Yes, I would prefer to retain the appearance and I'm not au fait with the Kubota. The Alton does have advantage of going straight on. On the other hand I'm not planning on doing any long night time trips or selling the bike in the foreseeable future, so I may just carry on with total loss electrics as I'm still on the mag.
Misc: Charging Systems Alternators
- Thread starter SteveO
- Start date
I use my lights very little but have rebuilt the Lucas dynamo with a 12v armature and field coil and run a DVR2 regulator and as the bulbs are all LED other than the headlight it has been plenty when I have needed them.
I did that for a while before I got my Alton. In many states in the US, the headlight has to be on during the day, but a brighter pilot bulb from Goffy kept the gendarmes happy. Now, an LED bulb there would be even better.
I've had no problems over several years with an original Miller D6 dynamo and V-Reg2 6V regulator. I run an LED headlamp bulb and 10W tail lamp, for a draw of 20W with headlamp always on - well within the limits of the dynamo.
I'd be interested to hear why people conclude the original dynamos are unreliable. The only wear parts are the bearings and brushes, reasonably long-lasting and easily replaced. Armatures that are 70 years old may fail, but new ones are available for a fraction of the Alton investment.
Wanting a quadraphonic stereo or heated vest might be good reasons for a higher-output alternator setup, but lighting can be provided these days with LEDs at low current.
I'd be interested to hear why people conclude the original dynamos are unreliable. The only wear parts are the bearings and brushes, reasonably long-lasting and easily replaced. Armatures that are 70 years old may fail, but new ones are available for a fraction of the Alton investment.
Wanting a quadraphonic stereo or heated vest might be good reasons for a higher-output alternator setup, but lighting can be provided these days with LEDs at low current.
My bike came with an Alton starter too, which is why a) I want to retain 12V; b) I need something to really put juice back into the battery. ATM the starter isn't functional as one of the drive gears is stripped, but replacing the gear is conditional on getting the charging system fixed. It's a sort of chicken and egg thing.
The problems originally arose before LED bulbs were available, before LED if you wanted lights comparable to modern vehicles you really needed 12volts and high wattage bulbs, and that really taxed the uprated dynamos, especially if you were attempting to also run electronic ignition systems, but LED bulbs and low draw ignition systems or BT-H "magnetos" changed all that. Whether a 12v converted dynamo can put enough back into the battery to consistently use an electric starter might be questionable.
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I think the problems arise if you try to use an 12volt uprated Miller or Lucas dynamo with an electric starter, I would expect an Alton to cope.
I believe John's drawings exist. I have some but not all.