I think I've traced a cold-starting problem I've been having to the regulator. One of the terminal pairs has a resistance way under spec, according to the diagram from Haynes:
(http://i1118.photobucket.com/albums/k601/ManyRPMs/chapitre8_Electricalsystem.jpg)
The point that should have 40 ohms is at 10 ohms. I called the guy I bought the bike from and he explained that he had had the exact same problem, but that the resistance had gone up from 10 to 40 ohms after he cleaned a bunch of corrosion out of the connector. He said there was so much corrosion he could barely get the two parts of the connector apart, and had to pry them apart with a screwdriver. There's no visible corrosion on the pins, but I'm thinking maybe the corrosion had spread to the wires and has gradually gotten worse over the last 4 months since I bought the bike. All the other terminal pairs have the correct resistance, so it's just that one wire.
So I want to see if I can bypass the damaged wire by cutting away some of it and splicing it to the wire it connects to, bypassing the corroded part. So I'm wondering what AWG wire to use. Also, will my plan work? my plan is to strip away some insulation and test the resistance a few inches back from the connector, and if it's at spec, to splice the wire from there to the other wire that it connects to. I know I could just get a new regulator on eBay for $50, but I'd rather do it this way, to save a few bucks and because it's more fun :icon_mrgreen: I don't have a lot of electrical experience though, so let me know if I'm about to make my bike explode :icon_eek:
Two things:
1) Having a hard time understanding why the regulator would cause a cold start issue. This just charges the battery... is the battery charging?
2) Those ohm specs listed? To be taken with a grain of salt. Mostly, as long as they're close and not open connections (infinity), and if the bike is charging, you'll be fine.
I thought the regulator/rectifier played a role in the starting circuit, didn't realize it was a charging thing. I guess that makes sense, though, when you look at how it's wired. Haven't been having any charging problems, so I think it might be a battery issue. Thanks for clearing up my noobish confusion :cheers: