1982 GS850GL Regulator Problem

[LingeringFungus]

First time poster, so take it easy on me.

As the title says I'm having an issue, i recent purchased the GS a few days ago and ran into a problem with the battery. The battery was not charging so the bike was getting no power, now this bike has seen its fair share of abuse and neglect, but we got the battery charged and tested and found no issues. The next step we took was finding the regulator/rectifier, but we soon found out that my bike doesn't not have one anywhere located on the bike.

Now the question at hand is, I ordered a battery holder for a 1982 gs1100g I figured the frame/style can't be too different. The battery holder has a working regulator/rectifier installed on it. I was wondering if the 1982 1100 regulator would work without causing problems on my 1982 gs850.
(if this helps this is the part number that was listed
Regulator # 10217S-3 101200)

Thanks for the replies in advance.

[terrylee]

should work, but you still want to check out the entire charging system. Look on a great site called Basscliff and you will find a section on electrical testing called stator papers. Follow it step by step and you can be sure everything work properly. terrylee

[Steve]

The R/R on the 850 is mounted under the battery box.

.

[LingeringFungus]

That's the problem, the bike did not come with one. The guy had the battery sitting on the swing arm.

[SqDancerLynn1]

Hopefully it is a good one! Better choice would have been to buy a Honda reg. Good luck!

[eil]

If the one that comes with the battery box is stock, don't count on it lasting forever. A lot of us (myself included) have had good luck with the R/R off a late-model Polaris Ranger 800, part number 4012941. Generally costs around $70 shipped brand-new from a dealer. Can be had cheaper used on eBay if you keep an eye out.

There's a procedure in the repair manual for checking the health of the stator, here's the link to the manual which should tide you over until BassCliff swings by with his legendary mega-welcome: http://www.mtsac.edu/%7Ecliff/storag...nual_HiRes.pdf

[motorjon68]

Is the Polaris r/r plug and play? If not, what needs to be done? Thx, Jon

[tom203]

Is the Polaris r/r plug and play? If not, what needs to be done? Thx, Jon

You need to review your charging system for potential weaknesses and not just throw stuff at it! Changing to Polaris R/R is easy, but won't correct stator and/or connection faults.

[LingeringFungus]

Thanks for the information guys.

[eil]

Is the Polaris r/r plug and play? If not, what needs to be done? Thx, Jon

On the GS850GL (1980 edition, at least), it's not quite plug and play but very close. The bolt holes are about 1/8" wider than the stock R/R's, you need longer bolts, and you need to make (or buy) connectors for it.

On other models, the Polaris R/R won't fit in the stock location due to clearance/size issues and has to be relocated elsewhere.

[tom203]

On the 650's, the Polaris SH775 would be a direct fit in existing stock location- identical bolt spacing.