I'll try to keep it short. First ride since my trip. 60 miles from the hacienda I took a pit stop. Came out. No start. LEO was sitting in front of 7-11. Asked him for a push start. (Thank you ,sir.) Got it started and I headed for home. About 30 miles out it started cutting out. Almost made it home when at red light. It died. Called son. Truck and trailer. Got it home. Battery registered 10.5 volts. Hooked up charger and got it started. No change in volts while running. Pulled regulator plug. The lower pin was almost non existent. Got regulator and stator. Now this week I have a project. Thanking The Good Lord that I made it home from trip. Because it looks like it had been deteriorating for a spell.

 

That plug looks like it had been "Arcing" due to not being held firmly in place. Does your bike have a metal clip that tightens down over the top of the plug to hold it firmly in place..??
Mine did not when I got it, and my plug "worked loose" at one point....similar failure occurred.

 

I had a similar issue. But with mine it was the rubber on the stator
side that turned to putty so the regulator plug wasn't making contact.

 

There are a few items I always take with me on any trip or ride more than 50 miles from my AO. One of them is a spare regulator.

 

It’s probably better to just hard wire it thru the case to prevent this.I also like having a volt gauge to keep an eye on it.

 

Agree with Don, a volt meter is very important, nothing like an early warning...

As for the connector, I literally check the connection annually.. On the regulator side of the connector (the male pins) I separate them a little to make sure I have a tight fit...

 

Thanks for all of the great expert advice and . I'll take my lumps. It's all good until it's not. That's the game you play with a 26 year old motorcycle. I will fix it and keep on riding until something else happens. Que Sera Sera. The Good Lord and My Guardian Angel will be been riding with me till the end. They say the difference between a ordeal and a adventure is the attitude. Life is an adventure.

 

On the positive note, quick work since you don't have to pull the bike apart.

Hence contact cleaner on the coil side connector barrels once you do get the old connector out of it, to get them clean.
On the regulator plug side, you can pull the old connectors out of the rubber with the wires, solder on some new male bullet connectors, then use Black silicone to seal the new bullet connectors back up to the rubber connector.
Hence seat the cleaned dielectric greased bullet connectors together first with the buffer boot backed up the wires so you get the male and female connectors seated as far as you can together , then smooge some black silicone to the wires just above the bullet connector and slide the boot down to seat it in place and seal the bullet connectors to the rubber boot.

 

Dano523. Thanks for that fix. I have already purchased the regulator and stator. The plug on the stator is as bad as the one on the regulator. I believe if something needs fixing. Fix it right. Especially on a 26 year old motorcycle. I do not look forward to replacing that stator. But. As they say. It ain't my first rodeo.

 

Even on a new stator and regulator, I like to wire them through the case in watertight connections and silicone the wiring in the case hole.
My shovel was brutal on connections until I did this. Never another connection problem after that.

Griz