Stator condition - reliability?

Advertise with us
shop deals on amazon
Shop deals on ebay
Classic Goldwings

Help Support Classic Goldwings:

This site may earn a commission from merchant affiliate links, including eBay, Amazon, and others.
Pony Ruiz

Pony Ruiz

Well-known member
Supporting Member
Joined
Dec 9, 2009
Messages
461
Reaction score
0
Location
The other  WASHINGTON
I am wondering about these old stators.

Do they just go blink and out or is there some warning signs?

My mission is to make the old bikes I have more reliable. At least the one I like riding (the runner)
my future potential upgrades
C5, Led's,
?: others you would do?

I have heard of failures and talk about new stators, alternator conversions.....and going back to stator conversion (iirc)

I don't like pulling the motor and kinda shy away from fixing things when they aren't broke, but I do like upgrades....and not breaking down. Going with the ain't broke approach right now.

I recently had a minor issue - thought it was charging but was bad ground.
Got me to thinkin.

thx
 
as far as stators goes there tough built and simple....the problem in my opinion is thr sense wire on the voltage regulator-rectifier ....honda has it after a flood of switches and connections ....this leads to low voltage reading and stator charges battery to much cooks battery and wires to the point resitance...shorts....battery failure...and stator finally cooks everything to short out ...and then stator sorts out in winding and is toast.....

my bike has used stator in it....all connections good and sealed....and sense wire goes direct to battery and it seems to work great now with zero problems.....
 
I would think there would be warning signs but how often do we check AC volts,ohms etc. Seems we all do it when there is a problem, as well I think you would need to check once a month on a regularly ridden bike..I think a good digital volt meter hooked directly into the charging system would be a good idea.
 
After I had issue with my charging system 8 years ago, I installed a voltmeter into the system that I feel is invaluable for keeping track of voltages and whether the stator and regulator are working. That voltmeter came in real handy last summer when I rode from NJ to Florida. The temps were running 98 degrees outside with very high humidity. My engine was running very hot, much hotter than it ever did before. I also noticed while on the highway that the voltmeter kept dropping volts while riding at 75 MPH indicating the fan was coming on quite a bit.

Short of it, it was my fault for adding straight coolant into my cooling system rather than a 50/50 mix. But it was the voltmeter that tipped me off that my temp gauge was not at fault, the fan was coming on at highway speeds which it should not and the engine really was running hot at highway speeds.

Me, a voltmeter in the system is invaluable! :yes: :moped:
 
+1 on the voltmeter and checking connections. I still prefer replacing the stator plugs rather than the soldering mod ( and I prefer all my joints to be soldered) as it allows full testing of the stator and RR easily.
 
I just installed one last weekend.

#'s seem good. more piece of mind than the stock needle type on my 83 Int.

it is one of these
https://cyclemax.com/inc/sdetail/mini_le ... meter/4231

haven't ckd. the 3 wire plug lately tho.

Here's hoping it goes out a block from my house! I've been lucky so far.... :builder:
On to ponder other things that might give me issues.

trying to be proactive / understand the machine at bit more.

McG : interesting how you discovered the coolant issue with the voltmeter
 
This is not an opinion! It is just the way I do it.

And I would suggest that others do the same, as it is easy, takes no time at all and it is a good indication of whether your stator is in good condition.

Take an Amprobe, (a regular Alternating Current clamp meter), and put it around the three yellow wires coming out of your alternator, individually, in turn, if they all read the same Amperage, give or take a couple, it's good.

I honestly don't know why people want to make it more confusing than that, by bringing Direct Current voltage into it

I mean stator or not on an 1100 means, engine out or not, that's a big deal!!

A bad rectifier just means hefting the fake tank!
 
Of course Fluke is the best.

But any make will tell you what you want to know.

It don't matter how well calibrated it is, all you're looking for is how different the readings are.

You can get them that incorporate a voltmeter. A/C or D/C.
 
I agree with the thoughts on the sense wire for the RR and also for a direct 12VDC supply to the coils. It has been mentioned that old wiring, connectors, relays and such can rob voltage from critical connections and as such, a good mod for your bike is to provide a more direct 12VDC signal to the RR and to the coils.

I did these two mods on my '85 LTD through an automotive relay. I used a switched wire from the kill switch to energize the relay, and a fused 12VDC supply to the coils and RR sense wire. Can't categorically state it has done anything except that for myself, I do believe it has made a difference. Maybe I should have taken reading at start but both these mods made sense. I have also read that you can increase the spark plug gap after doing the coil mod, don't know about this one.

Will also be changing the installed shunt style RR for a series RR - SH847 from Roadstercycle. I think this will also benefit the system. This change is for myself.

Grounds are also a killer on an old bike (also on a boat - lived on one for 5 years). I installed a new ground bus and routed as many new grounds and old ones (more to find) to this bus. I did this to minimize the number of connections on the battery, and to have a better ground source then the bike frame. In the boating world, it is recommended to have only four connections on any one terminal, positive or negative. I think this can be applied to older bikes as well. Add-ones can quickly grow and the battery only has two terminals.

I would recommend doing the coil and RR mods before changing to the C5. The C5 does look and spec out quite nice though. Good alternative if you have to change/work on the system.

I agree with checking the stator and RR as well.

Lots of great information and recommendations on this and other forums that can keep you going for a long time.

Best of luck. Cheers
 

Latest posts

Top