Best Place To Have Stator Rewound?

OK, so stator #4 on that @#$%^&!!! KZ650 was actually stator #1 that I had rewound by Rick's Motorsport Electrics after stators # 2 and 3 bit the bullet. It has less than 400 miles on it.

Of course, mechanic #2 installed it improperly, failing to secure the bracket that holds the wires coming out of the stator away from the rotor. The wires got into the rotor and it chewed the hell out of them.

So mechanic #3 tried splicing the wires, but when he did, the bracket would not fit tightly enough and rubbed against the rotor.

So mechanic #3 picked up stator #5 (a used one) and put it on the bike. Best it'll do is 68 VAC @ 4000 rpm (Clymer calls for 75 VAC). It also shows 8 ohms resistance when Clymer says it should be 4 ohms resistance, or less.

After much grief and drama trying to talk to someone at Ricks who knew what they were talking about, the receptionist called me back late this afternoon and relayed a message from a tech, saying the stator could not be repaired, and would have to be rewound at a cost of 145.00 (plus shipping, of course).

There's a big automotive and industrial electrical repair shop here that I called Yesterday morning. The guy said they might be able to do something with it, so I went by on my way to work yesterday, but apparently, when it's really hot, 5:00 becomes 4:30, as no one was there. I'm going to try again today.

One thing I've learned in this life, though, is to never wait till Plan A blows up to begin working Plan B, so, assuming the stator is not repairable, who would be the best choice to rewire it?

Rick's work seemed fine to me, the stator put out 77 VAC and tested at 3 ohms resistance, but I felt they were standoffish the first time I went to them, and when I come back as a retuening customer who opens the conversation by saying "I understand this is not a warranty issue", I really don't like essentially being told to go fuck myself. It's not that they're saying they can't fix it and must rebuild it, it's that they won't even talk to me. That receptionist is obviously a gatekeeper, and sitting there all day dealing with people who are frustrated that no one who knows anything about motorcycle electrics will talk to them has made her pretty snippy, to say the least.

If I can find someone whose work and pricing is comparable to Rick's I definitely want to go with them.

I know RM Stator does them, and I've also been looking at customrewind.com. Oddly, their stator's part number is the same as Rick's (20-210). Does anyone know why?

Also, does anyone have any experience with these guys, or know of anyone else they'd recommend to rewing a stator?

What about overwinding it for more output? Has anyone done that?

OK, so I've called Custom Rewind and RM Stator. At custom Rewind it goes to a voice mail that is obviously that of the owner. Leaves me with the impression it's a one-man shop.

RM Stator's website directs me to call Andy, who handles stator rebuilds. Andy is the receptionist, who gladly reads me exactly what is on the website, only with an "OK?" inserted between each line. When asked something over and above what is on the website, Andy will read what is on the website again as if that is an answer. When asked if there is someone with more direct technical knowledge I can speak to, Andy gets offended, then finally relents after I persist and tells me she'll write up a support ticket and have someone call me.

So, on one hand I've got what appears to be a very small, unsophisticated operation whose website lists their "tool-free" number, and that makes me uneasy. On the other hand, I have what appears to be another big bureaucracy, which makes me uneasy.

Is there no pleasing me?

Sounds like a great opportunity for someone to start a stator rewinding business, since those three have no concept of customer service.

Might be a real money making opportunity.

You can buy an aftermarket high output stator for just over $100, for all of these vintage bikes.

To have all of your problems with your system, judging on all of the posts, you still have an on going electrical issue. A rewound stator will probably fry again, as you have already found out. Now a long while ago you posted the WG mod done, is this by passing you gremlin? Sounds like the low voltage to the coils is a problem with either a switch or wire connection. The later R/R has a brown wire that is from the Ignition switch circuit, this is the voltage sense wire for the R/R and if it sees a lower voltage it will tell the stator to put put a higher voltage and boil the battery. A difference of 1v is enough to cause this as the battery will get 15v or more when the Ignition sense/ brown wire has 13. something.
Best be very careful putting on more new/ used or rebuilt parts without being 100% sure all of the OLD wiring/ switches etc are in good working order, as they will probably fail again.

The KZ650 had a really screwy alternator at the beginning. I know that a lot of the guys convert them to the KZ750 charging systems.

PLEASE show me where to get one!!!!!

(The aftermarket, high output stator, that is).

I've spoken to electro sport, they don't make on for this bike.

Motor Head wrote:

To have all of your problems with your system, judging on all of the posts, you still have an on going electrical issue. A rewound stator will probably fry again, as you have already found out. Now a long while ago you posted the WG mod done, is this by passing you gremlin? Sounds like the low voltage to the coils is a problem with either a switch or wire connection. The later R/R has a brown wire that is from the Ignition switch circuit, this is the voltage sense wire for the R/R and if it sees a lower voltage it will tell the stator to put put a higher voltage and boil the battery. A difference of 1v is enough to cause this as the battery will get 15v or more when the Ignition sense/ brown wire has 13. something.
Best be very careful putting on more new/ used or rebuilt parts without being 100% sure all of the OLD wiring/ switches etc are in good working order, as they will probably fail again.

We've just gotten though putting a whole 'nother wiring harness of the bike, and (hopefully) those issues are dealt with. Where it was only showing 8v at the headlight before, it shows over 11 now. The intermittent problems with bright light, blinkers and horn not working appear to be gone, too.

Yes, I absolutely believe all of these stators and voltage regulators have not been failing by accident, but I still have no idea of why they've been failing. Each time mechanic #1 and mechanic #2 announced they'd found the problem, that all I needed to do was replace another battery, stator, regular/rectifier, rotor, etc., that I would be on my way, I kept telling them there had to be an underlying cause.

Here's what I can say with a pretty high degree of certainty; the grounds are good, there are no more shorts, bad wires, corroded connectors, etc. Back when I started the thread asking whether the WG coil mod could be causing these failures, the overwhelming response was it couldn't.

I just don't know what else to do. Every piece of advice I'm gettin lately involves scopes and wiring automotive headlights up in tandem, etc. It's all way beyond me.

When I first got this bike, everyone said get a Clymer manual, so I did. Then everyone said get a factory service manual, so i did. Then eveyone said get the Electrosport charging system troubleshooting guide, and I did. But now, apparently every test and paramater for voltage and amperage in those books is bullshit, because every time I post results of those tests and ask questions about them they're either ignored, or I'm told I need to put a scope on it, etc.

Man, I'm just a guy who wants to ride his motorcycle, play poker, and leer at women too hot for me ever to have a shot at.

I'm in Tulsa, OK. If there's anybody within 200 miles who thinks they can solve this, I'll load it up Monday and bring it to you (I'll pay for the help, of course).

If there isn't, I'm going to see if loudvhx will let me load it up and bring it to him in Chicago. I just can't take this anymore.

Take a picture of the one you have and post it, because that year had two different alternators.

otakar wrote:

The KZ650 had a really screwy alternator at the beginning. I know that a lot of the guys convert them to the KZ750 charging systems.

That was the 77 model, wasn't it? I thought they changed it to one that is the same as, or very similar to the KZ750 charging system from 1978 on.

Mine is a '79.

Look, I have to buy a ststor, and I've decided I'm going to go with one of those lifetime guaranteed regulators from that dude in Oregon, so I don't think it would be that big of a deal to change over to something better, given the fact that I'm changing those parts, too, would it?

Would a charging system from a 750 Zephyr fit? It's just the stator, rotor, and regulator/rectifier, isn't it?

otakar wrote:

Take a picture of the one you have and post it, because that year had two different alternators.

The '79 model had two different alternators? I thought it was '77 that had the alternator, and mine had a stator?

I'm at work now, can't post any pics till later.

Take a look at the parts diagram on Kawasaki.com. They show two different systems for that year.