Stator

Still working on my KZ1000 J1.
I have the bike running really good now, it has loads of torque and it pulls like a train, in fact it goes like a bike half it's age. However I have a couple of niggling little problems with it. The first problem - and this could be just my imagination - is the stator seems to get very hot, After a long ride the stator cover on the engine is almost too hot to touch, it charges the battery ok, it's just the heat that worry's me. Is this normal? The second thing is cold starting, it's a real pig to start when it's cold. Starts ok from hot, and as I said, it runs sweet. Any advice or reassuring words greatly appreciated.

The engine cover is probably hot from engine heat. I would never even try to touch it.

As for the cold starting, it kinda depends upon how cold it is, but it should start fine & you should have to use the "choke".
What I do is follow the guidelines in the owners manual in the "Starting the Engine" section. My bike is in a pretty good state of tune, and when cold it starts within a second or two upon pressing the start button & immediately when warmed up.
old fuel & a weak battery are a couple of things that can affect how easily it starts.

ps: topic typo. the title should be Starter. or Starting.

After a long ride the stator cover on the engine is almost too hot to touch

I don´t think so, he talk about the stator cover not the starter motor

Yes, I know --- the engine cover for the stator or generator. The engine gets hot.

My ps was half right. hee. The topic title should be Stator and Starting.

But what is a normal/not normal heat on a stator cover???
Oil temp can go up to +100° Celsius, skin burn first grade @ 60 ° Celsius.

With a permanent magnet generator the amount of power output is not regulated per say. Power that is not consumed by the ignition and lighting systems is shunted back to the stator by the R/R where it creates heat and shortens stator life.

There are some "high power" stators in the aftermarket which if fitted won't help matters because there may be even more excessive power generated. I'm not sure if these stators use more wire turns or fatter wire, I just know to stay clear unless you are driving a heated vest or what have you.

One mitigation against shunted current heat generation is to use a SERIES type R/R. I've been harping on this for a while now since you can get a nice robust Shinden SH775 for about $40 shipped (used). Money well spent.

But what is a normal/not normal heat on a stator cover???
Oil temp can go up to +100° Celsius, skin burn first grade @ 60 ° Celsius.

I don't understand. The engine gets hot & the engine cover gets hot from the engine running from engine heat.

If someone has one of those IR temp probes they could shoot both the stator cover and the clutch cover and see which is hotter.

Thank you for the reply's, just to be clear, the stator cover gets a lot hotter than the clutch cover. I can touch the clutch cover after the engine has been running for a while, but the stator cover is much hotter. I can touch it but it's very hot.

When you say clutch cover, do you mean the actual RH clutch cover or the LH engine sprocket cover? I can see the sprocket cover being cooler, since air circulates behind it.

McZed wrote: Thank you for the reply's, just to be clear, the stator cover gets a lot hotter than the clutch cover. I can touch the clutch cover after the engine has been running for a while, but the stator cover is much hotter. I can touch it but it's very hot.

I have two Kawasakis and they are "cold blooded" bikes. They take forever to warm up, esp my KZ650. I give it choke, let it idle for about a minute and then take off slow and easy. Bikes warm up better under load, meaning when youre riding it, as opposed to it standing still and idling. Sometimes it takes a good 20-30 minutes for my kawa to properly warm up. Im used to it.