Replacing Seperate R R's with combo R/R

[78_jee_ess]

Hi,

My '78 GS1000 originally had seperate Regulator and Rectifier units, which I have recently replaced with the ElectroSport R/R combo Unit. Because of the switch, I seem to have more wires than I need. I was wondering what other people do when they make this conversion. Am I right in my thinking of wiring :

3 Yellow Wires from Stator --> 3 yellows on R/R combo Unit

1 white/blue from R/R --> Positive on Battery

This leaves me with 3 extra wires (red, blue/white, white/green) that originally came from the rectifier and ran into the main harness

OR

3 Yellow Wires from Stator --> 3 yellows on R/R combo Unit
1 White/Blue from R/R --> Red wire in harness (Originally from Rectifier Positive I beleive)

This leaves me with 2 extra wires in the harness from the rectifier


Can I just tape up the extra wires and forget about them?

Any help is greatly appreciated I am not the most knowledgeable when it comes to the electrical problems

[Steve]

Was there no documentation with the new r/r?

Your three yellow wires from the stator will go to the three yellow wires on the r/r.

The red wire on the r/r should end up at the battery positive, but may have a terminal in the harness, but it will be a red wire.

I am guessing now, but the white/green wire might be the ground. Not sure about the white/blue, it might be a sense wire. If so, it needs to be connected to a switched 'hot' wire, like the horn or brake 'hot' wire.

On the other hand, some of the later bikes ('81 and after) that could not turn the headlight off, had a wire that disappeared into the harness and came back. That was usually white/blue and white/green, but those r/r units did not also have three yellow wires, so it's a bit puzzling.

.

[Sandy]

From the stator on the '78 and '79 you have three wires connected at the stator white/blue, white/green, and yellow. Somewhere between the stator and the connectors the white/blue and yellow split into two white/blue and two yellow. This is due to these years having a separate regulator and rectifier. So you just ignore one of the white/blue and one of the yellow wires from your stock stator leaving you a white/green, one white/blue and one yellow that you connect to the three yellow wires on the new R/R. I think the white/green usually runs up to the headlight switch and you can just unplug that from harness and connect it directly to one of the yellows from R/R. The red goes to the battery positive terminal and you should have one wire left that would be the ground unless it's a Honda R/R with the voltage sense wire in which case a green wire would be your ground and a smaller gauge brown or black wire would be a voltage sense wire. Hope this helps. If you need more info let us know.

EDIT: The red wire going to the harness is where the positive is from the factory, you're better off to just hook the red on R/R directly to the positve terminal on the battery and tape up the the connector on the main harness.

[BassCliff]

Hee Haw Howdy!

Hi Mr. 78_jee_ess,

Do you have a headlight on/off switch? If so, one leg of the stator may run up to the handlebars and get turned off when the headlight was turned off. See my website (link below) for some more info. You may be able to answer a few more questions with your own mega-welcome!

Dear fellow GS rider,

Let it be known that on this day you are cordially and formally welcomed to the GSR Forum as a Junior Member in good standing with all the rights and privileges thereof. Further let it be known that your good standing can be improved with pictures (not you, your bike)!

Perhaps you've already seen these, but I like to remind all the new members. In addition to the carb rebuild series, I recommend visiting the In The Garage section via the GSR Homepage and check out the Stator Papers. There's also a lot of great information in the Old Q&A section. I have some documentation on my little BikeCliff website to help get you familiar with doing routine maintenance tasks (note that it is 850G-specific but many tasks are common to all GS bikes). Other "user contributed" informational sites include those of Mr. bwringer, Mr. tfb and Mr. robertbarr. And if your bike uses shims for valve adjustments, send an email to Mr. Steve requesting a copy of his Excel spreadsheet that helps you keep track of clearances, shim sizes and other service work.

These are some edited quotes from one of our dear beloved gurus, Mr. bwringer, with ideas on basic needs (depending on initial condition), parts, and accessories.
***********Quoted from Mr. bwringer************
Carburetor maintenance:

Replace the intake boot o-rings, and possibly the intake boots. Here's the procedure:

http://bwringer.com/gs/intakeorings.html

Here's an overview of what happens with this particular problem:

http://cycleorings.com/intake.html

You'll also want to examine the boots between the carbs and the airbox. There's a good chance these are OK, but check them over.
And finally, if things still aren't exactly right, you'll want to order a set of o-rings for BS carbs from the GS owner's best friend, Robert Barr:
http://cycleorings.com
Once you receive these rare rings of delight, then you'll want to thoroughly clean and rebuild your carburetors. Here are step-by-step instructions that make this simple:
http://thegsresources.com/gs_carbrebuild.htm
***********************************
Every GS850 (and most other models) has (or had) a set of well-known issues that MUST be addressed before you have a solid baseline for further troubleshooting. It's a vintage bike, and it's quite common (as in, every single GS850 I have had contact with) that there are multiple problems that have crept up and slowly gotten worse over the years. It's not like a newer vehicle, where there's generally one problem at a time.

These common issues are:

1. Intake O-rings (install NEW OEM or Viton only - common nitrile O-rings will quickly deteriorate from heat)
2. Intake Boots (install NEW -- these cannot be repaired)
3. Valve clearances (more important than most people think)
4. Carb/airbox boots
5. Airbox sealing
6. Air filter sealing
7. Petcock (install a NEW one)
8. On '79 models, install new points or Dyna electronic ignition (or at least verify that the old points are working correctly)
9. On all models, it's fairly common to have problems with the spark plug caps. These are $3 or $4 each, and often worth replacing if you're keeping the stock coils/wires.
10. Stock exhaust with NO leaks or holes -- good seals at the head and at the junctions underneath.
***************************************
OEM Parts/Online Fiches:

I would definitely double and triple the recommendations to use Cycle Recycle II and Z1 Enterprises as much as possible. These guys are priceless resources. Z1 tends to have slightly better prices, CRC2 has a wider range of goodies available. If you're near Indy and can bring in an old part to match, CRC2 has a vast inventory of used parts.
http://denniskirk.com - Put in your bike model and see what they have.
http://oldbikebarn.com - seems to be slowly regaining a decent reputation, but it's still caveat emptor. They don't have anything you can't get elsewhere at a better price anyway.
http://www.babbittsonline.com/ - Decent parts prices. Spendy shipping. Don't give you part numbers at all. Useful cross-reference if you obtain a part number elsewhere. Efficient service.
http://bikebandit.com - Fastest. Middlin' prices. Uses their own parts numbering system to obfuscate price comparisons -- can be very confusing for large orders. Cheapest shipping, so total cost usually isn't too bad.
http://flatoutmotorcycles.com - Slow. Cheapest parts prices, crazy shipping costs. Don't expect progress updates or much communication. Real Suzuki part numbers.
http://alpha-sports.com - Exorbitant parts prices. Different type of fiche interface that's quite useful at times, especially with superceded part numbers. Real parts numbers. Shipping cost and speed unknown due to insane, unholy pricing.

Stainless Bolts, Viton o-rings, metric taps, dies, assorted hard-to-find supplies and materials, etc:

http://mcmaster.com - Fast, cheap shipping, good prices. No order minimum, but many items like bolts come in packs of 25 or 50. Excellent resource.
http://motorcycleseatcovers.com - Great quality, perfect fit (on original seat foam), and available for pretty much every bike ever made. Avoid the textured vinyl -- it's perforated.
http://newenough.com - You DO have riding gear, don't you? Great clearances, always outstanding prices and impeccable service.
***************End Quote**********************
Additional parts/info links:

GSR Forum member Mr. duaneage has great used upgraded Honda regulator/rectifiers for our bikes. Send him a PM.
New electrical parts:
http://stores.ebay.com/RMSTATOR or http://www.rmstator.com/

http://www.ricksmotorsportelectrics.com/index.php

http://www.electrosport.com/

For valve cover and breather cover gaskets, I recommend Real Gaskets (reusable silicon):
http://www.realgaskets.com
The Rice Paddy (salvage/used)
http://www.ricepaddymotorcycles.com
Carolina Cycle
http://www.carolinacycle.com
Ron Ayers Motorsports
http://www.ronayers.com
MR Cycles
http://www.mrcycles.com
Moto Grid
http://www.motogrid.com
If all else fails, try this:

http://www.used-motorcycle-parts.org/

Used bike buying checklists:

http://www.amadirectlink.com/roadride/Riderresc/checklist.asp

http://www.clarity.net/~adam/buying-bike.html
Lots of good info/pictures here:
http://www.suzukicycles.org

http://www.cyclechaos.com/wiki/Motorcycle_Wiki

Basic motorcycle maintenance/repair:

http://www.dansmc.com/mc_repaircourse.htm

Thanks for joining us. Keep us informed of your progress. There's lots of good folk with good experience here.

Thank you for your indulgence,

BassCliff
(The unofficial GSR greeter)