R50 Running with battery disconnected

[THEFORTHSTOOGE]

With the battery disconnected the mag will run the engine.
Should any other connections be disabled to prevent generator damage?

[dougthatdoug]

I know of at least one bike that was kept that way for years, so I think you'll be good, as long as you're ok without having any/much lighting at idle.

You can damage electronic voltage regulators by running without a battery - a win for the original electro-mechanical regulator!

[THEFORTHSTOOGE]

UPDATE
Kept mag points ignition and installed VAPE 12V upgrade. 750 miles so far and doing great.

[vechorik1373]

While a stock bike, with a stock 6v generator will run without a battery, if you do this too long there is a good chance you will ruin the old mechanical voltage regulator. If you simply want to run it without the battery in the circuit, peel back the brush springs, and lift the brushes off the armature. This will disable the generator, and no harm will be done to the voltage regulator. You won't have any lights, but you won't do any damage.

[kenrcruise]

Good info, Vech and dougthat doug!

I had read that the electronic voltage regulator resulted in lighting bein somewhat brighter. Is this the case? I ran my R60/2 (since sold) with all stock electrics, and the headlight would dim at idle. I have purchased a 6V H4 headlight bulb. Still considering elec tronc voltage regulator unless there's no advantage to it.

Ken Cruise

[vechorik1373]

Ken

You said:
I had read that the electronic voltage regulator resulted in lighting bein somewhat brighter. Is this the case? I ran my R60/2 (since sold) with all stock electrics, and the headlight would dim at idle. I have purchased a 6V H4 headlight bulb. Still considering elec tronc voltage regulator unless there's no advantage to it



You are mixing two subjects of bulb brightness and generator output.. There is the lumins output of various bulbs versus the capacity of the charging system to power them. The original headlight bulbs were 35 watt. You cannot run a bulb of higher wattage, the charging system won't support it and all the other bulbs and keep the battery charging also.
Having said that, a 35 watt halogen bulb versus a 35 watt conventional filament bulb, the halogen will have a higher light output, but not a dramatic difference. Think of it like this. The difference between a 35 watt halogen and a 35 watt regular bulb is like the difference between a Zippo and a Bic lighter. The Zippo is brighter, but they are still both lighters..
And you say that the headlight dims at idle. The reason is two fold. 1. the generator does not charge at idle, so the light is drawing it's power from the battery alone. 2. If your battery isn't new, and capable of standing up to the load of the bulb, the voltage from the battery will drop, and the light will dim a lot more.


If you want bright modern lighting, you will have to switch to a more powerful charging system that can handle the bulb load. Like replacing the stock system with a 12 volt, 200 watt alternator. Then you can run a 65 watt BRIGHT halogen bulb, what most modern vehicles use.

Now, the regulators, original mechanical versus solid state.
The stock charging system puts out, when fully functional, puts out 7.2 volts (check yours by putting ananalog (with a needle) volt meter (a digital won't work, it takes samples too fast the the numbers will tumble) across the battery posts, and rev up the engine and read the voltage) and 50 watts. The real advantage to an electronic regulator is that it does a better job of current regulation. You see, filament bulbs of any type, do not like variations in output. It tends to make them burn out quicker. The way a mechanical regulator works, the output is constantly fluctuating up and down when the generator is charging. A solid state electronic regulator does not do this, you have a steady state of output. This is much better for filament bulbs.