Back again.
I got a different reg/rec from some auction site I stumbled across. The first new one I had was the type with the metal heat sink body. It was advertised as a compatible item for the nsr. This obviously was a dud or incorrectly advertised. The second one was delivered today and was the plastic body type which my bike originally came with.
As usual, the old girl fired up first kick. I quickly grabbed my multimeter to check the voltage at the battery and at idle I scored 14.3v. All other checks in the flow chart were spot on spec.
I guess in my case I was better off buying the original style reg/rec as opposed to the pretty heat sink one.
Case closed...
Thanks again for the help fellow nsr lovers.
Andy