Regulator engulfed in flames

[Guest]

I am working on a 83 gs750e that has been sitting for a couple of years. I bought it off ebay for $150. Today I was ready to see if it would run. I Cleaned the carburetors good and put them on. I hooked up a good battery and turned on the key and all the electrics worked fine. the lights, signals, horn, etc. So i started it up, with only headers on it and it sounded like a harley. In noticed the second it stated to run smoke came out of the regulator really quick and it started to burn. I quickly turned off the bike had my friend disconnect the battery. it was on fire and luckily there was snow so i threw a couple of snowballs at it to put out the flames. I noticed it burned out the main fuse so i started to take the regulator off the bike and noticed it melted and part of it broke. i couldn't use again. so this is where i am at, any ideas on what caused this, something with the charging maybe or the regulator was just so corroded. help me out, also i need a regulator now, any one have one?

[argonsagas]

First, demove the faulty R/R from the bike and trash it.

After that, if you take a trip over to the "In the Garage" section of this forum, you will find an article titled "The Stator Papers"

Print them and take them along with your trusty digital volt/ohmmeter-multimeter out to the bike, and follow the instructions.

Disconnect the stator as instructed and check output voltage. Be aware that you may find none at all as when the regulator has self-destructed, it quite likely took out the stator as well.

Electrex makes a decent stator and R/R, ( I have their R/R on my G) but if bucks are hard to come by you might look into alternatives. A used Honda R/R will work well ( I presently have one on my GK)

[Mr. Jiggles]

Follow Ron's advice and while you're at it go through the entire wiring harness and clean up all the connections and especially the grounds. Deoxit works well for this purpose. When you install the new electrics be sure to solder - don't use crimp connectors. Also, if you install a new stator be sure to use loctite and an impact driver to make sure the screws don't back out and get into the engine.

Mine did the same thing when I resurrected it, only I was lucky enough to catch it before it burst into flames. Right as rain after the new R/R and stator. Must be exciting to have an open flame right next to the petcock. 8)

What part of LI are you from? I used to live in the glenn cove / greenvale area.

[SqDancerLynn1]

Here's another option

http://www.thegsresources.com/_forum/viewtopic.php?t=155&highlight=reg+modification

[Tarbash 27]

luckily i had the tank off the bike because i am fixing that up, i had a lawnmower half gallon tank on it just to get gas into the carbs. ihave an 83 gs450 regulator on my quad. should i try that to see if it works once i get it all cleaned up or wait till i buy one for this bike. I live in centereach, long island, new york

[SqDancerLynn1]

Make sure you check the stator before you hookup a new reg/rect

[Tarbash 27]

dont you have to have the bike running to check the stator? I cant start the bike.