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I have been asked to do a article on Dynamic stator testing,and given I had a new to me bike to do it on,(glad I did!) I am posting for all of NGW,and hope it finds it way to the Shoptalk section.(tired of posting it over and over again!) The victim...

1978 GL1000,was barn fresh,now road ready.The stator testing will work for all 1000/1100/1200 wings. The 1100/1200 bikes have the rectifier built into the regulator. For the purposes of this post,I will use a 1000 and show the rectifier seperate.Those with 1100/1200 bikes can check the connector @ the regulator.
Tools you will need...

A DVOM capable of reading AC volts
Soldering iron
Solder
Heat shrink tubing
Wire cutters and/or strippers
12" of 16g wire(I use braided THHM electrical wire,high temp)
Hand held torch or Bic lighter for sealing the shrink tubing
3 test leads marked A,B,andC (not needed,but shown here for ease of testing)
Dielectric silicone grease
Libations of choice(optional,not shown )

Warm your bike up to operating temp,shut off,and remove the batt. side cover. Locate the 3 wire connector under the rubber boot(1000) 1100/1200's it is held by a bracket on the battery box



On the 1000's,you have a rectifier bolted to the battery box. There is a 8 way multi-pin connector right next to the stator wires. Disconnect,and check for any burnt wires,or melted connectors.



If they are in good shape,and clean,you can apply Dielectric Grease and reconnect. If they are burnt,and/or corroded,you have 2 choices... Order a new connector and replace the terminals,or cut and solderthe 8 wires together. 1100/1200 owners,this is the regulator connector,it is built into the regulator.



Connector packed w/dielectric grease,and ready to plug back together.
If you disconnect your 3 wire connector(3 yellow wires),and find this,you will need to cut out the 3 wire connector and solder the wires together,but for testing purposes,leave the stator end intact.



This is what I found on my new to me '78...Most of my bikes have been tested,and the stator connector eliminated as necessary.

You may choose to make jumper leads as I have for testing purposes.I normally don't use them,but made these for ease of showing the testing...



As you can see,I marked each leg of the stator A,B,andC. It dosen't matter how you plug the jumper wires into the connector,as long as they are marked. In the photo,I have the single wire at the top marked A, and the 2 wires@ the bottom marked L to R, B and C.Set your DVOM to AC volts,and put the test leads onto the wires marked A and B...Start the bike,and run the engine up to 3000 RPM's. If you don't have a helper,turn your idle screw on the carbs until you achieve 3000-3500 RPM's. Check your AC voltage between wires A and B as shown...


Note the voltage,it should be 55-65 AC volts@ 3000 RPM's,higher RPM's will read higher voltages. Note the number,the next 2 legs of the stator should be very close to the first number... Take the B lead off and switch it to the C lead...Read the voltage...



Then remove the lead from the A wire and go to the B wire. You are testing AC voltage between A and B,A and C,and B and C,as shown...



If all 3 voltages are equal by a couple of volts or so,your stator is good. If you have one or 2 legs reading much lower than another,you are looking at replacing the stator(bummer ) Example...If you have 2 legs@ 63 AC volts,and 1@ 25 AC volts,the stator is going south.

Your stator checked out good??? Now is the time to eliminate the 3 pin connector,especially if it looked like mine! Cut the wires off the plugs,there is no need to keep them in any order,and strip the ends...

Solder a small length of wire to one end of the stator wiring as shown...

Seal w/a length of heat shrink tubing as shown...


Now solder the stator wire to the bike harness side...


Repeat for the other 2 stator wires,as shown...


You are now done!! Check your voltage@ the battery,engine running@3000RPM"s with the high beam on,all other accessories turned off...


Note the difference in the voltages between the factory voltmeter,and the hand-held meter. The voltmeter on the '78-'79's takes some time to register,since the meter runs off the 7v regulator,as the fuel gauge and temp gauge do,to keep the gauges from fluctuating too much.

I hope this helps those in need. The Honda specs that tell you to check resistance of the stator are good IF you have a dead open or short. I have had stators check out OK on a resistance test,only to have them fail the dynamic test.

MOST Excellent!!
I am gonna move this to the how too section and we will get it linked up on Shoptalk.

GOOD JOB, AL Thanks for the great how-to.

Way to go Alwing 17, great job!!!

Is that the old vettered bike ? with a 77 seat ?

Nice work, you have a talent for explaining.

inspector wrote:Way to go Alwing 17, great job!!!

Is that the old vettered bike ? with a 77 seat ?

Why,yes it is! And as far as the seat goes,I was going to ask you about that!

Very Very nice write up. Great pics also! Thank you.
? For the soldering beginner like me,,, was that acid core solder?
Oh, yea, beautiful job on the 78, wish mine looked that good.

Silver solder used for electronic repairs,it has a flux core. Acid core is not recommended for soldering electrical wires. I got the solder from my neighbor who repaired electronic equipment for a living(now deceased)

Thanks for the detailed explanations, generous pictures, and helpful attitude.

very nice job on the writeup.

Al,

Youe excellent writeup, advice and help getting the Vetter bracket were instrumental in getting Bolt Blue back on the road, The old girl and I THANK YOU.

Dr. Al, as already stated, excellent detail. Checked mine tonight, but the highly regarded previous owner had already eliminated the 3 wire stator connector. I measured at the 8 pin connector and found 52 volts between each leg at 3000 rpm. Hard to hold 3000, as the bike did not like having the stator disconnected and was hard to hold speed but I do not think I could of got 63 Volts like you did. Perhaps my battery is going south. But the other checks seemed okay so seems like my stator is pretty sound.

edit in April 2012 - my battery was going south, and had to be replaced at the end of the 2011 season.