How to Hardwire a Motorcycle Stator to Regulator Rectifier

Multiple motorcycle makes and models experience problems with burnt or melted stator connectors and wires. Ducati, Harley-Davidson, Aprilia, Honda, Suzuki, Kawasaki, Triumph and others, all experience this issue. Oftentimes, those who've experienced this problem share a short, succinct piece of advice: 'Just hard-wire it!'

I have seen this advice on many forums, but when I searched for a video showing 'How to hardwire a motorcycle stator to a regulator-rectifier,' I could not find many useful videos. So this is my version of hardwiring your motorcycle stator!

My problem surfaced likely because of an oil wicking problem in my stator wires (I'm planning a video to cover this unusual circumstance, as well). However, in my opinion most instances of a burnt or melted stator connector and/or wires, is due to poor preventative maintenance. Dirt, oil, grime, salt, sand, moisture and oxidation all increase resistance in the connector, and this resistance equals heat--and a lot of it. If this connector is overlooked during cleaning time it will be just a matter of time before the heat starts to cook things up.

While hard-wiring eliminates the connector 'hot spot,' there are two drawbacks: 1) There's no way to test the stator and/or reg-rec unless you re-cut the wires; and 2) On my Ducati, the reg-rec has to be removed every time the alternator-side crankcase cover is removed. This isn't a huge deal: The battery has to be disconnected and the ECU has to be loosened and moved out of the way before the two bolts securing the regulator/rectifier can be accessed.

Finally, I used sealed crimp connectors with an extra layer of heat shrink and a full wrap of silicone tape for added protection. There are many other options that would work very well for this project; Solder (for those who know how to solder properly), non-insulated butt connectors and solder (with heat shrink), and a variety of other methods.

I hope you enjoy the video, and Good Luck with your repairs!

Associate Links to items used in this repair:

You can purchase these items through eBay (some times you can find great deals there), or go through Fastenal (online or local store if one is available near you).

#track848

[silverbulletsvt]

5 years later and your video is incredibly helpful. Thank you.

[josboh]

I dont normally leave comments EVER - but I've been trying to fix my stator to rectifier issue for more than 7 months trying to solder and all sorts of other crap. thank you for simplifying this for all of us. Great vid.

[kristibrown]

I'm kind of late on this but I just wanted to say a big THANK YOU! I am, right now, in the process of replacing my entire oem wire harness and as I was disconnecting everything, I came across the exact same fried connector that you have in this video. The crazy thing is, I just put this stator on, brand new, less than a month ago! My old connector was fried too. I immediately began to wonder "I know that these three yellow wires just go right into my reg/rect, I wonder if I could just hardwire them in, thereby eliminating this problem connector. As I Googled 'hardwiring stator to regulator' your video came up, reassuring me that I could, indeed, do just that! Ugh! What a GREAT feeling, when you know that you have a definite, workable, and even easy solution to what looks like a BIG problem! Thank you for your video! It's people like you who save people like me hundreds of $$$ in mechanics bills, by sharing your knowledge and showing us that we CAN do it ourselves!!!

[jacksparrow]

I just fix my 2009 street triple r. Your tutorial was my bread and butter. But I used a lighter instead of heat gun. I spend like 40$ cad instead of buying a new r/r for 190$. Thanks man

[jimoliver]

Thanks for the vid - extremely helpful, was able to sort out my bike after 2 reg/recs and 2 batteries didn't seem to do the job, turned out the connector block was fried. Also great to have verified it doesn't matter which order the 3 wires connect from the stator to the reg/rec. Great work, cheers!

[cowboy]

Thank you. My stator AND rectifier both burned up. Bike been cutting off for a year. Been replacing stator/rectifier/battery constantly until i noticed a few days ago that the connectors were destroyed. Jokingly in my head i said I'll hardwire everything. Now that i see it's actually a thing I'm comfortable doing it. And thanks for the tape info. I ride a 2001 Suzuki gsxr 1000.

[viperxbr]

Wow, interesting this happened to your bike as well. I have an 01' Kawi ZX-12R and I went through two stators & rectifiers because of excessive oil wicking into the connectors which basically started to smolder. These were both covered under warranty thank god. The third time I checked and caught it before the connectors started melting. I did what you did. Cut the connectors (stator/rectifier) off and instead of a crimp connector, I soldered the wires together. Then used a two part non-electrical epoxy around it and then a heat shrink wrap. The solder and epoxy makes sure there are no gaps for the oil to wick through. 16yrs later, all still good!

[runtripfall]

What a great video! My 96 vfr750 with 250k miles on it is in dire need of this. I've replaced all the charging components but never considered that it needed to be maintained. The wires from the stator side are smoking hot (literally). While the other side of the plug is cool. This gives me hope!

[OFFICIALPGBEATS]

I have a brown wire on the one I bought. Could you help me with understanding what I hook it to?

[uryidesign]

Have been having this problem with my 85 vf700f. I believe this connector overheating effects my battery charging?
Am going to hardwire it like you've shown.
Your vid is one of the best! Thank you for not telling your life story for half the vid like others do : )

[RubberChickenMan]

This is the best quarantine video ever!! I finally have time to fix the bike haha. Thanks for making the video.

[aplanedividedthesky]

First of all, really great video. Thanks for contributing to the community!
The connector in my CBR900RR apparently has just failed. Apparently, it had friend a long time back, and left the connectors exposed, which corroded over time until one of them seized yesterday and broke in two parts. Now I am planning to troubleshoot the whole thing, to assess whether the stator and/or the R/R are at fault.
As you suggest, I'd like to hardwire both, after reading many times that the source of this issue is bad connection + arcing. I would like, however, to be able to have a simple way to swap components in the future, in case they fail down the line. 
For that, I thought: would it be a reasonable idea to (instead of hardwire them), just connect them with a strip terminal enclosed in a waterproof box? The 3-cable strip terminal + waterproof box can be had for really cheap in a hardware store, and screwing/unscrewing should be very simple.
I am really NOT experienced in anything related to electrical installations, so if you could give me your feedback, I'd really really appreciate it.
Cheers

[Tonyrat]

Good video. As someone that has been connected with electrical equipment my whole working life I can't help thinking while this is a good fix it also highlights the need for a more suitable connector by the manufacturers.

[dLAYDrEAkTiNs]

Great video, found mine fried under my ecm 2 days ago when pulling down my 03 954rr for t-chain replacement with adjustable sprockets. I was 90% sure just replacing the connector with higher quality would fix the issue, sadly I already ordered $400 worth parts for new rectifier and stator which will now just be closet replacement parts 🤯! Thanks for the video and II really hope more ppl get to see this video before they spend unneeded money!

[gregmorales]

thanks for the info man. my stator wires are getting real hot and i found your video. helps a lot. I think im going to hardwire it also.

[frankdogui]

I have the same problem with a Kawasaki Versys. It's astonishing how common this issue is.

[roythearcher]

This is a problem I recently experienced with my 2002 triumph sprint. Its a good fix but I would stop short of hard wiring just in case you need to replace the stator at any point. This would mean you need to cut out the hard connection and if it's already on a short length of wire you may find there's nothing left to reconnect to. This can also apply to having to replace connectors but they tend to need less wire removing in the first place.

[seanvw]

Fixed my bike today according to your instructions. Big thanks.

[JDye-youtube]

Good vid. I had the same problem on my 1098. Connector was fried. I went with a MOSFET replacement and a pigtail that mates with the factory connector from the stator. Key is to route the wire up and then down, which keeps the oil seeping issue that you described at bay.

[kevlar]

Great video as always! I’ve been having a starting issue on my 1098 and changed starter, battery etc. Upon trying to check the ohms in the stator i realized my wires were burnt exactly like yours! I was thinking about getting rid of that connector too and hard wiring it. Good to know! Thank you