A fellow lister had contacted Electrex to assist in fixing his own charging system.  Through a series of problems and miscommunications with Electrex, he ended up with 2 regulators.  A deal was made, and I got the spare.

I hear that Electrex makes a fine regulator.....some say superior to OEM.  The biggest complaint is that the Electrex unit for the VX800 does not have the same exact cabling as OEM.  All the wires are there; they're just not long enough.  The VX800 has an  unusual regulator spot, just ahead of the rear wheel, inches from the pavement, and perilously close to the super hot exhaust crossover pipe.  You need a lot of cabling to get from all the way down there to the wire junctions under the gas tank holddown.  The cabling on the Electrex unit is quite short.  One of the 2 sets of cables is about 3½" and the other is about 7".   My stock OEM regulator has cabling that is much longer at 18" from the regulator body to about the middle of the connector plugs.   That would mean that I'd need an extension cable of at least 15 or so inches, preferably a bit more for 'wiggle room'.  Also, the Electrex connectors do not mate perfectly with the bike's wiring harness.  The two halves of the plug fit together cleanly and snugly.  It's just that the little locking tabs are on opposite sides so the cable connection could conceivably pull apart.

To get around these 2 issues, you can ask Electrex for an extension cable.  I called to inquire and they didn't seem to know by now that the VX800 has different cabling requirements.  They asked me exactly how long it should be, and how the connectors should be oriented, so they could make up a custom cable for me.   I was pressed for time since I was installing the regulator just days before a week-long ride to the TWO rally.  Here's what I did instead.  

I started looking around for a place to (temporarily) mount the regulator, at least for the duration of the trip.  Under the seat maybe?  Zip-tied to a frame rail?   Well, I noticed a nice threaded hole on the left side frame just ahead of the shock absorber.  I think the hole is actually there for the Suzuki optional center stand assist lift handle.  For me the hole was just sitting there empty.   With a trip to the hardware store for a bolt, and some creative wire re-arranging, the wires were all able to reach.

Here it is bolted in place.  I seem to think it was an M7 bolt, but it's hard to remember.  I think it's M7 because I wanted an allen head cap screw and found that nobody has M7 allen head bolts, but regular hex head bolts were available.  For allens, It's either M6 or M8.  Oh well.  I wanted allen head because as you can see, the bolt head is very close to the first cooling fin.  There's not enough room to put a socket on it.  So I used an open end wrench instead.    

update: Jim Chen says "FYI - Believe it or not, the correct bolt IS 8mm. At least that's listed in the official Suzuki microfiche. I found that because of the paint on the body, the 8mm is a very tight fit. So tight that a bolt without the proper specs for hardness and strength will sheer off with too much torque, despite being the right size (don't ask me how I know!). If you use an allen head cap screw at 8mm (like the one holding on the passenger side foot peg brackets), it will work. You just need to be careful - either that or you can remove some of the paint with a tap. 7mm will workl, but will not be as snug. I believe you can get away with 7mm because the paint is that thick."  Thanks Jim.

Note how the locking tabs on the white connector are no locked into anything.  I briefly considered wrapping the plugs with electrical tape, or using zip-ties, but I decided that the plugs were snug enough and would not come apart on their own.  So far, no problems.

I was also concerned that maybe the spot under the side cover would not provide enough cooling airflow, but the Electrex guy said it would be fine.  He said that heat dissipation is not an issue as long as you have a small air space around it and that it is not mounted directly on hot engine parts.  It also occurred to me that the regulator on my ZX6/ZZR600  lives under a side panel without any worries.

The spot under the cover has a healthy amount of airspace around it and actually quite a bit of airflow due to turbulence.  No worries about the heat distorting the side panel.  Sometimes I take a glove off and reach down and feel the regulator to see how hot it gets.  It doesn't get too hot to touch, but I wouldn't want to hold it for long.

Here's how it looks with the side panels installed.  The regulator peeks out a bit, but you pretty much have to crouch down to see it.

When I suspected my reg of failing, I pulled it out and did the bench tests exactly like in the manual. I wrote out the results of all the tests in a grid format, just like in the manual. The results were all screwed up, so I decided the reg must certainly be fried.   When I got the replacement, I did the same bench tests. The results were all over the place and made no sense relative to what I was expecting from the service manual. I'm thinking 'great, this one is fried too'. Not knowing what else to do, I installed it anyway and all has worked fine from then on. I guess that the manual's test values only apply to OEM reg/rec and not the Electrex ones. Either that or the table of test values is some sort of cruel hoax. I'd like to try the tests one day with a properly working OEM reg/rec; preferably a new one.              update:  Paul Fox posted a message that explained that ohmmeters display resistance measurements based on the voltage the meter itself puts out.  Different meters put out different voltages, and thus will display different resistance values.  The test values in the service manual are based on a Suzuki tester part#09900-25002  (approx US $125), which I sincerely doubt anyone owns.  If you use your own meter, you may get different values.

I've heard that the 2 slots on the Electrex reg/rec just slightly don't line up with the stock mounting screw holes in the frame. You may have to widen them a bit or make do with only one screw holding it in. I could be wrong though, since I didn't actually do this. (Mike in Bama confirmed that this is the case)

Don't miss Fred Morris's VX800 regulator / rectifier story at http://www.inwa.net/~m3047/rect-reg/rect-reg.html