See Ya Later, Stupid Stator

[Nikolayev]

Just wondering ... did Honda ever ditch stators and switch to alternators, and if so ... when ???

[PoolDude]

They went with alternators on Goldwings starting with the GL1500, not sure about any other models. You could go with a alternator conversion on your bike, there are lots of posts on the site about doing it. I've got a GL1000 and have done one on mine.

viewtopic.php?f=12&t=23842

[Nikolayev]

So ... Wikipedia says ''Gold Wing GL1500'' Production - 1987—2000, Assembly - Marysville, Ohio. My NEW Question is ... do ''ALL'' 1987 (and later) Gold Wings have alternators as ''STOCK'' items ???

[skier]

The alternator was standard with the 1988 model year, which was the first year for the gl1500. Every year since then has had an alternator.

[Nikolayev]

Good Job, ThankYouVeryMuch ...

[CrystalPistol]

All Gold Wings have an alternator ..... it's just that the GL1500 and GL1800's are removable as a unit with engine in place ...... where as earlier 4 cyl GLs had their alternator incorporated within the rear engine cover.

[WingAdmin]

All Gold Wings have an alternator ..... it's just that the GL1500 and GL1800's are removable as a unit with engine in place ...... where as earlier 4 cyl GLs had their alternator incorporated within the rear engine cover.

Well...it depends on the nomenclature.

Four cylinder Wings have a fixed stator and a rotating permanent magnet. It will generate power as long as the engine is running, even if the battery is stone cold dead. Typically people just refer to this as a stator.

Six cylinder Wings have an external alternator, which inside has a fixed stator as well as a rotating field coil, in place of the permanent magnets. Without power from the battery to energize the field coils, it will not generate power. People generally refer to this as an alternator.

[PoolDude]

In addition the stator units generate max power all the time(think max engine load) with the regulator/rectifier doing the job of shunting the unused energy to the ground. Not the most efficient system but simple and very dependable. The alternator units have voltage regulators that control how much power is sent to the exciter coils in the alternator responding to demand, a much more efficient system but requires more wiring and electronics. Also the external alternator allowed higher amperage units to power more bell buzzers and whistles.

[wing rider 2012]

In addition the stator units generate max power all the time(think max engine load) with the regulator/rectifier doing the job of shunting the unused energy to the ground. Not the most efficient system but simple and very dependable. The alternator units have voltage regulators that control how much power is sent to the exciter coils in the alternator responding to demand, a much more efficient system but requires more wiring and electronics. Also the external alternator allowed higher amperage units to power more bell buzzers and whistles.

Your are correct, the stator units did in fact run full bore all the time, max amps and the external regulator shunted the excess current. This in my opinion, was the weak link in this type alternator setup. The alternators we find on the 1500's and 1800's has an internal regulator and vary the current output by regulating the voltage input to the field windings. Much more reliable and reduces the heat build up in the unit.

[WingAdmin]

The other huge benefit of alternators is that when the engine is at idle on a bike with a stator, it is putting out very little power. The amount of power put out varies directly with the speed of the engine. At idle, most of the four-cylinder wings are actually running off the battery, because the stator doesn't put out enough power to run the bike.

An alternator on the other hand can boost the field coil voltage when the engine is running at idle to compensate, so even at idle, the alternator can be putting out more than enough power to run the bike and charge the battery.

[CrystalPistol]

Well...it depends depends on the nomenclature .....

They both remain .... "alternators".
They both (4 cyl Wing alternators & 6 cyl Wing alternators) are simply generators that produce an alternating current. My '74 Triumph even has an alternator that is comprised of a fixed stator coil with a rotating magnetic rotor inside ..... and it's output is "alternating current" that has to be rectified to "direct current" for use by the bike. Even a GL1500 or 1800's alternator has a rotor and stator .... they all do. Some rotors have permanent fixed magnets, some are wire wrapped and are electromagnets.
A dynamo is also a generator .... but it's output is "direct current".

[spiralout]

My '74 Triumph even has an alternator that is comprised of a fixed stator coil with a rotating magnetic rotor inside ..... and it's output is "alternating current" that has to be rectified to "direct current" for use by the bike.

Next time a customer's pwc stops charging I think I might tell them the alternator went bad....
I guess magneto, stator, alternator, etc., is all just semantics but like WA said they are usually referred to with different names.