1982 GS650G Stator dead. R/R too?

[Chisenhallw]

](*,)

Well, it finally happened to me. *click* Nothing. *click* Nothing. New-ish battery, so it's not that. But what's this, the battery's hardly getting charge. Whyever could that be?

:-({|=

Yep, funny readings coming out of the wires leading into the stator. I hate electrical systems. I'm always paranoid I'm going to fry the bike, or myself, or both.

So, question the first, is there a way to tell whether it's the stator vs. the r/r (or both?)?

Question the second, so i'm looking at the Electrosport industries website. Around $250 for stator & R/R? :shock: Yow! Guess I'm eating ramen for the next two weeks. Are they *really* all that and a bag of wet-naps? Or is there a better, cheaper alternative. I read on the Stator Papers about using a Honda CB750 stator, but there's heat sink problems. Any more details than that?

Y'all be good. Or be good at it. Thanks for responses.

[jbs80106]

Welcome to the club!

](*,)

Well, it finally happened to me. *click* Nothing. *click* Nothing. New-ish battery, so it's not that. But what's this, the battery's hardly getting charge. Whyever could that be?

:-({|=

Yep, funny readings coming out of the wires leading into the stator. I hate electrical systems. I'm always paranoid I'm going to fry the bike, or myself, or both.

So, question the first, is there a way to tell whether it's the stator vs. the r/r (or both?)?

Question the second, so i'm looking at the Electrosport industries website. Around $250 for stator & R/R? :shock: Yow! Guess I'm eating ramen for the next two weeks. Are they *really* all that and a bag of wet-naps? Or is there a better, cheaper alternative. I read on the Stator Papers about using a Honda CB750 stator, but there's heat sink problems. Any more details than that?

Y'all be good. Or be good at it. Thanks for responses.

Sorry to hear of your troubles. I'm going thru round 2 with the same thing.

A few 1st things to check out before biting the bullet. Check your ground connections. There are atleast 2, one under the battery box and one to the frame near the R/R. Its recommended that you ground the R/R to the neg post of the battery if you already haven't done that.

Assuming the ground connections are all clean and tight, you gotta follow the Stator Papers. Electrosport also has a troubleshooting flow-chart on their website too.

1st I'd check to see if you're getting the right voltage back at the battery when reved to the proper RPMs. If you're not, then you need to test the input side of the R/R...i.e. the stator.

To do that on mine I had to cut the wires to get some test points.

That will isolate the problem to either option A) bad R/R, or option B) bad Stator and likely bad R/R.

I replaced both my stator and R/R from electrosport a year ago. Over the summer I fried my R/R again...and I suspect my stator is fried too. After a wait, Electrosport did warrantee replace my R/R. I've not done anything with the stator yet. No money.

If I had to do it over again, I'd go with something besides the Electrosport R/R. Probably the Honda alternative as it seems to be more robust. Since I've warranteed items with Electrosport I'll try that once more.

If I had the wiring length to work with I'd probably reinstall my old/original Stator as it appears to be good but I snipped the wires by the rubber gasket thingy when removing it the first time.

My personal opinion is that the R/R is way more likely to fail than the stator. You can check if your stator is putting out the correct voltage on all 3 legs easy enough to eliminate it. Then you'll only be out 100 bucks or so for a R/R and won't have to jack around with removing the stator.

Good luck!

[Redman]

You said "funny readings on wires from stator". Can you say more, that does make it sound like a stator problem.

Yep, stators not cheap. But ElectroSport and/or Ricks stators are like $110 - 130 in my Dennis Kirk catalog (and not know for low prices).

So, anyway, tell us more of what you are observing.

Dave

PS where you located?
I understand the 82 GS650 I had for 20+ years went to KY or TN.

[Chisenhallw]

I'm in Durham, Nawth Cackalacky, Redman.

As far as problems, I can't give you precise voltmeter readings b/c I'm at work (stupid real job keeping me from working on my bike). But I can tell you my battery's not getting charged, or only getting about .5 volts when the throttle's wide open. Does that help any?

I'm taking the stop-gap measure of charging my battery every night when I go to bed. :? Joy. Rapture. NOT.

JBS, thanks for the great advice - why are you going through round 2 ?Why didn't it take the first time?

I really am eyeballing digging up a stator & R/R from a Honda CB750.

[jbs80106]

Not sure why round 2...

Things were working great for a while, then I got left with a dead battery and pushing the bike up hill again.

I suspect either the new R/R from Electrosport simply failed again but I may have had some kind of short in the stator which could have fried the R/R. Its chicken and egg given my limited experience with bike/car electronics. I'm told that if the connections weren't great where I spliced the new stator wires into the old wiring, could have generated excess heat/resistance which could have contributed to the 2nd stator failure.

I'll know more once pull the starter-cover off and check those connections, and then get into the stator cover again. It was too depressing and right now I've not got the money to do it right.

I've got a new R/R ready to go (Electrosport replaced the other one under warrantee). Waiting to save up about $300 or so to replace: stator/gasket, cam-chain tensioner gasket, rubber hose-thingies on either side of the carbs, and a new battery. THen I 'should' be good to go.

[davewallen]

According to the GS850 clymers, voltage between any two of the (yellow) stator wires should be 75VAC.

The other tests (like the one on this site) show whether there are shorts or not.

[davewallen]

I'm taking the stop-gap measure of charging my battery every night when I go to bed. :? Joy. Rapture. NOT.

Besides the chrger every night, I even carry a spare battery in my fairing for when the other one poops out.

I've got about a 1 1/2 hour range...and I get real nervous after that. I had a bad new R/R ($79) from regulatorrectifier.com, and we're still working on getting it replaced. (They seem to be moving slowly, I'm trying to hurry them, since Wisc. bike weather is getting short - and I have a few 500 mile trips I want to finish this month))

(just a further note) after 2 days of wondering, regulatorrectifier gave me an RMA number, so my new RR should be coming to me soon

[Chisenhallw]

Hey, did you know that a stator from an '81 GS550L won't fit an '82 GS650G? :?

Ask me how I know. Go on, ask me.




The stator from a 550 is a teeeeeeny bit taller. Just enough to throw the tolerances off.....


So. Anybody got a stator (or a source for one) for an '82 GS650G?

[tconroy]

Order one from dennis kirk !!! I paid 113 bucks shipped to the door in 2 days with no shipping fee for anything over 100 bucks. I also got my r/r from cycle recycle for 60. Dont forget the gasket! Also run your r/r ground straight to the battery.You can run your stator straight to the hot side if you use an inline fuse holder with 15 amps.It does boost your output,I tried it both ways and got better readings with the inline fuse, as long as your putting out 13.8 to 14.5 your good to go!

[brveagle]

Just use a honda regulator. Straight bolt in if you get the right model. (do a search) They are bulletproof.

Replace the stator with one off ebay or a new one

[brveagle]

Hey, did you know that a stator from an '81 GS550L won't fit an '82 GS650G? :?

Ask me how I know. Go on, ask me.

The stator from a 550 is a teeeeeeny bit taller. Just enough to throw the tolerances off.....


So. Anybody got a stator (or a source for one) for an '82 GS650G?

Umm, To my knowledge that's incorrect. I have used both interchangeably.

I wonder if you could have had things lined up wrong or an aftermarket stator for one of them. But they ARE the same.

[jbs80106]

stator...

SPCHIPS on this site has a stator for sale last I heard for $30. Off of an 850 I believe. I've been unable to verify if its compatible with a 650 or not though...

[SPARKSS]

]
Well, it finally happened to me. *click* Nothing. *click* Nothing. New-ish battery, so it's not that. But what's this, the battery's hardly getting charge. Whyever could that be?

Yep, funny readings coming out of the wires leading into the stator. I hate electrical systems. I'm always paranoid I'm going to fry the bike, or myself, or both.

So, question the first, is there a way to tell whether it's the stator vs. the r/r (or both?)?

Question the second, so i'm looking at the Electrosport industries website. Around $250 for stator & R/R? :shock: Yow! Guess I'm eating ramen for the next two weeks. Are they *really* all that and a bag of wet-naps? Or is there a better, cheaper alternative. I read on the Stator Papers about using a Honda CB750 stator, but there's heat sink problems. Any more details than that?
Y'all be good. Or be good at it. Thanks for responses.

Hello there. I keyed on a few parts of your post, and make these sincere suggestions: If you "hate electrical" then you probably shouldn't work on it or anything else that fits the category. I see lots of people looking for silver bullet solutions to avoid paying for expertise either by money or by time invested to learn. I will humbly offer that ALL the information you need is already on this site and has been posted in just the last year (and I bet in other years as well).....much of it however will assume understanding some electrical theory and trying to make repairs without that benefit is a risky effort at best. You mention that you "got funny readings" from the stator.....could you be specific on what you found so far as that will help us help you - Thanks much

[BassCliff]

Thomas Edison did not invent the stator

Mr. Chisenhallw,

I also had to put a trickle charger on my bike for a couple weeks before I could get the parts ordered. Go with a used late model Honda r/r (usually $40 or less). The five wire models are bolt-on replacements. Some have a 6th wire which is a "sense" wire that is usually connected into the rear brakelight switch. I got a stator from RMStator.com. They also have an ebay store where I bought mine for $99, shipping included. I did have to pay $2 for insurance for a total of $101. Both parts are working fine. Click the link in my sig to go to my website and read all about it in my Stator Replacement PDF file.

The Stator Papers, on this site, has an excellent troubleshooting flowchart. There are active and passive tests for the stator. The r/r has passive (diode) tests.

Clean all of the electrical connections and grounds, from the headlight bucket to the tail light. Use dielectric grease in the connectors to guard against corrosion. Once you get your electrical system up to snuff, it will last another 20 to 25 years.

Thank you for your indulgence,

BassCliff

[spchips]

I have both these parts in working condition for the 1982 GS650 GL