got my regulator... now what?

[shadowfist]

alright, i have a 1978 GS750 (has separate regulator and rectifier) i got a regulator from a goldwing GL1100. (SH238-12)

now my question is how do i get it attached to my bike and wired in correctly?

the r/r has 2 red wires, 3 yellow, 2 blueish green, and one black or dark blue.

what do i do now?

EDIT: heres some pics of the r/r and if you want to see what my current units look like they are in pictures inthis thread

[SqDancerLynn1]

copy&paste
The 3 yellow connect to the three wires (yellow, white/blue, white/red) coming from the stator in any order. That's right, the order does not matter. Really.

The two red wires are basically just redundancy -- connect BOTH red wires to the red wire on your bike.

The two green wires go to ground. This is probably a black wire on your bike, but it is best if you run a good solid ground wire from the battery to a point on the chassis from the battery and then connect the R/R to that.

The black wire is the sense wire -- it must be connected to a switched positive. You'll need to find a wire that's live when the key is on and splice it into that. You can't just hook it up to the positive or the battery will slowly drain. You can't just ignore it or the regulator will overcharge.

[duaneage]

These RRs work electrically but the mounting holes are too far apart. You might have to drill another hole to mount it properly. The case is not grounded, the green wire MUST go to a good frame ground.

[shadowfist]

alrighty, another question here than. whats the recomended way to redo the ends of these wires so they can be connected easily to the bike?
I'm assuming wire nuts are not a good deal due to the vibration etc... but i don't really know many other methods... (not a mechanic till now... can you tell?)

[duaneage]

On my Regulator kits I lengthen the wires a bit by soldering to the originals and using heatshrink to insulate the joint. Then I crimp male bullets on the ends to match the stator wires and a female bullet on the red to match the fuse box lead.

I but a male and female on the end of a longer black wire to connect into the rear brake light switch circuit. a short jumper is required between the two and one connector has two wires squeezed together.

[hikermikem]

On my Regulator kits I lengthen the wires a bit by soldering to the originals and using heatshrink to insulate the joint. Then I crimp male bullets on the ends to match the stator wires and a female bullet on the red to match the fuse box lead.

I but a male and female on the end of a longer black wire to connect into the rear brake light switch circuit. a short jumper is required between the two and one connector has two wires squeezed together.

Here's pic showing the connectors Duaneage is explaning, this is from the RR I got from him...

[shadowfist]

On my Regulator kits I lengthen the wires a bit by soldering to the originals and using heatshrink to insulate the joint. Then I crimp male bullets on the ends to match the stator wires and a female bullet on the red to match the fuse box lead.

I but a male and female on the end of a longer black wire to connect into the rear brake light switch circuit. a short jumper is required between the two and one connector has two wires squeezed together.

awesome! just one last question now, i promise, till i run into my next issue of course

my bike is a 78 so it was the last year that still had a headlight switch. what is another switched circuit that i could attach it to so i don't accidentally take a ride without my headlights on and do something bad to the electrical system by in turn not turning on my r/r?

[jknappsax]

The 1978 has a small tang on the bottom of the actual switch lever to keep it from being turned off, but most of us carved the tang off so we COULD turn off the headlight while working on the bike, so as not to have a 55W drain on the battery. Normally, we just leave the switch in the on position, and forget about it. You can probably find the small plastic switch lever with the tang still on, if it really bothers you.

[psyguy]

just find another switched wire (that is ON only when the key in the ignition is on - such as the main wire from the ignition to the fusebox) and dont wory about the headlight

on my bike the wiring is done so that when the headlight is off one leg of the stator is off - presumably this would be the same on your bike

[shadowfist]

Ok, so i finally got my bike running just fine. (I had been adjusting the air screws thinking they were the fuel screws)

I am planning on putting the regulator in tonight sometime but i had one last question. the switched wire that needs to go to something that's on when the key is on... what should I attach that to?
many suggested the headlight wire, but my bike has a switch for the headlight and the other issue is that it has no fusebox so i don't even know where to start looking for these wires that i should attach to...

should i just attach to the headlight and leave it on? (i'm used to turning it off during the day because with my funkey regulator it will drain the battery with it on) and if thats the case where do i find this wire?

[Steve]

When you turn your headlight off, is the tail light still on?

If so, find the wire under the seat (usually a brown wire, just behind the battery box) that powers the tail light. You should find a connector in that wire, near the battery box. That is where you take it apart and put in the jumper like Duaneage suggested and Hikermikem illustrated.

Now that you have a decent regulator, get in the habit of making sure your headlight is ON anytime you are riding. Makes you more visible to all the BDCs (Brain-Dead Cagers) out there. Feel free to have the light off while starting the bike, but get it on before moving out.

.

[shadowfist]

When you turn your headlight off, is the tail light still on?

If so, find the wire under the seat (usually a brown wire, just behind the battery box) that powers the tail light. You should find a connector in that wire, near the battery box. That is where you take it apart and put in the jumper like Duaneage suggested and Hikermikem illustrated.

Now that you have a decent regulator, get in the habit of making sure your headlight is ON anytime you are riding. Makes you more visible to all the BDCs (Brain-Dead Cagers) out there. Feel free to have the light off while starting the bike, but get it on before moving out.

Well, I just checked and none of my lights are on unless i have that headlight switch on. so my last question is i will probably wire it in with that rear light wire. so if I do forget to turn on the headlight switch someday, what are the 'really bad things' that will happen to my bike with no regulator active? are we talking melted wires and gnashing of teeth? or are we talking, "oh my battery will run dead"?

[Steve]

If your tail light is not active with the light switch off, find another wire. You HAVE to have that sense wire connected to a switched wire. Use the horn wire if you have to.

That sense wire will help the regulator do its job. If it sees a low voltage, it allows more to get through the regulator. By not connecting it, it won't see any voltage, so the regulator will be putting out its maximum all the time.

[psyguy]

[quote=psyguy;916212]just find another switched wire (that is ON only when the key in the ignition is on - such as the main wire from the ignition to the fusebox) and dont wory about the headlight

i thought i should maybe repeat myself

[BassCliff]

Hi Mr. shadowfist,

FWIW, I've documented some of the work I've done on my charging system.

Stator Test

Stator Replacement

Regulator/Rectifier Replacement

Maybe they'll give you some ideas.


Thank you for your indulgence,

BassCliff