I have been thinking of bumping up the Watts on old blue and run a bunch of LEDs--now that it appears they will work on an AC power system_--- but I have heard a bunch of murmerings to stay away from Ricky Stators parts--  Am I better off staying stock?  What problems exactly have there been?---have the problems been addressed?

The problems I have seen was not with the lighting portion of the stator, it was in the ignition part of the stator and flywheels.