Regulator/Rectifier question for a 82 GS1100G

[kenhartz]

I have a 82 GS1100G that I recently acquired, and I am in the process of doing various mechanical and cosmetic things to it, since it had been sitting for about 7, or 8 years. Anyway, I am in the process of going over the electrical connections to clean them, and the bike is pretty stock, but the rectifier has me puzzled. When I took it off, it had the 4 wire connector block, but in addition, there were two more wires. One black going to chassis ground, and a white (mayby tan) wire connected to the brake light circut. The connection didn't look like factory ones. The light color wire was connected with a automotive 2 into 1 blue connector covered with electrical tape, and the black wire had been lengthened, and the joint covered with electrical tape. According to the wiring diagram that I have in my Chilton manual, it only shows 4 wires coming from the regulator/rectifier going to the 4 wire connector. I saw in the manual in the wiring diagram section that showed the chassis ground point for the regulator/rectifier. So the black ground wire doesn't puzzle me quite as much as the other wire does. I say all of this to ask, is this the correct regulator/rectifier for this bike? I havn't had the bike running since I got it, and the previously owner (a trusted friend of mine) said it ran before it sat, so I assume it did work, at least the bike ran. Anyway, before I put this section of the bike back together, I wanted to get the correct part for the bike, or if this is the right part, hook it up correctly, in a more factory like fashion.

Thanks
Ken

[Nessism]

Hi Ken and welcome to the forum.

The stock Suzuki R/R's are crap, so you are ahead of the game if someone changed it for you.

In general, R/R's are fairly universal but there are a couple of different methods to judge the battery condition - direct to the battery or using a "sense" wire which is what yours is using by tapping the tail light circuit.

I woudln't be in a big hurry to go back to stock, get the bike running and check the voltage at the battery with the engine running and reved up - should be in the 14v range.

This is one of the most discussed topic on the board so I suggest you do a search for more info. Also, check the Stator Papers on the GSR home page.

Good luck.

[lucabond]

From what you discribe it sounds like the stock R/R was replaced by a Honda R/R which does use a sense wire to a 12 volt source to monitor the voltage the bike is producing. A lot of folks here use the setup you discribe
so I wouldn't worry about it. Also most connect the black wire to the battery neg terminal and the red wire direct to the pos side of the battery.
Hope this helps. Good luck.

[bwringer]

On all the early '80s Honda R/Rs I've seen, the ground wire is green, and the black wire is a sense wire connected to switched positive.

So it's probably some other R/R -- it sounds like the sense wire on this one is white and the ground is black.

Anyway, if I were you, I'd wait until the bike is able to run and see if it charges with this R/R in place. If it works, then go back and re-do the connections in a neater way.