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Tools
for Electrics - Not a lot required really.
Good pliers, blunt and long-nosed.
Selection of screwdrivers of the correct type and size. Soldering
iron, small to medium.
Soldering irons, once quite expensive are now cheap, buy one if you
can. Multimeters also once very expensive for the range we require
are down to around a fiver if you shop around, an invaluable tool.
Don't buy one unless it has a 6-volt scale reading up to not more
than 25 volts, or you won't be able to read small deflections of the
pointer.
Always disconnect the battery when using the "Ohms" scale or you could
wreck the meter by putting current through it in this mode. (Better
ones are fuse protected, but since the fuse is in milliamps you'll
only get a replacement at an electronics specialist.)
The Ohms scale is for checking resistance, or more often continuity,
handy when you want to know which of a bunch of wires is interconnected
to which others, especially when you turn switches. You can also use
it as a points checker, connected across the points (using the ohms
scale and with battery current disconnected), the pointer will drop
when the contacts begin to open. A truly modern substitute for a fag
paper.
Notes
The great majority of British bikes post-war up to late sixties use
a six volt British Pre-Focus headlamp bulb, which just drops into
the back of the reflector. Some immediate post-war models however
still use an earlier pre-war type that fits into a screw-clamp, adjustable
fore and aft for focussing.
These bulbs are called Vee Filament, have a big round globe, the filament
is vee shaped and the metal cap is similar to that of a tail bulb.
A few tail lamps (notably Wipac) use a screw-in bulb (MES - Miniature
Eddison Screw). Vehicle bulbs of this type are generally of 3watts
but are becoming difficult to obtain locally. I have used torch bulbs,
rated in amps, without apparent problem.
Bulb wattage - fitting a bulb of a
higher wattage will not necessarily give you a brighter light. If,
for instance your dynamo puts out a nominal 50 watts, consider how
much of this you are using. E.G. - pilot bulb 5 w, tail 5w, speedo
4w, =14w. On the face of it this appears to leave 36w for the headlamp
- not so. There will always be a loss in the system due to resistance
(particularly at old or dirty connectors) of 2 or 3 watts or more,
and then, what happens when you touch the brake? Another 21w drain,
meaning all bulbs will dim.
Also you won't have anything spare to maintain battery charging. So,
with a 50w dynamo, the brightest headlamp bulb you should fit is a
24/24w. A TIP - if you're not fussy about how brightly your speedo
and rev-counter glow, then fit 2w bulbs instead of 4w, this will give
a saving of 8%!
Pay attention to all earth connections, particularly headlamp to main
frame, which often relies on a path from an earth clip in the headlamp
shell via the steering bearings, leading to high resistance if the
bearings are poorly seated or glazed with old grease!
A separate earth-wire by-passing the steering bearings is always a
good idea. In my youth I had a really nice ES2 Norton, but the headlamp
beam barely crawled out past the glass forming a yellowish pool of
light (?) on the front mudguard.
One day while firkling about in the headlamp I noticed this apparent
lack of an earth between the headlamp and frame, so I fitted one.
Bingo! There was light! The original wiring loom relied on an earth
path through the steering ballraces, OK when new but not ten years
on.
The same applies to tail lamps earthed through "bolted - up" rear
ends, you are relying on a good path through the joining bolts of
the frame. There's no need to run lots of wires to the battery earth
terminal. Run them to a common point on the main portion of the frame
and one wire from there to the battery, much neater.
Fancy a 12-volt "conversion"? Think carefully, these are mostly regulator
substitutes, requiring the dynamo to deliver maximum performance virtually
all the time. The maximum voltage a six volt dynamo is capable of
delivering is about 10 volts at normal running speed.
This will never charge a 12 volt battery for long enough for other
than short trips. Also, the dynamo will be working at maximum capacity
and will get very hot. It is not unknown for a dynamo running with
a 12 volt regulator conversion to run hot enough to melt the soldered
connections to the commutator.
You can't get a quart out of a pint pot. Some 12 volt conversions
do work satisfactorily depending on your demands on the system, but
unless you can fit a proper 12-volt system, as you can by up-dating
some alternator systems, I suggest that a well sorted 6v system is
probably more reliable.
Electronic ignition I have to admit
that in the early days of these systems I was sceptical about their
advantage, as unreliability seemed to be a common complaint. However
bearing in mind that almost all new motorcycles have had these systems
for nearly twenty years, and that oddly, they were firstly almost
universal on the most mistreated of all devices, the mo-ped, I have
long since accepted that they are "a good thing".
My experience of the aftermarket systems is limited, Boyer Bransden
being the most common. I have found their system using the original
contact points "electronically assisted" to be very reliable. Having
first set the contacts gap, the "black box" incorporates an indicator
lamp to show when the points are about to open.
Bearing in mind the extremely low current now passing across the points
this enables very accurate setting of the ignition timing. The spark
at the plug is enhanced and I have found a very noticeable improvement
in starting, slow running and fuel economy (although economy is definitely
more a matter of driving technique than fuel saving devices).
In the unlikely event of a failure, this type of system can readily
be bypassed with little fuss. Contactless systems perform even better,
but don't give you the option of quick re-conversion. I'm currently
(pun) using both types on machines I own and I'd happily recommend
either.
| Comments |
| pieter van Gelder 21st March 01 | there is is a easy "kit' electronical assist ( no high voltage through contact-breakers)
Try website; velleman.be and look for the kit: K2543 (electronic ign.)Price: F30,= guilders Have fun !!
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