Clean connectiions and grounds sealed with dialectic grease may attribute to my original 28A system still checking out with a meter working properly on my 92..........as it should.
+1 on that...
But I think that calls for a scientific survey, as there seems to a likely connection with running heavy, additional consumers, like aux lights or 'heated underwear(TM)'...
Many moons ago I had caused a slight 'issue' on my '92: a harness meltdown...
Anything between starter relay and VRR socket had been 'carbonized' into one, big junk of crap...
The cause?
Well, dumb me!
In a ridiculous bright moment, I'd decided to remove all Tupperware, in order to wash the insides as well as the now 'naked' bike...neat freak and that...
And of course I used motorcycle cleaner all over...
Yes I did follow the 'rinse well afterwards' rule, but...
I'd actually had forgotten about the stator winding connector way down there, and the remains of my superb motorcycle cleaner celebrated a nice chemical reaction party there...
So a couple of days (or weeks?) later my '92 ST suddenly faded and died on me on the way home, somewhere, in the middle of the night (luckily like 2 miles away from my place, its said that a nice hike clears your mind... so I'm walking... in full gear, the helmet in my hand... only to realize that GoreTex only works that far...)
Bike got recovered and flat bedded into the hangar, my mech shook his head, new wiring harness declared being in backorder...
Interestingly enough the VRR turned out unaffected...
The alternator however not... about a year later one of the 3 field windings gave in...
I sold the '92 in 2003 with 126.000km on the clock; rumor tells it's still out there...
And on UK based bikes the oh so superior air cooled 40A alternator is prone to failure due heavy corrosion...
Mild winters and that they stay on the roads 12 months a year, exposed to the brine on their motorways...
Exposed to the rear wheel's spray the stator plates rust so heavily that they burst the aluminum casings...