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New bike - some help please

NMBeemer
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Re: New bike - some help please

Post by NMBeemer »

Well, life intervened and I'm crawling along on getting things copasetic on this new bike.

Today, I received a bunch of new parts, including a pair of plug-and-play LED headlight bulb replacements for $52 delivered. See photos.

I was skeptical that it would clear the fuse block at the rear of the headlight housing, but it did--at least to the extent I was able to close the housing up. We'll see if the heat sink melts something in the future...

The difference in brightness appears significant, though I'll withhold judgment until I'm able to ride the bike at night (upper fairing mount won't get here from the UK for another couple of weeks, per the other thread about converting from RT to RS).

However, this is a great deal, as the kit is for cars, so includes two lamps--one goes in the aft storage compartment as a spare for over-the-road trips. I doubt I'll ever have to buy headlight bulbs again, given the life of good-quality LEDs like these.

I also did some wiring checks, as my warning lights don't work, save for the signal indicator. Testing for continuity at plug for the oil pressure and neutral light, the former sensor is good and the latter bad, unfortunately, as per Snowbum it looks like a task to replace. I may just wait until next tranny oil change...

I disassembled the instrument cluster and all of the warning bulbs are good. So, presumably I will have to test the leads from the respective sensors and devices, and if they're good, test the cluster's plug, and finally the flexible circuit board. What a disappointment... though I guess it goes with the territory. At least the wiring loom isn't very complicated, and that wonderful OEM shop manual I got with the bike has very nice, fold-out wiring diagrams, clear photographs, etc...


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1984 R100RS (converted from RT), 1971 Triumph Bonneville custom cafe, 1951 Harley Pan-Shovel

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srankin
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Re: New bike - some help please

Post by srankin »

I have posted on various forums the issues with drop in LED bulbs and airhead headlights. Part of my knowledge comes from the school of hard knocks, buying LED bulbs only to find out they don't play well in the stock reflector system. Oh they are great for a visual aid in the daylight but a number of them produce a very bad light pattern that is blinding to oncoming drivers and doesn't cover the whole path forward. I very much suggest you evaluate the pattern of light you are getting now with the drop in bulb. It should be flat with a rise on the right side. Not a big bright blob of light.

So far, the best bulb I have found was cyclops company. Since I no longer ride at night, I only have my garage door evaluation as to how this bulb works. Better than most so far. St.
Owner of a 84, R80RT and 79 R100RT being stripped naked for summer, turned Into a frame up restoration,

NMBeemer
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Re: New bike - some help please

Post by NMBeemer »

srankin wrote:
Sun Nov 03, 2024 3:19 pm
I have posted on various forums the issues with drop in LED bulbs and airhead headlights. Part of my knowledge comes from the school of hard knocks, buying LED bulbs only to find out they don't play well in the stock reflector system. Oh they are great for a visual aid in the daylight but a number of them produce a very bad light pattern that is blinding to oncoming drivers and doesn't cover the whole path forward. I very much suggest you evaluate the pattern of light you are getting now with the drop in bulb. It should be flat with a rise on the right side. Not a big bright blob of light.

So far, the best bulb I have found was cyclops company. Since I no longer ride at night, I only have my garage door evaluation as to how this bulb works. Better than most so far. St.
Thank you for this.

I think, since I'm using the OEM reflector and lens, that it should net the flat with R/H rise low-beam pattern you're talking about. But I am not sure how the design of the bulb itself--with its light-emitting diodes on two sides of a blade, as it were--will approximate how the H4 works in conjunction with the reflector & lens...

...okay, my bike is partly disassembled (waiting for the RS headlight/upper fairing mount), and aimed the opposite direction from the garage door--at a wall with shelves, etc. So, I just put a cardboard tri-fold in front of it--just a few feet from the headlight, so this is a miniaturized version of what you'd see at the manual's 16.5' projection onto the door.

Looks like it might be passable, anyway: you can kind of see a wedge shape, biased toward the R/H side in the first low-beam photo. Perhaps kind of similar, if not quite as well-defined at the lower and lateral edges, as the $39 dedicated LED unit I used for the '71 Bonneville custom setup, seen in the next two photos. That one has a dead-flat pattern in low-beam mode, with a central rise and higher intensity in high-beam.

Anyway, what I'll do is post similar garage-door photos whenever the fairing/headlight mount gets here, and then do some outdoor testing--as I've got 90 days to ride the bike to MVD for the out-of-state VIN check to retitle it for NM. Might as well take advantage of the current Wisconsin registration. 8-) I am curious to see what kind of coverage it nets toward the shoulders, as I where I live there are deer, wild horses, and coyotes sometimes crossing the canyon that ascends to the turnoff for my place.

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1984 R100RS (converted from RT), 1971 Triumph Bonneville custom cafe, 1951 Harley Pan-Shovel

NMBeemer
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Re: New bike - some help please

Post by NMBeemer »

I was reading one of Snowbum's articles and like the idea of installing a low-ohm resistor to add redundant alternator energizing, should the indicator bulb go out on an over-the-road trip.

Sure, you can swap out the turn indicator bulb to get home. But I don't relish fiddling with those tiny screws to R&R the back of the instrument pod in the dark by the side of the road. And he points out that there is no down side: the bulb's near-ideal function is not affected at all, either as to energizing or alerting you to alternator failure; you just get a redundant energizing system that's there if you need it.

I don't want to futz with the flexible circuit board, so would go with Method #2, as he describes it:

"Install the resistor at the terminal of the ignition coil that connects to the battery circuit. This is the terminal that has the green/blue wire. There is often an unused male spade connector available there. Connect the other side of the resistor to either of the blue wires coming out of the voltage regulator plug [this is D+]."

Question: has anyone done this who might have a photo of a tidy setup under the frame backbone by the coils? It doesn't have to go there. I suppose it could go under a side cover or anywhere there's air flow for the resistor to cool. But it'd be neat to see how others might have configured their setups.
1984 R100RS (converted from RT), 1971 Triumph Bonneville custom cafe, 1951 Harley Pan-Shovel

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srankin
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Re: New bike - some help please

Post by srankin »

LOL, I ditched the BMW instrument light system on both bikes and installed Katdash units. Far far less trouble with them. St.
Owner of a 84, R80RT and 79 R100RT being stripped naked for summer, turned Into a frame up restoration,

NMBeemer
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Re: New bike - some help please

Post by NMBeemer »

srankin wrote:
Mon Nov 04, 2024 7:34 am
LOL, I ditched the BMW instrument light system on both bikes and installed Katdash units. Far far less trouble with them. St.
Oh, cool, do you have some pics of the Katdash setup? I'm interested to see how it worked out for you.

Sorry, never mind. I found the online instructions, linked here. https://katdash.com/wp-content/uploads/ ... lation.pdf
1984 R100RS (converted from RT), 1971 Triumph Bonneville custom cafe, 1951 Harley Pan-Shovel

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Re: New bike - some help please

Post by NMBeemer »

Yeah, I'm sold: just ordered the 8195 unit and am looking forward to never worrying about that again. Too bad I wasted $1.75 on a resistor... 8-)

Thanks very much for the great tip!
1984 R100RS (converted from RT), 1971 Triumph Bonneville custom cafe, 1951 Harley Pan-Shovel

NMBeemer
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Re: New bike - some help please

Post by NMBeemer »

Okay, got the lighter, more efficient starter installed. Cleaned up the front and top covers, replaced a missing top/right air box bolt that also looks like it helps hold the tranny to the engine--and noticed that the PO (original owner since new - found the dealer papers in the box 'o parts) had removed the emissions control stuff inside the air box. Just the crankcase breather and snorkels in there now...

Also looked at the alternator brushes, which look like they were replaced when the Motorrad Elektric stuff was installed (he has a new set in the box 'o parts, and these weren't that much shorter than the new ones). However - the little clock spring that tensions the brushes seemed like it was close to pressing on the plastic brush holder's upper edge... is that another indication of wear in addition to comparing length of brushes? It is charging well...

From what I understand, this Motorrad Elektric stuff was installed ~3,000 miles before it was put up for storage, where it sat for many years before I bought it. From the relative cleanliness of the stuff, I now believe that may be true.

Finally, I got those teensy clips onto the seat pivot pins, which had been missing--presumably from when he replaced the seat, at the same time the other work was done, I think.

Tomorrow, I will adjust the valves and then do a leak-down test to see how healthy the valve seats are.

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schrader7032
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Re: New bike - some help please

Post by schrader7032 »

Not sure it's proof that the brushes are wearing out with the snail spring nearly touching the holder. It could be they were not properly positioned when the brushes were changed. Guess the only way to know is to actually pull the brushes out and measure...I don't think that's a simple process as one of the brush holders is inside the stator.
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NMBeemer
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Re: New bike - some help please

Post by NMBeemer »

schrader7032 wrote:
Mon Nov 04, 2024 7:06 pm
Not sure it's proof that the brushes are wearing out with the snail spring nearly touching the holder. It could be they were not properly positioned when the brushes were changed. Guess the only way to know is to actually pull the brushes out and measure...I don't think that's a simple process as one of the brush holders is inside the stator.
Ah, okay, thanks Kurt. Well, I had gone ahead and buttoned it up based on the visual comparison and the fact that it charged so well on the ride back from Wisconsin. I think I read Snowbum say they typically wear evenly together, though not always. But based on the length of the front one, I find it hard to believe they are the original brushes in there after 63K miles...

But I'll just keep a close eye on the voltmeter and charge light over the next year or two, then maybe just pop in the new set next time I have the front cover off.

Looking forward to seeing how the high efficiency starter turns her over. Man, that original Bosch starter was heavy!

You know, I haven't checked the specs yet but peeking through the spark plug hole the valves look similar in size to those on the '51 FL whose top end I rebuilt when I resurrected her (after an even longer, 20-year sleep). So maybe I'll get lucky and my seat cutters for that bike will work on this one, too. The carbide inserts slide in and out a bit with allen screw adjusters. So could be I'll get lucky...
1984 R100RS (converted from RT), 1971 Triumph Bonneville custom cafe, 1951 Harley Pan-Shovel

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