Behold our FTC disclosure masterpiece here. The following article was last updated on Oct 22, 2025 ...

I Love The Smell Of Stator In The Morning

Anyone who's ever owned a GS series Suzuki knows that they're legendary for having charging system issues, usually at the worst possible moment. I got back into riding in 2005 after a twenty-year hiatus to raise kids and be a responsible adult. I bought a 1980 GS850G on eBay and, after a year or so of getting to know one another, began taking some long trips in 2006 and 2007.

“At the first stoplight my bike died. I hit the starter button and [click] ... nothing. Chalk up another gs stator failure for the lore.”

My buddy Jeff and I rode to a Kawasaki rally that organizers had supposedly planned near Cincinnati, Ohio in September of 2007. The bike performed flawlessly as I'd come to expect on the way up. The first day we headed out through the Ohio/Indiana countryside, stopping to take a lunch break in Metamora.

After the break, we headed out and at the first stoplight, my bike died. I hit the starter button and [click] ... nothing. I'd heard the stories and thought, "Oh, crap. Stator failure," before push-starting it and signaling to the rest of the group. Everyone followed me into the nearest parking lot.

In that moment, all I could think was "here we go again with another classic gs stator failure".

I explained to the crew (several GS Suzuki owners) what happened and out came the tools and meters. Sure enough, the stator was toast. Chalk up another gs stator failure for the lore.

The group I was with insisted on escorting me back to the motel and off we went.

Surprisingly, we made it back before the battery was too discharged to run the bike so it was time to devise a plan. Brian said he had a good stator at his place in Indy and he and George offered to ride the ninety miles there and back. The skies were getting dark and threatening, so I said no.

I bought a charger at the Tractor Supply next door and we removed the battery to charge it overnight. The next morning, we disconnected the headlight to conserve battery life before Jeff, Mark and I headed directly into the huge thunderstorm that hovered between us and Indy. At one point, that scene in Forrest Gump where Lieutenant Dan screams at the sky, "Is this all you got?!" came to mind but we made it and ninety minutes later we headed back to Kentucky.

Yes, for that ride, I was "That Guy" but everything turned out all right (until the next year).