Honda XL600R Caltric Stator

[ATC King]

My XL600R lost the headlight portion of the stator several months back. It was a Rick's stator that failed. The previous OEM one had failed on the ignition portion, which is what prompted the Rick's installation.

I bought the Rick's stator because it has an additional lighting output, but it sucked from day one. They use more and smaller poles than stock and the Caltric. The OEM stator never had a dimmer headlight at idle, nor does this Caltric, but the Rick's did and it bugged the crap out of me. This isn't a race bike and I'm not looking for max electrical power at higher RPMs, I want the headlight to be steady from idle on up.

Obviously, the Rick's stator took a dump, and it's rather expensive compared to the Caltric. So far, I've put about a 100 miles on the Caltric and it's rock solid and the bike even runs better up top. The bike has a good battery, new improved reg/rec and TrailTech adjustable AC reg. The adjustable AC reg came in handy, because I indeed had to make an adjustment, and without that ability, the headlight wouldn't have been as bright as it could be, without going overboard on the voltage and shortening the bulb's lifespan. The electrical system is as good as condition as it gets, especially on these old bikes. Time will tell on the Caltric durability.

Yes, I laid the bike on some tires to replace the stator. I had just changed the oil and filter not long ago and didn't want to dump good oil. I had to strip the bike down this much, because of the way the harness from the stator routes and connects underneath the fuel tank.






Burnt up Rick's stator.


Comparing stator pole count and size.



Back together! Gasket scraping sucks. I use OE Honda gaskets when available (this one was).


I just didn't have time to repaint the stator cover. I actually did repaint it last time. Bead blasted, cleaned the snot out of it, thought I prepped it good, but the engine paint didn't stick well to the bare magnesium.

[big specht]

Good deal let us know how it holds up. I put a Ricky stator one in mine too. Mine was weak on the ignition side too. On a side note do you have any extra carbs ? I’m having issue with mine

[ATC King]

I don't have any extra carbs. I don't have many spare parts for this bike, it's been dependable overall, except for the electrical stuff. It has always been an easy starting bike, in typical Honda fashion.

Something I forgot to mention is this Caltric stator is charging about 14.5v on the DC side. The Rick's was 14.7, which was at the top of of the acceptable range and that's a little harder on the tiny battery this bike has. I'm guessing the reg/rec only has so much control, but it'd be nice to have an adjustable one of those as well. I think the new AGM battery I put on it is 3Ah and there isn't much to choose from, unless stepping up to a $$$ lithium. Traditional flooded is out of the question, I'm not dealing with a hot battery puking acid onto the bike anywhere, or spilling if the bike is laid over.

One more thing to clarify, because some people get these mixed up, but Ricky and Rick's are two different stator brands. I don't have and experience with Ricky stators, but they are the ones who sell them for our ATCs and Rick's does rewinds for them (they do sell new source coils).

Ricky Stator https://www.rickystator.com/

Rick's https://ricksmotorsportelectrics.com...market-stators

[ATC King]

I went out for a short ride today. Still firing right up and running great. No doubt I'll post up on here if it craps out on me, but so far, I'm liking it. Mainly because the headlight doesn't dim at idle like with the other aftermarket one that was more than twice the price.

This isn't a moped (I know, I have one) and the headlight shouldn't dim at idle. Sheesh. I use a PIAA H4 bulb and they're $50, which sounds stupid, and really, it is, but they are the best halogen bulb I've used. Super tough and really good lighting. I totaled this motorcycle against a car and the same PIAA bulb lasted years after that, the crash didn't break it but wiped out the forks and front wheel, and even bent the triple trees and steering stem.

http://www.piaa.com/store/p/159-H4-X...ogen-Bulb.aspx

That bulb in the stock housing produces better lighting that many of the LED headlights out there right now in the same price range. This bike has a dedicated AC circuit for the headlight and I'm not going to bother modifying that. I've got an auxiliary LED light on it for backup, after the last fiasco of loosing the headlight portion of the stator.