Jon - 2/10/2010 5:22 PM
Yo, SVEN, get some LED bulbs and reduce the load. LEDS draw onlt about 1/10th of regular bulbs.
I have a dream of putting a car alternator on the R100. I've seeen it done a couple of times. Maybe you could run one off the JAWA tire, like an old bicycle generator.
I dreamin' of a reverse made to run off of a tire. I'm gettin' to old to push uphill.......................
oldriders,
Mine (BMW R100RT/ Velorex700) is a small high powered battery from NAPA. A Harley can pull a BIG OLE battery. If weight and space are not an issue , get a marine deep cycle battery....the bigger the better. Be sure to use large cables like in a car( mine is 1/4" welding cable) or you will lose amps to heat loss..or melt the wire.
There is a website somewhere on the internet where a fellow installed a Chevy Sprint Alternator on his four cylinder Honda Goldwing. He added a pulley to the front of the motor on one of the camshaft pulleys on one side and made it so that it was covered by the lower fairing. If I had a bike that needed more electricial power, I would certainly find a way to do it. Fortumately, my HD puts out about 45 amps and that's fine for my usage.
Many 1500 Goldwing owners have converted to the Compufire aftermarket alternators. The stock one puts out 45 amps and the Compufire does 90 amps. Quite a difference.
As to wheel-mounted reverses on sidecars, there was a fellow who posted pictures with an article on this site a couple of years ago. It was chain-driven with a dog-type clutch and a car starter with a large battery.
I myself built a sidecar wheel driven reverse for my HD rig with TLE sidecar. It worked OK but was too slow since I used a winch for power. If I could figure out a way to get 24 VDC to the motor, it would be just fine. It's number 23 on my list of things to do. LOL.
The Champion aftermarket reverse for Harleys is OK but for $1,500 it's a non-starter for me (no pun intended) . I can do a lot of pushing for $1,500. That's what the passenger is for anyway. LOL.
🙂
Many 1500 Goldwing owners have converted to the Compufire aftermarket alternators. The stock one puts out 45 amps and the Compufire does 90 amps. Quite a difference.
I have a 1500 Goldwing with the 90 amp Compufire alternator and it has not been a problem at all. Lots of juice for everything. Lights, 12 volt cooler, electric clothing, etc. I would recommend this to anyone running a 1500 'Wing.
wingit11 - 2/11/2010 10:53 AM
Many 1500 Goldwing owners have converted to the Compufire aftermarket alternators. The stock one puts out 45 amps and the Compufire does 90 amps. Quite a difference.
I have a 1500 Goldwing with the 90 amp Compufire alternator and it has not been a problem at all. Lots of juice for everything. Lights, 12 volt cooler, electric clothing, etc. I would recommend this to anyone running a 1500 'Wing.
...same with the old beemers - there's several options to choose from.
But where's your car battery mounted, and how big is it?
😉
As some one who still thinks that electricity if some form of black magic - on a boat you can use a small flexiable solar panel attached to the cabin roof, RVs have similar, is this possible on a sidecar ??
Arthurdillo - 3/10/2010 5:34 PM
As some one who still thinks that electricity if some form of black magic - on a boat you can use a small flexiable solar panel attached to the cabin roof, RVs have similar, is this possible on a sidecar ??
Hmmm, probably not. those small solar panels only put out millamps and milliwatts. What is needed for accessories is some pretty good amperage. Charging a separate car battery when parked should last most of a day and then it could be put back on again.
My extra battery is a small physical size NAPA car battery. It is in a plastic boat box in the rear of Velorex 700. I used 1/4" copper welding cable over to the little bike battery in parallel. Mine holds up just fine including the two extra headlights and two extra brake lights and additional turn signals. I plan another brake light so to have 4. I have looked at a couple of retro fit bigger amp alternators. They cost more than I am willing to spend. I have done the easy part of car alternator install already by getting a rotor shaft turned and pulley mounted. The hard part is getting the one wire Nissan alternator to fit under the lowers of RT fairing. I got a spare alternator cover to 'cut' allowing for the belt. Mostly , I just need to make a bracket and cut that cover. I have not seen one mounted the way I plan. It all fits and will line up in mock-up so, I think it will work out.
I have a full size car battery behind the seat. It's in a battery box and replaces the Bike battery. Works fine.
I may go to LED's on my two tail/brake lamps and add more LED running lights.
-BUD
You may have to get the "little black box" to get the LED lights to work, it's a voltage issue, their cheap and just about everybody has them.
Jon - 3/10/2010 9:32 PM
I have done the easy part of car alternator install already by getting a rotor shaft turned and pulley mounted. The hard part is getting the one wire Nissan alternator to fit under the lowers of RT fairing. I got a spare alternator cover to 'cut' allowing for the belt. Mostly , I just need to make a bracket and cut that cover. I have not seen one mounted the way I plan. It all fits and will line up in mock-up so, I think it will work out.
I have mounted a Toyota alt that was converted to a 1 wire install on my R100 mono. It works very well and I have been running it for about 70k miles so far. I had to notch both the front cover and the timing chest cover for the belt. Be careful what size pulley you use. You do not want to run more then a 2:1 ratio. As it is when crusing at 70 with the 2:1 ratio you are spinning the alt at 8k rpm. One of the best upgrades that I have done on a bike.
RoanokeRider - 3/27/2010 11:39 PM
Jon - 3/10/2010 9:32 PM
I have done the easy part of car alternator install already by getting a rotor shaft turned and pulley mounted. The hard part is getting the one wire Nissan alternator to fit under the lowers of RT fairing. I got a spare alternator cover to 'cut' allowing for the belt. Mostly , I just need to make a bracket and cut that cover. I have not seen one mounted the way I plan. It all fits and will line up in mock-up so, I think it will work out.
I have mounted a Toyota alt that was converted to a 1 wire install on my R100 mono. It works very well and I have been running it for about 70k miles so far. I had to notch both the front cover and the timing chest cover for the belt. Be careful what size pulley you use. You do not want to run more then a 2:1 ratio. As it is when crusing at 70 with the 2:1 ratio you are spinning the alt at 8k rpm. One of the best upgrades that I have done on a bike.
That sounds like a good modification. If I had a bike like that, I'd do the same thing.
I once owned a 1941 Ford Convertible with a 340 hp Corvette engine. The engine would turn 7,000 rpm very easily. I was using a 12 volt generator back in 1963 for electricity. It was about a 2:1 ratio. At 7,000 rpm, it was doing 14K rpm! One night I turned it up tight and the fan blades on the generator pulley bent outwards due to the centrifugal force and it popped the fan belt off. LOL.
gnm,
My '34 Ford flathead coupe generator used to do that at the drags in the '50s. They didn't have a conventional voltage regulator and when the belt was thrown the generator would reverse polarity and run free as an electric motor until the battery died unless I slipped the belt over the pulley to stop it.
Lonnie
Hack'n - 3/28/2010 7:50 AM
gnm,
My '34 Ford flathead coupe generator used to do that at the drags in the '50s. They didn't have a conventional voltage regulator and when the belt was thrown the generator would reverse polarity and run free as an electric motor until the battery died unless I slipped the belt over the pulley to stop it.Lonnie
I have heard of that free-wheeling issue.
There were other strange auto charging problems that I had as well. I once had a Chevy Citation. The fan belt was on the right side of the motor which was set transverse in the frame for front wheel drive. For some reason, it has a very small alternator pulley, probably around 3:1 ratio.
The motor seal began to leak and the belt got soaked with oil. Unknown to me, it caused the pulley to slip on the alternator when you were driving the car. The result was that the battery finally went dead. Nice. The only fix was a new seal and belt.
At the time that I had my 1941 Ford Convertible, alternators were just coming on the scene. I had toyed with the idea of converting to an alternator for my Chevy engine but I wasn't as good at fabricating metal then as I am now so I never got around to it.
I finally took the generator to an automoive electrical shop and they found a larger pulley and installed it for me. That changed the ratio so that I didn't have the problem amymore.
That engine was one fast sucker. With a three-speed Borg-Warner Std. Transmission (Corvette) it would do 65 in low, 100 in second and about 140 mph in third gear.
At that time (1963) you could get a Corvette long block crate motor from the local Chevy dealer for $600. A matching three speed transmission was $150. I converted the car to leaf springs and a open drive 3.54:1 Spicer rear axle from a 1951 Mercury. It made for a nice driving vehicle.
Dear Friends,
I am a little tied down at the moment for work, but i rob some time for to say
a BIG THANK YOU to Jon Craw.
"THE LED's DO THE TRICK !"
Remember after some 30 minutes night riding my head beams light was dropping down right in front of the tire.
I was able to only change 3 auxiliary bulbs (s/c front and back parking and break light.as well as one bike's flasher)
When I change both flasher lights of one side then the flash frequency jumps up like if I would have a burnt bulb.
For the back lights of the bike I didn't find Leds that are small enough yet.
Now I can ride hours at night and have no trouble with the battery at all.
All that was necesarry was to get to a positive charge/load ballance.
Thanky you very much.
Sven Peter
This is my friends on the rack with out the sidecar to do some work. Notice the batter box on the luggage rack. When the sidecar is attached he has the battery in the sidecar. This bike has over 200K on it.
If you carry 3 batteries in parallel, it give you the option of wiring them in series to make an effective mobile welder in an emergency.
Having 36V, battery boost cables and welding rod in the middle of nowhere can come in handy.
Here's an example:
