1982 kz1000 overcharging problem

1ogkz wrote: Thanks again, So basically the regulator is overcompensating due to voltage loss on the brown wire in the wiring harness. Would it damage anything other than the battery if i took it out for short rides till i get it fixed?

After taking out an Electrex RO3 (a story in itself) rotor, and putting in a nice used oem replacement, I began having the same issue. My volt meter was showing 16 Volts+ high, but wasn't blowing fuses or burning out bulbs., though a couple fuses became distorted. I chased that issue for over a month, and finally whipped it with a Ricks 10-302 voltage regulator/rectifier. The range of voltage now shows 13.9 to 14.0 Volts consistently, and I'm pleased.
According to Mike at Z1E, these units eliminate issues associated with the brown wire. I don't know why, but it eliminated the overcharging problem.

Thanks for the info my friend was saying something about an aftermarket regulator but wasn't sure who made it. I'm gonna mess with it a little bit more but that sounds like a great fix to my problem. Thanks, Phil

While changing from a 6 wire regulator/ rectifier, to a five wire. Where the voltage sense is now connected to the battery, instead of having a separate voltage sensing wire. You still have a voltage drop issue. So your Ignition coils are seeing low voltage, along with other equipment. If you do buy the other 5 wire R/R, you may not be overcharging anymore, but you still have voltage drop and electrical issues to sort out.

1ogkz wrote: Can i pull the brown wire out of the regulator plug and use a female spade with a switch and a fuse right to the positive battery post?

It would work, but the first time you forget to turn the switch on, everything goes up in smoke... very dangerous. The extra wire should be supplemental, and not the sole wire to the regulator.

You could pull the brown wire out and split it to the regulator and to the switch/fuse/battery wire. That would be safe.

Repeating what Motor Head said, replacing the 6 wire reg/rec with a 5 wire reg/rec will eliminate the need for the brown wire to the regulator, but then you are still ignoring the real problem. If the fuse area is the problem, you can overheat and melt a fuse which would get you stranded. You will also be getting lower than optimum performance from the ignition and anything else in the circuit (brake lights, maybe headlight and tail light, depending on where the problem is).