Glee failed stator .

[kwackboy]

As some of you may know I'm a bike mechanic  in central London. 
Currently working on a 2012 glee with 22k on the clock and was shocked to find the stator has failed and possibly a weak regulator also .

Has anyone had the same problem with their glee ? Was quite shocked because as far as I know the glees are a pretty good reliable bike .
 

[frez]

I think the stator is a common failure point on vstroms, especially if the owner hasn't kept the oil level up. Tends to effect higher mileage bikes.

[kwackboy]

Regularly serviced and oil level is good. 

[Hondaman]

I'm confused, what effect does servicing & oil level have on stator life?

[Rusty Nuts]

Plenty of good clean oil should help cooling?

[kwackboy]

I don't know why I'm surprised because I'd say around 25% of my work consists of charging issues . The top manufacturer for charging faults is probably Suzuki , mainly GSXR's. With that said never a glee or a gladious but there is always a first.
To be honest I think oil levels help as it keeps the stator cooler so if you have low oil this may lead to the stator overheating although in all the stators I've changed its hard to say that this is the only reason for stator failure.
I'm beginning to think stators are a consumable item these days with manufacturers cutting costs .

[Rich:-)]

I beg to differ, in fact even oil type has an effect with the DRZ400's. One mechanic noted that most of the stator jobs he had in, the engine was obviously run on dino oil (can tell by smell). Whether the same owners also tended to stretch/ignored service intervals - who knows... Oil level is not an issue on the DRZ though as they are dry sump, just saying there seems to be a link between oil & having crusty fried stator.

The Vstrom (being wet sump) will rely heavily (or even completely) on oil splash to cool the stator, lower oil level means less splash effect doesn't it?
More likely just be bad luck though.

There wasn't a headlight override switch on the bike was there as that can also cause it?

[kwackboy]

Agreed on splash effect and the glee in question is completely standard with regular servicing, maybe just bad luck . ? 
Seems odd having bikes with dry sumps though if they rely on oil cooling ?.

What about GSXR'S though, they can't all be down to low oil.  ?

[greywolf]

It happens. http://www.stromtrooper.com/information-vault/55796-poll-charging-system-problems-yes-no-what-bike.html

I'm not in agreement with oil level being very important and oil type will make no difference. The stator is splash cooled, not sitting in an oil bath when running. All the phases exit from the top and having all of them together creates a hot spot. There is a new part number now and I've seen reports that the insulation layer at the top exiting wires is thicker than it used to be. The regulator/rectifier is rarely a problem but replacing the stock shunt type with a series type will make the stator run cooler.

http://www.vstrom.info/Smf/index.php/topic,20426.0.html

[Rich:-)]

Seems odd having bikes with dry sumps though if they rely on oil cooling ?.

DRZ's are water cooled but they rely on the oil mist to help cool the stator.

I think Suzuki's just have bad stators or cheap rec/reg.... Why they don't use a MOSFET rec/reg as standard now I have no idea, the can't be that much more expensive.

[kwackboy]

Sorry I didn't word that correctly, I ment for cooling the stator only .

[greywolf]

A MOSFET shunt type wouldn't keep the stator much cooler as its only added asset is accuracy. A series R/R would keep the stator much cooler as it shuts down extra output rather than shunting it to the stator windings. The Veek has encapsulated rotor magnets and a series R/R to prevent the old problems of magnets coming loose and stators burning out.

[kwackboy]

Good info greywolf .. I've been looking at a better rotor for the Vee . Thinking maybe the tl1000r rotor and stator , I believe the rotor on that has encapsulated magnets but more investigation is needed to see if it would fit .

[greywolf]

It's easy to keep the magnets from coming loose. Just clean the rotor thoroughly, make sure the magnets are equally spaced, are put a little slow setting JB-Weld epoxy between the magnets. Don't use a lot as there are steel filings in the epoxy and the magnets will make it creep. You can trim of excess with a knife or razor blade after it cures enough to stop moving but before it gets really hard.