hooking up new ES regulator/rectifier

[evenSteven]

greetings,
pardon me if i've missed this info elsewhere, but here's my problem:

i'm the owner of a 79 gs 850. i too have been plagued by stator issues. i recently found a good used stator and purchased the ES rect/reg touted in these pages. i hooked the new components up following a combination of the old system and the minimal ES instructions featured on the website. when i start my 850 it runs but keeps blowing the main fuse. is there a wiring diagram anywhere in these pages for how to hook up the Electrosport reg/rectifier to my gs 850 or am i better off calling a mechanic and having him check it out. i feel like i've done everything right and i've just mixed up a couple of my wire leads. any advice will be greatly appreciated.
cheers,
steve

[Billy Ricks]

You could have a wire grounding out somewhere. Are you certain the stator is good? It could be shorting out itself.

[lucabond]

You should have connected the 3 wires from the stator to the 3 yellow wires on your R/R any order. And then hooked the ground wire from the R/R to the battery negitive post and the red wire to the positive terminal on your battery.
Did your fuse blow before you installed the new R/R ?

[evenSteven]

You could have a wire grounding out somewhere. Are you certain the stator is good? It could be shorting out itself.

stator is good and i've checked over all my grounds...there doesn't seem to be a short.

[evenSteven]

You should have connected the 3 wires from the stator to the 3 yellow wires on your R/R any order. And then hooked the ground wire from the R/R to the battery negitive post and the red wire to the positive terminal on your battery.
Did your fuse blow before you installed the new R/R ?

this is definitely not how i hooked it up...is it really this simple? the old regulator hooked into wire leads coming back from the headlight(red/white and blue/white) that come out of the wire bundle...is this the 'loop' that the ES tech guide says to bypass? is all i have to do connect my stator directly to the regulator and the rect/reg directly to the battery as you've suggested? and i don't need to worry about the old leads the old regulator was connected to?
thanks again for your help,
steve

[Steve]

Yep, that's the way to hook it up.

Bypass the loop that goes to the headlight switch. If your bike still has a headlight switch, that loop goes all the way to the switch. If your switch is blocked and does not work, that loop only goes to a connector under the fuel tank, then comes back to the r/r. Either way, by wiring directly, you will eliminate several potentially bad connections. Of course, this assumes that you will be leaving your headlight ON virtually all the time to avoid over-charging of the battery.

Also be sure to have a fuse in the positive line between the r/r and the battery. The stock main fuse is 15 amps. If you have heavier wire, you might use a 20 amp fuse, but you probably ought to stick with a 15.

.

[psyguy]

if the main fuse keeps blowing i would first try to determine what is causing that and worry about the different hooking up later
if you connected all the wires as per the factory scheme and the main fuse keeps blowing you might have a faulty rr

[BassCliff]

Greetings and Salutations!

Hi Mr. evenSteven,

You can read all about my electrical repairs on my website (link below). It may help. There's also lots of other 850G lovin' there. Here's your mega-welcome!

Let it be known that on this day you are cordially and formally welcomed to the GSR Forum as a Junior Member in good standing with all the rights and privileges thereof. Further let it be known that your good standing can be improved with pictures (not you, your bike)!

Perhaps you've already seen these, but I like to remind all the new members. In addition to the carb rebuild series, I recommend visiting the In The Garage section via the GSR Homepage and check out the Stator Papers. There's also a lot of great information in the Old Q&A section. I have some documentation on my little BikeCliff website to help get you familiar with doing routine maintenance tasks (note that it is 850G-specific but many tasks are common to all GS bikes). Other "user contributed" informational sites include those of Mr. bwringer, Mr. tfb and Mr. robertbarr. And if your bike uses shims for valve adjustments, send an email to Mr. Steve requesting a copy of his Excel spreadsheet that helps you keep track of clearances, shim sizes and other service work.

These are some edited quotes from one of our dear beloved gurus, Mr. bwringer, with ideas on basic needs (depending on initial condition), parts, and accessories.

***********Quoted from Mr. bwringer************
Every GS850 [and most other models] has (or had) a set of well-known issues that MUST be addressed before you have a solid baseline for further troubleshooting. It's a vintage bike, and it's quite common (as in, every single GS850 I have had contact with) that there are multiple problems that have crept up and slowly gotten worse over the years. It's not like a newer vehicle, where there's generally one problem at a time.

These common issues are:

1. Intake O-rings (install NEW OEM or Viton only - common nitrile O-rings will quickly deteriorate from heat)
2. Intake Boots (install NEW -- these cannot be repaired)
3. Valve clearances (more important than most people think)
4. Carb/airbox boots
5. Airbox sealing
6. Air filter sealing
7. Petcock (install a NEW one)
8. On '79 models, install new points or Dyna electronic ignition (or at least verify that the old points are working correctly)
9. On all models, it's fairly common to have problems with the spark plug caps. These are $3 or $4 each, and often worth replacing if you're keeping the stock coils/wires.
10. Stock exhaust with NO leaks or holes -- good seals at the head and at the junctions underneath.

Carburetor maintenance:

Replace the intake boot o-rings, and possibly the intake boots. Here's the procedure:

http://bwringer.com/gs/intakeorings.html

Here's an overview of what happens with this particular problem:

http://cycleorings.com/intake.html

You'll also want to examine the boots between the carbs and the airbox. There's a good chance these are OK, but check them over.
And finally, if things still aren't exactly right, you'll want to order a set of o-rings for BS carbs from the GS owner's best friend, Robert Barr:

http://cycleorings.com

Once you receive these rare rings of delight, then you'll want to thoroughly clean and rebuild your carburetors. Here are step-by-step instructions that make this simple:

http://thegsresources.com/gs_carbrebuild.htm

OEM Parts/Online Fiches:

I would definitely double and triple the recommendations to use Cycle Recycle II and Z1 Enterprises as much as possible. These guys are priceless resources. Z1 tends to have slightly better prices, CRC2 has a wider range of goodies available. If you're near Indy and can bring in an old part to match, CRC2 has a vast inventory of used parts.
http://denniskirk.com - Put in your bike model and see what they have.
http://oldbikebarn.com - seems to be slowly regaining a decent reputation, but it's still caveat emptor. They don't have anything you can't get elsewhere at a better price anyway.
http://www.babbittsonline.com/ - Decent parts prices. Spendy shipping. Don't give you part numbers at all. Useful cross-reference if you obtain a part number elsewhere. Efficient service.
http://bikebandit.com - Fastest. Middlin' prices. Uses their own parts numbering system to obfuscate price comparisons -- can be very confusing for large orders. Cheapest shipping, so total cost usually isn't too bad.
http://flatoutmotorcycles.com - Slow. Cheapest parts prices, crazy shipping costs. Don't expect progress updates or much communication. Real Suzuki part numbers.
http://alpha-sports.com - Exorbitant parts prices. Different type of fiche interface that's quite useful at times, especially with superceded part numbers. Real parts numbers. Shipping cost and speed unknown due to insane, unholy pricing.

Stainless Bolts, Viton o-rings, metric taps, dies, assorted hard-to-find supplies and materials, etc:

http://mcmaster.com - Fast, cheap shipping, good prices. No order minimum, but many items like bolts come in packs of 25 or 50. Excellent resource.
http://motorcycleseatcovers.com - Great quality, perfect fit (on original seat foam), and available for pretty much every bike ever made. Avoid the textured vinyl -- it's perforated.
http://newenough.com - You DO have riding gear, don't you? Great clearances, always outstanding prices and impeccable service.
***************End Quote**********************

Additional parts/info links:

GSR Forum member Mr. duaneage has great used upgraded Honda regulator/rectifiers for our bikes. Send him a PM.
New electrical parts:
http://stores.ebay.com/RMSTATOR or http://www.rmstator.com/

http://www.ricksmotorsportelectrics.com/index.php

http://www.electrosport.com/

For valve cover and breather gaskets, I recommend Real Gaskets (reusable silicon):

http://www.realgaskets.com

Carolina Cycle

http://www.carolinacycle.com

Ron Ayers Motorsports

http://www.ronayers.com

MR Cycles

http://www.mrcycles.com

Moto Grid

http://www.motogrid.com

Salvage/Used

http://www.ricepaddymotorcycles.com

http://www.ozpowersports.com/

If all else fails, try this:

http://www.used-motorcycle-parts.org/

Used bike buying checklists:

http://www.amadirectlink.com/roadride/Riderresc/checklist.asp

http://www.clarity.net/~adam/buying-bike.html

Lots of good info/pictures here:

http://www.suzukicycles.org

http://www.cyclechaos.com/wiki/Motorcycle_Wiki

http://www.bikepics.com
Basic motorcycle maintenance/repair:
http://www.dansmc.com/mc_repaircourse.htm
Online Clymer manuals:
http://search.ebscohost.com/ Click on "Small Engine Repair" then "Motorcycles". User=library, password=library. Note: This link may not work if you are on a school campus.


Thanks for joining us. Keep us informed of your progress. There's lots of good folk with good experience here.


Thank you for your indulgence,

BassCliff
(The unofficial GSR greeter)

Click here to visit BikeCliff's website.

[evenSteven]

muchos gracias

hi all,
just wanted to say thanks so much to all who offered me info...i couldn't believe the quick response...last night i went out and with a trusty headlamp i hooked up my rectifier/regulator in the pitch dark and now everything works to a T...no blown fuses or anything else wrong. the bike idles much better and the difference in my lights and signals is considerable. thanks again for all your help...this is a really valuable forum and i'm extremely pleased to have discovered it...now i have to start working my way down bikecliff's list of recommendations.
cheers,
esteven