on a tender overnight. Plug that puppy in, start the bike, and take voltage readings from the three wires extending from the stator while the bike is at idle, 2,500 RPM, and 5,000 RPM. Instructions for this procedure are in the stator papers. This will let you know if your stator is fried too. At least this way you can save money on shipping if you do have to buy a R/R and a stator (I had to).

When I did my restoration I originally wanted to replace the bad parts with an Electrex Stator and an Electrex R/R. Since Electrex switched to Electrosport some people say that their quality and reliability suffered. I went to www.denniskirk.com for my parts and they advertised Electrex and not Electrosport. So I called them to verify that these parts were indeed Electrex (they were). Anyway, they had a stator in stock, but no R/R. I'm impatient so I ordered the Electrex stator with a Rick's R/R and they have been working beautifully together since installation.

I would advise two things:
1. Save some money and buy a Rick's stator and R/R. Their quality is good at a slightly cheaper price.
2. Locate, clean, and preserve EVERY electrical ground and wiring connection that you can find on your bike before installing the new parts.

It is my opinion that the main reason people fry brand new stators and R/Rs is because they didn't fix the problem (usually wiring and grounds) that led to the component's failure in the first place.

This picture will help you to correctly wire your new R/R. Remember to ground the black wire from the R/R directly to the negative battery terminal. Also remember that most new stators have three yellow wires, this means that it doesn't matter what order they hook up to the R/R as long as the three of them are connected to the three input wires on the
R/R.

[Vrian_Sinth]

Thank you for all the help!!

The diagram helps a ton! Please correct me if I am wrong.

Stator Yellow goes to R/R Yellow

Stator White/Blue goes to R/R White/Blue

Stator White/Green goes to White/Green on wiring harness.

R/R White/Red goes to White/Red on wiring harness (by the White/Green)

R/R Black is grounded on the battery negative terminal.

So where does the R/R red go? On your diagram it looks like it goes to the main fuse. I don't see a red connector on the main fuse for the R/R red. Could I just hook the R/R red up to the battery possitive terminal or does it require a fuse? Could I just put a fuse on the line before I hook it up to the battery's possitive terminal?

Thanks again!!

[ddaum]

You're right about hooking all the wires up, but the red wire from the r/r does have a home and does get connected to the main fuse somewhere. I'll take a look at my bike here in a few minutes, until then we'll wait for a GS electric guru to chime in with advice.

[Vrian_Sinth]

When looking at the main fuse, there is a + (possitive) screw at the bottom right. There is nothing hooked up to it right now. Could this be where the R/R needs to be hooked up?

A second question. I initially didn't want to try the Honda R/R, but after reading the forums, I just may want to try it out.

Would this "1982 Honda CM450 CM 450 Regulator/Rectifier" or this "1978 honda hawk cb400a cb 400 a regulator rectifier" work with my GS550L? I figure for $9 on E-bay, it may be worth a try. Otherwise I will just get the Ricks Motorsports version.

Thanks again!

[Vrian_Sinth]

Sorry about writing back after only a day, but some of the e-bay auctions end soon and need to know if the mentioned R/R units will work for my 1980 GS550L. Any help would be appreciated!

Thanks

P.S. Changed the oil today and the oil pan plug bolt stripped the pan threads!! I wasn't even turning it hard. There still seemed to be plenty of play. Do Suzuki's have a reputation for stripping bolts/threads easily? Looks like I'll be getting another part off of e-bay. The pan gasket probably needed to be changed anyway. :-D

[Joe Guilbeau]

Thank you for all the help!!

The diagram helps a ton! Please correct me if I am wrong.

Stator Yellow goes to R/R Yellow

Stator White/Blue goes to R/R White/Blue

Stator White/Green goes to White/Green on wiring harness.

R/R White/Red goes to White/Red on wiring harness (by the White/Green)

R/R Black is grounded on the battery negative terminal.

So where does the R/R red go? On your diagram it looks like it goes to the main fuse. I don't see a red connector on the main fuse for the R/R red. Could I just hook the R/R red up to the battery possitive terminal or does it require a fuse? Could I just put a fuse on the line before I hook it up to the battery's possitive terminal?

Thanks again!!

Red goes to the Battery (+) Terminal, Black is Ground.

The other three wires go to any of the three wires from the Regulator/Rectifier.

http://ddaum.home.mchsi.com/chargesys.jpg

In the above picture, the operations is as follows:

This is a Dela-Y configuration and each of the coils of the stator generate an AC waveform, there are three coil windings and therefore three waveforms. Each waveform is the same, except that they are 120 degree apart...

The Zener diode conducts to ground when it's threshold voltage is reached, and shuts down the stator field, when the voltage on the zener goes below its threshold level, it stops conducting and your battery is now being charge.