charging issue part II

[Nooner]

Now have new tires on my '81 GS550T, am enjoying the ride immensely. 4,000 miles on the bike with new battery. Still won't charge. I charge it at night and ride to work when I can (40 mile round trip).
Suspect the problem (per stator papers) is stator or regulator.
Last post got me great advice from Spybug, Dr Gonzo, CV, dave8338 & jbs 80106. I have purchased a volt meter and am schooling myself on its use.
I will get the diagnosing done this week.
My question:
If the r/r is bad, but the stator OK, will I destroy the stator by riding it before the problem is solved?

[Dave8338]

No, but it is unlikely to be the R/R if you are working with an under-charge problem. Could be ground/connection related... Usually if the R/R fails, there is an OVER-charge problem to deal with. Check those connection from the stator to the harness first.

[doctorgonzo]

It does sound like "under charging". If you weren't charging at all I doubt you would get 40 miles before the battery was dead. If all the juice for the lights, coils, etc... was all coming from nothing but the charge on the battery you'd probably be lucky to make it 10 miles.

On Connections:
I had to re-do all mine (charging system related) 2 days ago. They had already obviously overheated. I put on a new positive and new negative battery cable in 8 Ga, replaced some 14 Ga wire with 12 Ga, and replaced all those overheated connectors making sure I used dialectric grease on EVERY one of them. Resistance will eat up those connections reated to the charging circuit in no time. It's got to be a VERY clean path. Check your connections. Where the 3 yellow and the red from the stator connect to the R/R unit. The ground for the R/R unit. How old are battery cables, is the battery well grounded, etc... Should look at this stuff first thing.

[duaneage]

FWIW I offer a Honda RR upgrade kit with new connectors for 40 dollars delivered. They work better than OEM. PM me if interested.