That depends on the connector block condition. On mine, I will probably not replace the originals on the harness because they are in good shape. On Tommy's, they needed replacing. The rectifier block was partially melted with the ground wire burned right out of it. His 3 terminal regulator block was gone, eliminated by the P.O. who hard wired the reg/rec into the harness. Yes, it was a mess. The new blocks match and mate with the old blocks perfectly so there's no need to change both on that account.
When I use old stuff, it gets thoroughly cleaned. The wires and connector blocks are cleaned with the Tannery and the crimps removed from the blocks and polished bright and shiny again with a wire wheel in a Dremel. They get a light coat of dielectric grease before going back in the blocks. Tommy's rectifier got renovated 6 terminal latching blocks on it and on his harness. The wires w/crimps were removed from his original melted block, polished, and installed in the replacement. One new crimp was added, to fix the melted ground wire. The P.O. had already run a new ground but had it attached to the rectifier mount, not in the plug anymore. It was a simple matter to add the proper crimp and put it back in the block.
We unwrapped the harness on the left side of the battery box and found the original brown, green, and black (ground) wires that the original 3 block connecter for the regulator had run to. A renovated 3 terminal block was hard wired back in to return the harness to its original configuration. Then it was a simple matter to attach the new VR-115 regulator to that.
I'm happy to report that his bike is now back up and running and charging perfectly. He's seeing about 12.5 to 12.7 at idle and a steady 14.5 or 6 revved. It took a rotor, alternator, regulator, and rectifier to remedy. We swapped another alternator in because the wires on his were all chewed up by the chain, some nearly cut through. Once I fix the wires, we'll swap it back in. Biggest P.O. SNAFU I've had to deal with so far.
When I use old stuff, it gets thoroughly cleaned. The wires and connector blocks are cleaned with the Tannery and the crimps removed from the blocks and polished bright and shiny again with a wire wheel in a Dremel. They get a light coat of dielectric grease before going back in the blocks. Tommy's rectifier got renovated 6 terminal latching blocks on it and on his harness. The wires w/crimps were removed from his original melted block, polished, and installed in the replacement. One new crimp was added, to fix the melted ground wire. The P.O. had already run a new ground but had it attached to the rectifier mount, not in the plug anymore. It was a simple matter to add the proper crimp and put it back in the block.
We unwrapped the harness on the left side of the battery box and found the original brown, green, and black (ground) wires that the original 3 block connecter for the regulator had run to. A renovated 3 terminal block was hard wired back in to return the harness to its original configuration. Then it was a simple matter to attach the new VR-115 regulator to that.
I'm happy to report that his bike is now back up and running and charging perfectly. He's seeing about 12.5 to 12.7 at idle and a steady 14.5 or 6 revved. It took a rotor, alternator, regulator, and rectifier to remedy. We swapped another alternator in because the wires on his were all chewed up by the chain, some nearly cut through. Once I fix the wires, we'll swap it back in. Biggest P.O. SNAFU I've had to deal with so far.