Gauge of Factory Wiring and V/R Question

[Crush]

It's been a while since I posted my introduction to the forum and tend to lurk more than post. It's been a great Summer and Fall of riding and I plan on keeping the FZR going deep into the winter months, if the weather cooperates. Nevertheless with all older bikes you are bound to find some problems (I own a few vintage Hondas and this is the story of my life right now)...

The voltage regulator finally went and was pushing close to 18.6V to the battery at 3K RPM and almost 22V at 6K RPM. Luckily I found this all out via some testing and not while on a trip. I've read the Wiki here as well as numerous DIY posts and purchased a V/R from an early 2000's YZF bike. When looking to attack the wiring on this modification, a question popped into my head that I felt necessary to ask the group.

What was the factory gauge of wiring used by Yamaha? I've read here that the V/R mod can be done with 14AWG or greater, but I'm thinking, "what would Yamaha do?" and the answer for me is "use the same wire as was stock". I searched the electrical section of my manual and wiring diagram in addition to Google-ing my question without much success. It seems as though most folks are using 12AWG but then I had no luck finding quality connectors that were rated for 12AWG; most were 18-14AWG.

http://fzronline.com/wiki/doku.php?id=r ... conversion
^ Source noting 14AWG or greater

http://www.easternbeaver.com/Main/Elec_ ... ctors.html
^ One source for connectors 6P250-CNA

http://www.vintageconnections.com
^ Another source for connectors MP6L

http://www.ttrignition.com/vrr-upgrades.html

Best,
Alex

[M in KC]

Alex, for what its worth I used the existing wires from my pre '95 VR when I fitted my +95 VR. I even left the candy bar's aluminum heat sink in place when I mounted the new VR. I simply whacked off the the old candy bar VR's connector and crimped on fully insulated (key) female spade connectors on to the factory wires and plugged them into the appropriate spades on the new VR. To your comment below I guess I stayed with what Yamaha used relative to wire gauge on my mod. I have never had an issue with my installation.

DonTZ125 makes a great adapter from the old style VR to the newer one. If you wanted to clean things up there you might consider hitting him up. Others have added a heavier gauge ground wire from the VR to the motor's grounding lug for additional assurance. Which ever method you choose to follow a solid ground is a must.

[Crush]

Thanks for the reply. My plan is to make an adapter that will utilize the leftover 4-prong shell and and new 6-prong shell, very similar in style to the TTR link in the original post (not sure if that is Don). I have some 14AWG floating around but wanted to do my due diligence and see if 12AWG was more ideal.

I am going to ground to the battery lug with some heavier gauge I think. Right now I'm making the shopping list.

[DonTZ125]

I don't know offhand what the OEM wiring was; it's been a while since I had a good look. I use 16ga for the white and red wires in my adaptors; I use 12 ga for the ground wire.

[Crush]

I went through the bike this afternoon and it looks as though the stock wiring is 14 gauge. I compared by eye to some 14AWG I had handy.

Now onto a voltage regulator question in the hope of not having to start a new thread and getting it answered here...

Can I use the existing black ground wire as the ground for the 5-pin connector?? It looked like that black wire traveled back to the black battery terminal and when I started it for a test everything was in spec at the battery. Unfortunately it looks like everyone is running a separate line on their mod so I'm curious as to if I screwed shit up.

[DonTZ125]

Using the OEM VRR ground wire is not 'bad', so long as it is properly crimped to the terminal going to the VRR. Using a dedicated, heavier gauge ground wire is 'better'.