Total electrical failure

Hi all,
First post here - I bought a '87 VFR700 with 37,000 miles on it a few weeks ago. It was running well until the trip home this last weekend. Then...

60 miles into my 90 mile ride all the lights go out (yep - it's night). After a bit of thinking at 80 mph, I switch to high-beams and it's OK.

70 miles into my 90 mile ride all the lights go out again (still night). Fortunately there is a cage behind me to illuminate the road.

72 miles ... the bike starts sputtering and I coast to a stop in the desert.

I get a lift, then bring the bike home in the back of a truck (hoping to shame it into running again). After charging the battery for a couple days, I get good lights when i turn the ignition on, the bike turns over (sounds normal), but WILL NOT start.

Any ideas what the problem could be? I just bought a service manual on E-bay, but it won't be here for a while and I'd like to get the bike back up for the big weekend.

 

Update

You are probably right. After my first assault on this problem I can say that

All 4 ignition coils are probably good (good ohm checks)
Stator is likely good

I figure there are 2 unknowns left
1- The regulator/rectifier
2- the switch on the positive terminal right next to the battery

Does anyone know for sure if the regulator/rectifier is one unit on the '87?

 

R/R is a one piece design on my 86' should be the same on a 87', I found a screaming deal on these when I thought mine was bad. I think I saved it to my hard drive but I cleaned a bunch of garbage out of it hard saying if its still there. I'll post it if I find it.

Tbone