Motorcycle Repair: Honda GL 1200 1985, honda gl, gl 1200

Question
Hi, There are three wires coming out of the stator/alternator on my 1985 Goldwing, one of which gets extremly hot and starts to burn. What could be the cause ?.
Regards
Sean

Answer
That's a pretty common problem on the Hondas.  It happened on my 85 sabre and I think it caused my neighbor's bike to catch on fire as he was riding it to work one day.  There's quite a bit of current going through the connector and it gets hot which relaxes the brass connectors which increases the resistance making it get hotter still.  I use crimp on bullet connectors and replace the stock Honda connection.

You can check the stator with an ohm meter.  There should be equal resistance between the three yellow wires and no continuity to ground. If it passes this test, the stator is probably good.


Regards
Rich