To be, or not to be...

Shmoo

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I posted a problem earlier, with the post "hot starting problems". I followed the advice from the last reply posts to put in a new rectifier & wire. I'm awaiting "back-ordered" parts. Could be several weeks, and now I'm losing out on the great fall weather to be riding in. Here's my question: I looked at the "wire" to be replaced, checked & cleaned the ends of the connections. Seems good. What exactly does the rectifier do? It just seems like a heat-sink or something that sits atop of a computer CPU. Is there actually electrical components down inside the honeycomb that might be bad? Or is this thing just a hunk of metal to help dissapate the heat from starter wiring? In other words, can somebody "rectify" my rectifier rectification question?
 
The rectifier basically is the brains and heart of the charging system. It uses diodes to transform the AC electricity from the stator into DC. It also senses the battery voltage and controls the amount of output in the charging system to keep everything running.
 
So with all this illustrated (thanks), do you see my bike as a rectifier problem, as the bike heats up and then won't restart until it cools off?

I have had my starter clutch (upgraded to beefier 03') replaced twice, and battery twice thinking IT was the problem.
 
Well,
it turns out that it WAS the rectifier. Suzuki almost didn't warranty the item, as they didn't think it was the problem. Thanks for all the help and insight on this!
 
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