Voltge Regulation GS 550 83-86

[Calvin Blackmore]

Hi:

http://www.electrosport.com/technical-resources/library/known-issues/street_57100.php

Has an article stating that one phase of the alternator is routed through the headlight switch.

The OEM manual and indeed the bike itself appears not to.

or am I looking at this wrong.

[cdnoel]

Not seeing a problem.

I'm not seeing a problem with the diagram. It's kinda crude but the alternator yellows all seem to go directly to the rectifier as they should.

[Steve]

That was an early "feature" that was on the bikes that had an operating headlight switch. By also switching one of the stator leads, they could keep the overcharging to a minimum. When all the bikes started coming with headlights on all the time, the wiring harness was changed to bypass the (now non-existant) headlight switch. Since some other countries still had headlight switches, only the part of the harness that went to the left handgrip was changed. Eventually, they eliminated that extra length of wire and went straight from the stator to the r/r, as your diagram shows.

For reliability, most of us have bypassed that extra length and wired direct, like Suzuki eventually did.

.

[Calvin Blackmore]

That was an early "feature" that was on the bikes that had an operating headlight switch. By also switching one of the stator leads, they could keep the overcharging to a minimum. When all the bikes started coming with headlights on all the time, the wiring harness was changed to bypass the (now non-existant) headlight switch. Since some other countries still had headlight switches, only the part of the harness that went to the left handgrip was changed. Eventually, they eliminated that extra length of wire and went straight from the stator to the r/r, as your diagram shows.

For reliability, most of us have bypassed that extra length and wired direct, like Suzuki eventually did.

.

Thanks for the replies guys.

I find it odd that electrosport would make their tech article a one size fits all thing leaving some folks scratching their heads

well hopefully their heads.

[bwringer]

Thanks for the replies guys.

I find it odd that electrosport would make their tech article a one size fits all thing leaving some folks scratching their heads

well hopefully their heads.

This is pretty common, actually. The aftermarket application data you'll find just about anywhere but here is always highly suspect.

Even on newer bikes, the data quality is pretty lousy. It's a perennial problem.

[Nessism]

That stupid out and back wire loop (to the LH hand control harness connector) is known to sometimes overheat and cause harness damage. Best thing you can do is bypass the stock harness and wire the stator direct into the R/R with the shortest run of wire possible. I'm a "keep it stock" sort of guy, but not on that one.

[Nerobro]

The 83-86 GS 550's DO NOT have the stator leg cutout, as they do not have the headlight switch at all. :-)