ORIGINAL: mattstunt929

Your stator works like an alternator, it puts out ac current and gets sent to the retifier regulator which turns the ac current into dc and reduces the voltage to the approiate ~13v. then from there the voltage goes to the battery keeping it charged ya-da ya-da ya-da.

Ok man heres the REAL way to check your electrical system!Check your batt voltage while the bike is running, should be around 13v+.If its good then your new batt is faulty and cannot hold a charge.If its not at 13v or better, unplug your startor the connector with three yellow wires , start the bike. While the bike is running set your voltmeter to ac current. yesac current!check the current coming out of the stator by putting the leads of the voltmeter in the terminals like so; ( if you were to lable theterminals1,2,3. you would put your voltmeter to 1&2, then to 2&3, then finally check 1&3) The stator should be putting out around60 to 80 volts. next check the stator the same way you just didbut with ohms. If any of the wires ohm out (show resistance or any connection) then your stator isfalty. If it doesnt read anything at all then your stator is ok.If the stator and the battery check out ok then yourrectifier regulator is to blame. Also if you decide to wire around the connectorsit is not necessary to color code or connect the wiresback to the origional wire that it was connected to. Just as long as you have the three yellow wires coming from the stator connected to the yellow wires comingfrom the rectifier regulator. It does not matter what sequence. Sounds crazy and kinda scary to try, but it honestly works. And running an extra groundfrom the battery towhere the rectifier mounts is unneccesary. Just make sure that the area behind the rectifieris clean of corrosion or build up. Hope this has been some help to you.

ORIGINAL: cbrian21

alright so first of all first post here, awesome forum glad to be a part of it.

the scenario: Bought my 98' 900rr last year with 30xxx miles on her and she ran great. enginr still runs like a beast and brakes and turns very clean. on my way back home from buying the bike, i began to lose power and had a hard time starting it. thought maybe had a bum battery and wouldnt hold a charge. then next logical though oh the stator must be going bad. eventually the bike stopped mid go on the freeway and after a few min saw the VR smoking [:@] got it home took it off had a crack through the middle. so after reading and fixing the problem, bought new battery VR, and stator(it was going bad all cracked up around coils) and flywheel. ran great for about 6 months i go to start it after work and it wont start........ after looking under the seat i see that the connector running from the stator, white 3 prong, was completely melted. after taking the bike apart again, see that the new VR has a bunch of white melted heat sink around the bottom of it. im assumiong that the VR has gone bad again but these elec issues are a bitch. just need to know if there is a sure way to check the VR and see if its still good? do i just check resistence. and then as far as the stator goes do you think i fried it?? thanks for any input i just dont know what to do and why this keeps happening all the connectors are good and not loose. i know thsi is a commom problem with this bike but i dont want to just keep throwing money at it.