Planning for the future here. My '98 GW 1500 is charging fine now with what I assume is the stock alternator. However I have become spoiled by the almost double output of my '06 1800. Heated grips, seat and any gear I want to plug in.
What would be a recommendation to get me more than the 550 watts the book says I have now?
It has been a while since I have looked into this, but there use to be two companies that offered a larger capacity alternator, one took rebuilt units and changed the face plate so that it would fit the bike. Not sure what the other company did. Only down side is a slight vibration at idle. The stock unit I found puts out enough power however was a bit less then reliable as the brushes would stick. Drove home a couple thousand miles once with out a charging system. I bought a car battery and a battery charger. Put the car battery in the saddle bag and charged it every night. You do what you have to do. You might want to post this question on a Goldwing forum. I have not ran a GL1500 in years. ( I do have over 400K on Goldwing's with sidecars)
Jay G
DMC sidecars
866-638-1793
I have posted it on a GW forum. I'm using the shotgun approach figuring that there will be one guy out there with the exact answer.
I remember the aftermarket alternators from back in the day "Compufire" being one. I just don't remember which one was junk.
I could always have the hack moved to my 1800 to get more juice but I figured I would try a replacement alternator first... LOL
Thanks for the reply...
Another route, lower your power demands. LED lights draw less. Even running heated gear, I never ran out of power on a GL1500
Jay G
DMC sidecars
compufire is the top of the line but most say it is important to go to AGM battery as the compufire will cook a regular lead acid battery in short time
I am running a DB electrical right now, I think it is a 95 amp. it is a tight fit but it will go in there.
it is far better than the original alternator. I agree about converting what you can to LED
my complete sidecar has been converted to all LED, I am slowly converting the bike also, so far all my front driving light and dash lights are LED
still not sure about the headlights yet
I use compufire + group 51 automotive battery in the box on frame between bike and sidecar. works good for me for 9 years now. 1st battery last 7 years.
