Norway Assault Vehicle MKIII

Best way to keep them shiney is not to crash ;-)

 

Very nice, and IMHO almost a bit too shiny for what the mucky roads up
there may throw at it.

That may depend on your choice of route. The inter-city main roads can
be significantly more messy[1] than the alternative routes. Unless the
temperature stays below -10, whee less grit/salt is used, and the roads
stay "cleaner".

[1] many cars with studded tyres => significant wear of the road
surface. The tarmac worn away to form the ruts mixed with salt and
thawed ice becomes a very sticky road slime. Much worse than in e.g.
Germany.

 

<emailed>

What wattage are they?

I'm pretty sure they'll cope - it only has a tiny battery as it doesn't
need to start the bike but has a quite beefy lighting generator of 190W.

The ignition uses separate coils from the magneto.

My rough calculations using the specs from the book show 103W [1] with
all electrical equipment - however all the lights on my bike bar the
headlight are LED so their power requirements are going to be lower.


[1] Head 55/45W, rear 5, stop, 10, indicator 21, pilot 5, speedo 4,
console 3 = 103

 

You need to go another 21 for the other indicator.

 

And don't sound the horn.

--
+-------------------------------------------------------------------+
| Pete Fisher at Home: |
| Aprilia Shiver Yamaha WR250Z/Supermoto "Old Gimmer's Hillclimber" |
| Gilera GFR * 2 Moto Morini 2C/375 |
+-------------------------------------------------------------------+

 

Good points.

Although the horn and indicators are not really constant drain items -
the charging system should have enough slack to cope.

After a bit of rudimentary googling a jacket drains 80w. I guess the
heated grips a little less. The other biggie is the headlight at 55/45
(I'd better actually check it as the book says 45/35).

The rest of the lights are LEDs, not sure what they draw.

 

Just as well the ignition is good old flywheel magneto effectively or
sounding the horn might theoretically also bring on an emergency stop.

Wise. ISTR a horror story about a modern beemer electrical system being
toasted by the owner fitting an extra potent headlamp bulb.

Not a lot at a guess.

SWMBO's old Yamaha 100 had a sub-optimal charging system at the best of
times. Once the battery got a bit tired the indicator blink rate became
geriatric with the lights on, even with the engine running.


--
+-------------------------------------------------------------------+
| Pete Fisher at Home: |
| Aprilia Shiver Yamaha WR250Z/Supermoto "Old Gimmer's Hillclimber" |
| Gilera GFR * 2 Moto Morini 2C/375 |
+-------------------------------------------------------------------+

 

I'm sure it'll be fine, I'll get it posted today.

Simon, you'll need the wiring harness adapter, you'll have to phone XO2
on 01698 746347, can't see it on their website http://www.exo2.co.uk.

I had the XO2 one and the Gerbing one that Hog had fitted to the ST4s,
both worked with the jacket plug.

 

@news.individual.net:

according to
http://www.autobulbsdirect.co.uk/3156-21W-19LED-WEDGE-Red-or-Amber.html
their replacement for a 21W replacement draws 1W. Same for a twin filament
brake/tail light.

 

Insignificant, then.

The draw, not the answer.

 

I've spoken to the company that makes the jacket (I needed to get the
wiring harness) and they draw 49W, the heated grips I have draw 36W so
I'm within the 190W of the generator even with the headlight on.

 

No problem then. IIRC in the case of the beemer it was the weedy wiring
to the headlight switches, or switch contacts that got too hot and
melted causing the sort of havoc you might imagine on a modern bike. I
suspect your components are made of sterner stuff - and the bike's.

--
+-------------------------------------------------------------------+
| Pete Fisher at Home: |
| Aprilia Shiver Yamaha WR250Z/Supermoto "Old Gimmer's Hillclimber" |
| Gilera GFR * 2 Moto Morini 2C/375 |
+-------------------------------------------------------------------+

 

No matter what all the calculations say, I'd bung one of these to the
bike somewhere visible and wire it up to the battery for periodic checks
while underway, to make sure the alternator is keeping up with the load.
SOP[1] even for serious tourers with alternators rated almost 3x what
sweller's is.

http://www.harborfreight.com/7-function-digital-multimeter-90899.html


[1] Well, usually something a bit less pikey but the idea's the same.

 

I've probably got one of these kicking about somewhere.
http://bit.ly/shiteoldbikebit

 

Heh, I think I've still got one of those in the shed somewhere from the
AJS/Matchless days. "I was doing 8 amps down the by-pass."
--
+-------------------------------------------------------------------+
| Pete Fisher at Home: |
| Aprilia Shiver Yamaha WR250Z/Supermoto "Old Gimmer's Hillclimber" |
| Gilera GFR * 2 Moto Morini 2C/375 |
+-------------------------------------------------------------------+

 

<VBG>

 

A voltmeter is more useful, if the voltage is above a certain point you know
you're keeping the battery topped up, if it's below, you're not keeping up.

It won't do you any good to know your alternator is happily putting out its
maximum amps unless you are also measuring the draw on the battery at the
same time, which is tough since the battery needs to be able to deliver
dozens if not hundreds of amps to the starter, which that ammeter won't allow.

Plus a voltmeter can tell you the state of charge of the battery without
the engine running.

 

The fact the Armstrong doesn't have a starter aside vehicle ammeters are
not wired in that way. They go between the battery and generator control
box, which usually also supplies the main fuse box. This allows you to
see if battery is delivering or receiving (charge or discharge)

The starter motor circuit would be separate. Consisting of a heavy feed
to the motor operated bu a solenoid mechanism - the heavy feed wouldn't
go anywhere near the instrumentation. If it did the gauge of cable would
be enormous!

A voltmeter shows what the battery or dynamo is putting out but doesn't
show if the battery is being charged.

My Jag can't keep up with the radiator fan and headlights on at the same
time and shows a discharging battery but the dynamo is still putting out
12+ volts.

 

Believe me, I know- I was referring to retro-fitting that style of ammeter
to a bike with a typical permanent magnet alternator with a solid state
reg/rect, which I assume your Armstrong has. I wasn't aware the Armstrong
didn't have an electric foot. In which case, yes, you could pretty much
get away with inserting the ammeter in series with the positive battery
lead and it would tell you whether the net current was in or out.

Actually it does do exactly that- it's pretty hard for the battery NOT to
be charging if the voltage directly across it is above its charging threshold.

And when this is happening, the voltage across the battery is below its
charging threshold, which is what I've been saying all along. In order for
a digital voltmeter to be useful it has to have a resolution of at least a
tenth of a volt or so, an analog one doesn't even need to be calibrated,
just have enough swing in the area of interest so you can tell if it's in
its normal range or not.

 

Ugrade your main fuse to a Slo Blo type.

Fuses is rated that they will (should) carry the rated number of amps for
ages but will blow at their design speed at about twice that figure. there
is no telling how old and fragile your existing fuse is but if it is
original it is not what it used to be and may just pop even at currents
below the stated rating. And carry a spare or two or take a smoker with
you.