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Bikes of a certain design get released on different continents in different years, and in any particular year they release different version/spec bikes into different markets as well. Also, in motor vehicles at least, and it may not apply to quads so much, countries have trade deals in which a country will assemble vehicles but as part of the trade deal they want to use some local content, so the country supplies some components they can manufacture in their own country.. So wiring looms, seats or upholstery, starters or generators, paint jobs, carpets.. Stuff like that used to be local sometimes. When we are looking at the service manuals, we need to be sure they do apply to our market or the market the bike was intended for.. before it got re-routed to a different market.. haha. And, Yamaha are the very worst for swapping their electrics around I think anyway, without any of those market changes !..

A little more information: I have to admit it, from a marketing standpoint alone, calling so many machines the LT230 wasn’t the best move on Suzuki’s behalf. There were some years when they offered a whopping 6-machine variant on the line at once with the letter designations at the end being the only way to identify one from the next. There’s good news though- the letters tell the story. First the LT230 portion tells us right away that it uses Suzuki’s overhead cam 2-valve 229 cc (“230”) 4-stroke single-cylinder engine. Next the vehicle name tells us about the transmission. Suzuki used the designation “Quadsport” to identify machines boasting a manual clutch transmission (an S letter designation) and “Quadrunner” to describe those machines with automatic clutches. When an E appeared at the end of the vehicle code, that meant the machine came equipped with electric starting (the pure S version was kick start). Lastly the G series meant shaft final drive (as opposed to chain).

Great reasearch Mech. I have run into this also in the past, parts on bikes that did not match service manuals, never did figure out why, i just chalked it up as factory glitches. The age of these units it still possible they were changed out with different parts.

Since hurting Caneduhs feelings is such a benchmark . . . I hope he continues to do so.

1360 days to go

Well it remains a mystery.. Your VIN says it's a 89 model, and when I look up parts the 89 stator has the two bullet connections. The wiring diagrams suggest that the big-bear FWW(89) might have the right stator, but when I look up parts online none of the BB have the two bullets.. The FWW(89) Big-bear wiring diagram shows what looks like your wiring according to your description.. Whether you should rely on the 89 BB specs is to be ascertained yet.. Good luck, FYI. Yamaha designate models years with the last digit of the suffix.. So the last suffix digit W is for 89, U is 88, T is 87, and 90 is A, 91 is B, 92 is D. The VIN numbers use K is for 89, J is 88, H is 87, and 90 is L, 91 is M, 92 is N. Moto-4 to BigBear.pdf

Yeah I got that, but thanks for clarifying. So it seems you must have the 90 electrics. The Vin year numbering protocol has K for 89 and L for 90. We have to watch out though when looking at yamaha model suffix designations because they use W for 89 and A for 90. It gets confusing. Anyway.. The parts say that from 90 on the cdi and stator gets shared with other Moto-4 and Bigbears. That being the case, and since the stator fits a 91 big bear, this should be the same wiring, and hopefully the specs for diagnosing would be the same. I'll have a look in a 91 bigbear manual later, but if you are downloading(one more post I think), then get the BB as wiell as the Moto-4 manual and have a look. The ignition should be the same, the wiring for the rest of the bike may vary.. not all bikes have brake lights for instance, and the start circuits vary. BigBear350-91.pdf

When I said the gray wire was missing it is the one on the stator. The one on the CDI is still there.

It didn't take a year. He's set another record in his first 100 days.

Will try and confirm the VIN on the frame but the title says JY43HPW05KC000565. The wire colors on the ATV side of the CDI match the 1990. The wire colors on the stator side of the CDI match the 1988 except that the 4 pin connector is missing the grey wire.