Classic charging issue - easily resolved. Why?

[desertrefugee]

I've been a part of the Goldwing community for quite a few years now and have been paying attention. I ended up doing a "Poorboy" conversion on a 1200 I had that lost the stator. We've all seen references to the recommended elimination of the stator to rectifier/regulator connector. So, let's talk about that again for just a minute. Even if it's old news to many, there are new Wingers coming along all the time.

So here's the deal.

Had a 200 mile ride planned today with a friend of mine (with a '76 GL1000) and one of his friends who has a COLLECTION of nice, mostly classic motorcycles. Eleven (11) I think. His friend was expected to be riding his '99 ZRX1100, but he showed up on a 1981 GL1100 that he had bought LAST NIGHT! It is a very clean example that I'd be proud to own. Anyone would. We poked around my garage for a bit and then prepared to leave. The 1100 would not start. Battery measured about 12.1 volts. Jumped it off and ran up the revs. Voltage never moved off 12 - 12.1 volts. Uh oh.

Here's where it gets good. Having seen my own example and having read countless accounts of overheated stator connectors, that's the first thing I looked at. It looked like crap. I fondled it and one of the wires came off the crimp in my hand. Yep. So, we did a quick-n-dirty butt connector crimp and fired it back up. She started charging!

So, the guy says, "We go!". And we did. I like his style. The bike never gave another hint of trouble for the rest of the day. Of course, I strongly urged him to remove all crimps and hard solder and heatshrink all wires. He will be doing that tonight. He was so grateful for my help, he bought me lunch! Well, alright!

Near as I can tell, this is one of the few (if only) significant issues on an otherwise fabulous machine.

On the road. Yeah, I didn't take the '78. It is semi-apart for minor surgery. Back whole again this week.

 

[mcgovern61]

The biggest issue with the stator plug is that water gets in there and starts to corrode the connection. Connection gets hot and melts the plastic. If you get to a plug before it melts, the terminals can be cleaned and dielectric grease will keep it clean and dry. I replaced my connector in 2014 and is still working like a champ!

 

[zman]

They are just old, I didn't hear of these problems on 5-10 year old goldwings in 1985 , I think with time and load current on any bike of these years you can find these problems, maybe more so on Goldwings because they do seem to have an elaborate wiring harness, most all other bikes I have had have a more simple harness, seems like there is an extra few feet of current to have to push through on these Goldwings, couple that with maybe the wire size used was just acceptable for a Goldwing and was chosen because it was the same wire they used on every other bike they were building at the time.
Shure I think they could have done better but with the thinking of the day that is what they gave us. The wonderful part is and thanks to forums like this we all know what to look for and where to look and the fix`s aren't too hard to do.
It really is just the charging system and carburation that kills these old wings.

 

[Denver]

Cycle Terminal, has had any type connector, or plug i've needed, & could not find locally, for a fair price, & quick service.

 

[Tom_Charlton]

I just checked out their web site and they seemed to have everything needed for an old Wing.

 

[detdrbuzzard]

zman » Sun Oct 09, 2016 10:45 am[/url]":2l5ro515]
They are just old, I didn't hear of these problems on 5-10 year old goldwings in 1985 , I think with time and load current on any bike of these years you can find these problems, maybe more so on Goldwings because they do seem to have an elaborate wiring harness, most all other bikes I have had have a more simple harness, seems like there is an extra few feet of current to have to push through on these Goldwings, couple that with maybe the wire size used was just acceptable for a Goldwing and was chosen because it was the same wire they used on every other bike they were building at the time.
Shure I think they could have done better but with the thinking of the day that is what they gave us. The wonderful part is and thanks to forums like this we all know what to look for and where to look and the fix`s aren't too hard to do.
It really is just the charging system and carburation that kills these old wings.

the stator went out on my super-K years ago and as far as stators go it has three yellow wires also. wings may have more wiring but wires coming from the stator are all the same. the only thing good is you don't need to remove the motor on the super-K to change the stator

 

[Ansimp]

Nice outcome, definitely worth lunch. :good: Great looking new Oldwing