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Custom Rewind


Cogswell

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I want to give a shout out to Custom Rewind in Birmingham, AL. for their work on my stator.

In January I posted this thread:

http://www.vfrdiscussion.com/forum/index.php/topic/80006-talk-me-out-of-replacing-this-6th-gen-stator/#entry981033

My inclination was to replace it, and when the Jury returned a verdict of 12-0 to convict it was settled. So the segue to that was "what next?"

I've seen many recommendations to go OEM with stators, but the cost was offputting. I recall one thread here and a few on some other forums about Custom Rewind. I Googled them and looked at their website, but there's no ordering information. AFAIK they don't do any marketing - just word of mouth. The feedback on them however seemed to be universally good. I had also seen this on line about them;

http://www.genebitsystems.com/david/CustomRewind/index.htm

So I gave 'em a call. Gary, the owner answered. If you call and Gary answers, keep in mind that he has Lou Gerhig's disease - ALS - Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis. If you're not familiar with it, it's a terrible degenerative disease that eventually leaves the victim unable to function and ultimately kills them. While he was difficult to understand, I bore with him and had a nice conversation with him. He's a very nice guy. He told me to send him my stator and a check for $100 and they would rewind it. That includes return shipping - so about 1/2 the cost of a unit from Honda.

I shipped it USPS flat rate box - the small box is I think $6.25. I sent it Monday and it was there on Wednesday. The following Monday I received a call from another man at the shop (from the article above it seems that he has 2 or 3 employees) to confirm my address - it was on its way back. With my check I requested that they return my pigtail from the stator, to leave the wire ends bare and to please add 6" of length to the wire so I can use something other than the OEM connector. When I opened the package that is exactly what I found, with a new OEM connector separately should I want to use it. The quality of the workmanship looked to be very good - much neater an tidier than my OEM. Everything fit as expected and when I started it up I get a solid and steady 14.6 v.

These guys exceeded my expectations. The quality of the work and service both seemed top notch. I like to support mom and pop operations, particularly when they do a great job. The price was so cheap that I added $10 to my check - and it still worked out to be 1/2 of OEM. I would highly recommend these guys if your stator needs to be replaced

Pics

Very carefully packaged - better than how I sent it to them!

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Extra length wire - with no connector as I requested

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Back

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Front

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In the cover. I like to use liquid gasket remover rather than scraping to prevent scratching the machined surface. I also remove the 2 dowels and put a bit of anti-seize on them to make removing them easier next time.

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Ready to install

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Studs in place to guide cover on - makes it a breeze. Just needs a gasket and bolts to finish.

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Cover in place

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The net result - I couldn't be happier.

20150216_113726_resized_zpsdxwx5sf2.jpg

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Agreed! You're not the first here to use his services and be satisfied with the results. Pretty quick turnaround time, too! I didn't know specifically that he had ALS, but definitely gave him the benefit of the doubt speaking to him on the phone, and was sure to mention to anyone I recommended that there was cause to have patience when calling.

Edit-

Liquid gasket remover... WOW! I need to get me some of that!

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Not sure I like the way the copper wires twist and cross over each other. This could create a stress issue in the isolation material on each point they cross over when the stator is at high temperatura and over time, cause premature failure of the isolation material and finally, short circuit...

Hope I'm wrong.

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Not sure I like the way the copper wires twist and cross over each other. This could create a stress issue in the isolation material on each point they cross over when the stator is at high temperatura and over time, cause premature failure of the isolation material and finally, short circuit...

Hope I'm wrong.

HondaStator

Factory are the same way just lower down. Only way to rewind a 6 pole stator.

20150124_105724_resized_zps9w3vqg3x.jpg

The backside ^^^^^ .

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Gotta get one of these for a backup.

Great idea. If I had a core laying around, for $100 it's worth it to have a spare at the ready.

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Liquid gasket remover... WOW! I need to get me some of that!

Me, too.

Which one did you use? I've read that most don't really do very much, unfortunately...

Ciao,

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Im looking at comparison I don't see any improvement over oem, actually oem has better epoxy, plus connector already installed.

if swaying people from oem that offer the best life, that's okay, but Im just looking for the quality gain which is not in the pictures, Im sure the gary stator is usable for a period of time.

post-6784-0-51174200-1424174729.jpg

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Im looking at comparison I don't see any improvement over oem, actually oem has better epoxy, plus connector already installed.

if swaying people from oem that offer the best life, that's okay, but Im just looking for the quality gain which is not in the pictures, Im sure the gary stator is usable for a period of time.

A lot of times it'e the connector the problem, never seen a OEM with that type of epoxy .

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plus connector already installed.

In the OP I mentioned this:

"Extra length wire - with no connector as I requested"

Otherwise they install the OEM connector. In my case they included it separately should I change my mind.

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When I ordered mine last August from Custom Rewind, I think it was $135, but I asked for the high output stator. I crimped and soldered directly to the FH020 Yamaha R/R and haven't had any issues since (only about 3k miles). The original stator and R/R lasted 68k miles, hopefully this set-up lasts just as long.

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What most people order are upgraded windings and output leads. Much more robust. For us R1 RR users, he could direct wire the Yammy connector for us too!

That's a great point - I never thought of that. Upgrade to the R/R of choice and have the appropriate connector installed. It could be sent separately or be installed by them.

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What most people order are upgraded windings and output leads. Much more robust. For us R1 RR users, he could direct wire the Yammy connector for us too!

That's me calling tomorrow. Except I am gonna use Shindengen FH775 .

86666d1376943125-new-recommendation-for-

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Liquid gasket remover... WOW! I need to get me some of that!

Me, too.

Which one did you use? I've read that most don't really do very much, unfortunately...

Ciao,

I had an old can of Permatex remover - probably made before things became more environmentally friendly. CRC also makes a commercial grade product which seems to get good reviews. It won't work miracles, but it does soften up the material if it's left to soak for 10 or 15 minutes. It took several passes with it and a plastic pot scrubber to get it to bare metal. The main thing is I wanted to avoid scratching the surface. If I'd had a hard plastic scraper that would have been ideal combined with the liquid remover. Removing the dowel pins makes it easier to get the gasket material off around them. Given the way this bike seems to eat stators, I figure I'll be back in there some time so the anti-seize should make it easier to remove them next time.

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  • 5 months later...
  • Member Contributer

What most people order are upgraded windings and output leads. Much more robust. For us R1 RR users, he could direct wire the Yammy connector for us too!

I'm about to send my stator down to get redone by Gary and will ask for upgraded windings and output leads; what gauge are the upgraded output leads?

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Just got mine back from customrewind, everything stock for my 2000. $95 shipped back to me.

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Just got a spare stator rewound (the one I removed last year). I figured my GF's 2000 will need it eventually. This time they charged me $85 plus shipping. Last time it was $125 plus shipping.....not sure why the price changed. I asked them for the high output both times even though the one that is currently in the bike doesn't really seem like it puts out anymore than the old one used to.

I'm also working on a 2006 Vulcan 900 for a guy at work. His stator was fried after 20k miles, so I sent that one in with mine to save on shipping. $85 for that one too........stator issues aren't just a VFR issue.

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