Pull out the starter reduction gear.
Remove the guide plate that is in front of the drive sprocket.
The collar for the neutral switch is spring loaded, push on it and free the wire.
Remove the tie wraps. Slide a small screwdriver under the latch if they give you trouble.
Unplug the two connectors.
Loosen the case bolts slightly in a crisscross pattern then pick a reference point like the starter and pull them out 1,2,3,etc… store them in that order so you wont get confused as to which one goes where.
Use a rubber mallet and tap around the case repeatedly to free it. Angle your blows outward. The case can take a good whack but start small and slowly work your way up to harder hits. Center you strikes over the bolt holes (where the case is strongest).
When you remove the case the starter idle gear and shaft may fall out. The fallowing pic shows the gear reversed.
Take the time to place a clean rag in the motor to protect it from dirt. The inside of the fly wheel is highly magnetic, while you are here check it for bits of metal.
Carefully remove the portion of the case cover gasket that is over the wiring grommet.
The grommet is sealed with gasket compound. Work a small regular screwdriver gently around the grommet to free it from the case.
Slide out the wire clamp; notice it has an alignment hole at the bottom.
The ignition pulse generator bolts (4mm hex) are set with loctite from the factory. You will need to reapply medium strength (blue) loctite when you reinstall them. You will find the three stator bolts are tight as well. The factory uses loctite but the service manual recommends you apply clean oil before reinstalling them.
All five bolts are torqued to 3.6flb, which is not very much! Considering there is old loctite in the threads I highly recommend you set them with a ratchet until you know they are properly seated, then switch to a toque wrench. By this time you will be close to the toque setting. My toque wrench only goes down to 5flb so that is what they are set to.
Pull the old stator. The new stator is a “Ricky Stator” for a crf230f. There were two things I needed to do to it before I could install it.
First I corrected a manufacturing defect. The wiring harness is held to the stator with a plate, that plate was not installed correctly so I moved it.
The Ricky Stator plate screw is shorter than the stock one and it did not have a lock washer. I swapped to the stock screw w/washer and used blue loctite on it.
The next issue was the bracket for the ignition pulse generator (IPG). The Ricky Stator version needed to be bent to fit.
You need to hold it still at the base of the neck with pliers then bend it.
Clean and oil the starter idle gear and shaft. Set the shaft in the gear first then slide the gear/shaft back in the motor.
After you have cleaned the case you can now oil (just the metal parts) and install the stator. Apply clean oil to the stator bolts and medium loctite to the IPG hex screws. Torque them to 3.6flb (if you can) I set mine to 5flb.
Clean the grommet and seat of old gasket compound. Apply a generous portion to the grommet and slide it in. There is too much excess wire between the Ricky stator and the grommet. So the grommet and the clamp will not seat right. Let the grommet protrude and concentrate on the clamp, if it falls out when you reinstall the case you may not notice. The clamp slides into its own grove at the top and a post at the bottom.
Set the new gasket. I reused the old one. I put a very thin smear of gasket compound where I liked and a good amount on the grommet and the motor where the grommet seats. Led me take the time to apologize, I don’t know a good way to remove these old green gaskets. I generally don’t unless they are badly damaged during disassembly.
Put the case on. Keep a finger on the grommet so it does not kick out. Once you know you are on the dowel pins then you may need to thump the case over the starter idle gear shaft with your fist, it is a snug fit and trapped air will need to be coxed out.
Replace the case bolts. Finger tight at first then torque them in a crisscross pattern.
My service manual does not have torque values for any case bolts so I set them at 7flb.
The neutral wire was too long for my liking so I trimmed it and soldered a new end. Slide the heat shield from the old stator and use tape or heat shrink tubing to hold it. Push the collar back and insert the wire.
The guide plate has a tab that fits behind part of the case (barely). Slide it in from the top.
Tie wrap the new wire harness back in place. The new stator has two yellow wires, this is your new 80watts. It like the others is AC. If you are going to use AC then you will need to use an AC regulator. The rest of us will need a DC rectifier/regulator to convert AC to DC before we can add the new power to the electrical system.
A good place to mount it is on top of the air box. The power-up mod calls for the removal of the snorkel and the rubber ring that holds it. I was regularly getting flooded out when the trails were muddy, requiring me to change air filters before continuing. If you ride in these conditions I recommend you leave the snorkel ring in place and add an air box vent like the SLP flow-rite.
I used heat shrink tubing and electrical tape to protect the wires from wearing against the frame. Screw the regulator down with sheet metal screws then remove it. In an attempt to prevent mud from building up under the new regulator I applied a ring of Hondabond around the bottom, allow it a few minuets to partially setup. In the center I put a generous amount of dielectric compound or high temperature silicone grease to fill the void over the epoxy back. This will help pull heat away from the regulator.
Mount the regulator and run the yellow wires to the boot protecting the stator connectors.
Tin the wire ends, and crimp on new connectors. Plug in to the stator wires then pull the excess wire so the connections are in the boot the tie or tape the wires in place.
It is time to run the wires to the battery box. First I will start by making a new hole for the additional wires that need to go there. Drill a hole in the box above the battery. Install a grommet. Thru this grommet I have run power wires from the new voltage regulator and headlight. Use heat shrink tubing or electrical tape to protect them. I’ll run the battery tender quick-connect behind the batteries main ground.
Tie the ground wires to a single connector. I tined the ends, crimped the connector, soldered the wires to the connector then used heat shrink tubing.
The output from the new regulator and the inline fuse are connected to positive. The headlight and the battery tender are connected to the inline fuse.
Button every thing up and go ridding!
