My alternator is dead on my 1986 Honda GL1200 SEI. According to the book you have to pull the engine to get at it. (Oh how I miss my Kawasaki Voyager XII).
Well I don't have the wants to pull it myself and I am sure that would be $$$$$$ for a shop, so I'm thinking what if I buy a 65 amp alternator, a 12 volt motor, a Marine Deep Cycle battery and direct couple the alternator shaft to the motor shaft, reroute my exciter cable and mount all of this on my California Friendship III sub frame. Cover it and vent it so no one gets hurt. The Deep cycle only needs to run the motor at 1800-2400 rpm. The 65 amps would give me plenty of muscle for any accessories I wanted. I have plenty of room on the frame to mount a plate for stability.
It all sounds good to me, but what am I missing?
Well, basically, you can't get something for nothing when it comes to electrics. The deep cycle battery will power the electric motor to spin the alternator, but even under a no load condition it will drain the battery in a few hours (remember, it also has to power the ignition and all the lights on the rig, too). When you start adding a load to the alternator it will create a bigger draw on the motor, which will create a bigger demand on the battery just to keep up and before you know it the battery will be drained. You'd actually get more life out of the battery by eliminating the motor and alternator altogether and just hooking it direct to the bike; this is known as a "total loss" electrical system. I did this on my '05 Ural a few years ago when I got tired of replacing alternator drive couplings all the time and removed the alternator completely. I then ditched the bike battery and put a deep cycle battery in its place, under full load conditions it would last 5hr before battery voltage dropped below the 9V needed to power the electronic ignition.
However, a Gold Wing with a sidecar will use considerably more juice than an 05 Ural. It's best to just fix the Wing's alternator, really.
You maybe also install a car alternator under the rig and find a way to drive the alternator via a pulley driven by the tub wheel. For sure, you`ll get no charge at rest (stop lights, heavy slowed down trafic, motor warming...) but most of the time it should work. Just an idea that could be thinkered.
There's plenty of info on the web about adapting a car alternator to your Goldwing. If it'll clear your hack mounts it would be a whole lot simpler and cheaper than what you're asking about doing.
Car alternator will mount on the left side of the motor and should work just fine.
I have mounted an 70 amp GM alt under the left side of the plastic such that it does not show. The radiator was spaced forward about 1/4 inch. Lots of good info on the web.
Jay G
DMC sidecars
www.dmcsidecars
1200 alternators are well known to fail. Here's how mount a car alternator to an 1100. A 1200 would be similar.
http://goldwingdocs.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=11&t=14362
You can also go to www.goldwingfacts.com or www.ngw.com and search for "poor boy alternator"
something to check before digging into an alternate alternator is the connector under your left side cover. On the 1100' the connector with three yellow wires is notorious for melting. If its the same on the 1200, try cutting the connector out and solder the yellow wires together directly. It doesn't 't matter which top yellow connects to which bottom yellow, but do insulate the three joints from each other.
I hardwired my 84 and my current 81 1100. They both showed a lot of heat damage. I ran a voltage check on them before hard wiring.
Thanks to all that provided info.
I went back and did all the tests again carefully doing the back probing test on the Rectifier/Regulator side and found I did have voltage after all. So, the Alternator is GOOD. I ordered the Rec/Reg on friday from Caltric, Inc on ebay. http://www.ebay.com/itm/271245861257?ssP...1439.l2649
$65 free shipping. Ordered friday the 2nd and it was here yesterday the 5th.
I installed and yippee 13.5 v on startup and 14.2 rolling down the road.
I went ahead and cut the connector at the Alternator and soldered the wires as it was burnt and crusty.
That's good news!
