Electrical/Charging System

[DMPLATT]

I've read about all the trouble people have had with their electrical systems, and charging systems.

I'm just curious if there is a quick way I can tell if mine has already been thru that. Obviously mine is working well, knock on wood.
Were the problems corrected by '83? Or should I start to gather spares?

Thanks.

[Hap Call]

On the 1100E the unregulated leg was corrected in the '81 production year but the real problem with the R/R was the poor cooling and the low quality electronics...mainly the poor cooling. If you have an aftermarket R/R with increased cooling fins then that would be a good fix.

On the stator, it was the death of the R/R that often brought the stator to its' knees. If your R/R is fine then your stator is probably going to be fine also.

On a side note, I was very lucky with my stator...it lasted 22 years before it died...about 2 months after the original R/R died on my bike. I think the reason mine lasted so long was that I went to pods shortly after the warranty ended and I got more cooling air to the R/R because the removal of the air box allowed more air to flow in that area of the bike.

Hap

[SqDancerLynn1]

MOST of the problems start with bad connections. Even the new bikes have elect problems

[Hap Call]

MOST of the problems start with bad connections. Even the new bikes have elect problems

That is very true...excess current causing overheating. I forgot about that. But I still believe that if the R/R is kept cool it can withstand bad connections far better than one that does not get the cooling air that it needs.

Hap

[DMPLATT]

So I guess I can look and see if they are OEM, or after market. THis would tell me if it's been replaced?
I wasn't sure if there was some sort of rigging or special trick that someone might have done to it?
I'll have to check when I get a minute. Is it easily identified as to Suzuki part or after market?

Thanks.

[focus frenzy]

MOST of the problems start with bad connections. Even the new bikes have elect problems

That is very true...excess current causing overheating. I forgot about that. But I still believe that if the R/R is kept cool it can withstand bad connections far better than one that does not get the cooling air that it needs.

Hap

the katana R/R should last forever mounted out in the open!!!

[Anonymous]

A good battery, fully charged = no problem??

[earlfor]

Besides clean connectors and a good airflow to the R/R, there is something else that w2ill contribute to the life of the R/R. Excess heat is the downfall of the R/R and excess charging current must be passed off as heat. I normally run my headlight on high beam and I have aux running lights and an additional tail light so I use up almost all of my charging capacity. If I want to put more charge into my battery, I switch to low beam and turn off my running lights. My R/R has minimal excess current to dissipate.

Earl