I bought both the rotor and the stator. The staor was toast! I changed the primary oil last fall and then soon developed a bad smell comming from the primary. Got real bad when I stopped at a light and had no air flow. So I changed the fluid again and blamed the mobile 1 gear oil I put in there. I figured they changed the formula and added stink to it! Turnes out that the stator was frying in there back then. I had a whole 1.2 AC the other day when tested. My old battery was five years old so I went ahead and replaced that too. Checked the regulator for a bleed test and passed, Ill check the system over when I get it all back together.
Bob

Sounds like you have it figured out. The smell is another dead (no pun intended) giveaway. If you still have the bike this time in the year 2016, I'd start keeping it in the back of your mind again.

Congrats on a quality fix!

Other people disagree, but I think that if you're doing the stator, you should do the regulator at the same time. And only Genuine H.D. parts for both.

Dr Hess these people should be taken outback and pistol whipped and that is just for starters!!

Why genu-whine HD? I'd much rather go with a quality aftermarket 3-phase stator/rotor/regulator combo on an older bike. Accel, Compu-Fire, Cycle Electric are a few. Accel offers a lifetime warranty on their stators. Plus, several of them increase the low speed output compared to the stock HD versions.

I've had much better luck with accel than HD. Also a hint, put some silicone around the connector from the stator where it fits thru the case and also around where the wire insulation ends. What happens is the oil wicks up the wires with time, then with oil on the connector pins they burn thru. I've seen this happen a few times. A little silicone helps slow it down at least.

Um.. ok - why?

I've not heard good things about Accel lately. While some aftermarket stuff is as good as Genuine HD, and some may be a little better, a whole lot of it is not, ranging from total crap to almost as good as HD. I don't buy enough parts to know what is good and what is crap, but I know that Genuine H.D. is as good as what was on the bike, or as close to it as is available today. Stators are such a PITA to deal with that I want something I know will be as good as what was in there. And, if I'm out on the road and the regulator blows, I want to be able to go to the nearest dealer and get one to replace it with off the shelf, not wait a day or two for it to get there. And yes, that's happened to me.

Actually, knock on wood, I'm on my second regulator (1st died on the way back from Sturgis in '03, replaced at KC HD as the yuppies looked on in awe at someone actually working on their bike in the parking lot), and still on my original stator. At 24 years and 80+K miles.

Oh, and if we started pistol whipping everyone that needed it, well, ....

I am in the process of changing my stator on my 87 FLHTC. I did the upgrade with HD parts form the 22 amp to the 32 amp back in 92. It lasted 18 years. I went thru 1 regulator in that time. Iam using a HD replacment this time. The newer 3 phase system sound good ,but I already have a new voltage regulator. I figuer another 18 years will work out fine.

I have had good luck with these guys http://www.cycleelectricinc.com/ over the years. They make top quality stuff.