I changed the stator in my '87 with 253xx miles on it last weekend.  I replaced it with an aftermarket stator which meant I had to cut the old stator out of the factory wiring and splice the new one in.  It just comes with the three leads, not the pickup or wiring harness up to the reg/rec like a new Suzuki one would.

The factory stator was showing a connection to ground from any lead.  When measured, the voltages coming out were right.  I am guessing the current wasn't up to par though since my battery would slowly run dead.

When I removed the old stator, I noticed that it was discolored / dark brown looking in some areas meaning it had gotten too hot. I looked for but couldn't find where the connection to ground was. It's probably covered by the windings.

The factory stator has some plastic wire guides at the end of each pole that extend out about 1/8" to help guide with windings. The new stator has the guides made into the laminations and is acutally about 1/8" thicker than the original.  It also appears to have been wound with the next heavier gauge wire.  I didn't measure it so I can't say for sure. But it does look thicker.

On the factory stator, the power leads come off the outside facing side of the stator. The replacement does also.  But, the jumps between poles on the factory stator are on the outside side of the stator.  The new one has them on the engine side of the stator.  I checked carefully to make sure that this arrangement would fit without dragging on anything.

The wires coming off the factory stator are 16 gauge, 14 gauge on the new one. The new one also has thick, very flexible, compressible insulation on the wires. I am assuming this is to facilitate sealing when you pass them through the original rubber seal.  The only way I could get those wires through the seal, being so much larger than original, was to tear out the rubber that was between the wires.  The insulation on the new wires filled that space and was still being compressed.  I put a bit of high-temp RTV between and around them to help make sure they sealed the oil in.

Last time I removed this cover, the gasket was fine.  This time, it fell apart.  Glad I had another here just in case I needed it.

Thw wiring was butt-spliced and soldered. Each connection was staggered a little from the other to make the bundle much closer to original size for placement in the wire guide on the side of the engine.

Be careful of the wiring for the ignition pickup that also passes through the rubber wiring block.  

Everything seems fine.  It measures 13.6 to 13.7V at idle and jumps up to around 14.5 with a slight twist of the throttle. Lights get a little brighter as you give it just a little gas.

I was going to attach a photo here but for some reason, my browser just clicks and comes right back instead of opening the file window.
I'll probably have to shut down and reopen the browser to get it to work.   Pics to come.

This is the factory stator, side cover side.

You can see the darker brown in places on the stator where it's been really hot.

New stator.  Engine facing side.

All between pole connections are on this side of the new stator.  It didn't seem to be a problem.  It cleared everything internally.  I took it back off to check after temporarily installing it and turning the engine by hand a couple times. There were no marks where anything was dragging against anything else.

Here's where the wiring comes out of the cover and goes into the wiring channel.  It's a bit tighter than the original but it fits in there well.  The little clip holds it in place well.  I don't forsee it moving or causing any problems.

This project took about 5 hours with a couple short breaks in that time and also having to get up and find the tool I just laid down.  I can't remember where I put anything these days...even just a couple minutes 'til I need it again. I took my time on the solder joints and made sure the solder wicked all the way through and that there was a good strong bond.

Thanks for the write up and such!  

My new stator just got here yesterday.   I went with the "full monty".  (Stator, pickup, wired, rubber seal and ready to put in).

I shall report with pictures and such as well.

That airbox is a bit of a trick to get out.