No, it's not common for the whole charging system to die. It's usually just one of the components. Top of the list are the brushes (wear item) and the rotor going bad. Then sometimes the regulator will crap out, but it's pretty reliable. But, you can replace it with a low cost automotive regulator that is very reliable. I quite like the original charging system. It's a 3 phase automotive type system, well proven and quite reliable. Yes, parts are failing on them now, but they're 40+ years old. I would never switch to a PMA (Pain-inMy-Ass or Piss-Money-Away, take your pick, lol). They cost hundreds of dollars and fail more often than the old original system it seems.