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Photo by Andy Miller, UK, Taking a rest, Jokulsarlon, Iceland

I haven't been everywhere...
but it's on my list!


Photo by Andy Miller, UK,
Taking a rest,
Jokulsarlon, Iceland



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  #1  
Old 27 Aug 2009
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Location: England
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Alternator Question
Hi all
The alternator on my kle is rated at 17A x 14V @ 6K and i was wondering what extras it can handle
I have ran 2 55W fog lamps through the winter with no trouble and just installed heated grips which use 4A or 1A depending on setting
Would having these on at the same time discharge the battery?

Not including intermitant equipment (indicators, brake light, horn etc)
i have the following
Head/Tail/Fog lights
55W/5W/110W =170W = 14.16A

Heated grips
4A initially then 1A when warm

Ignition
What is a typical power usage of an ignition system?

The fuse is 10A altough the fuse for the taillight is 10A and thats only 30W/2.5A max

Shaun
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  #2  
Old 28 Aug 2009
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17A @ 14V is 238 W, but that's peak output. Without knowing the bike it's hard to say what the output in real life will be.

The ignition will use 20-30W but that's a very rough number it'll vary with condition as well as design (How many plugs, FI pump etc.). Fuse size only tells you what the cables are designed to take, not the constant throughput. Some will be rated based on not worrying if the lamp burns out.

Pure guess:

Actual output 200W (about 85%)
Ignition: 25 W
Lights: 55W + 5W

Spare capacity: 115W

If the battery is good, the weather not too cold and you ride without frequent stops it'll keep up. If you drop the output you are in trouble. In bad weather I'd work on 60% output not 85, so I'd be worried.

I'd replace the tail light with an LED and turn the grips and lights off about 15 minutes away from home if it's safe.

Andy
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  #3  
Old 28 Aug 2009
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Location: Oxford UK
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My CCM has an even lower output (180W) and I built a small LED voltmeter (from a kit - Maplins in the UK) to keep an eye on exactly this problem. It was really cheap - £5 or so.

It's very simple - 3 LEDs, red for low volts (battery discharging), green for normal and yellow for overcharging. With just the ignition working it runs showing the green light and a faint glow from the yellow. Add the lights and it's just green - still ok. Add my electric jacket and a few other bits and I get a faint glow from the red. That's the limit.

The electronics are in a box about the size of a box of matches under the tank with wires going to the LEDs in a 2cm square box velcroed to the inside of the headlamp support where I can see them but they're out of the rain. It's been on the bike for the last three years and I've never had a battery problem.
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  #4  
Old 28 Aug 2009
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Was Thinking about installing a voltmeter
The trouble is my commute is only about 5 miles each way and its through town all the way so not many revs. Although my hours are 6-2:30 so chances are the foglights won't be on if the weathers good on the way home so the battery should charge up fully with only heated grips on if its cold

so total wattage
lights 170W
grips (low) 15W
Ignition 30W
=215W
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  #5  
Old 3 Sep 2009
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Join Date: Oct 2002
Location: Stockholm - Sweden
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That kind of electric power, that is available on most bikes, resulted in that I installed more electrical power on my Suzuki GS850GN. Then I got a beemer, since they had a rep of having a powerful alternator... the rep proved not true, so I installed a better alternator on it as well... now I have yet a beemer to fit with a stronger alternator and this time it will be a Bosch 90A (1260W) which is somewhat more power than what your KLE alternator delivers -

I.e. - you need to either enhace the alternator capacity, (Z1300 Voyager, USA issue, hade double alternators - could Kawa fix that to the KLE as well?), or swap bike to one that has.

Here is what I did:

Alternator:

http://www.webstruktur.com/svea/board/artik/bilgen.html

http://www.webstruktur.com/svea/board/artik/mont_bilgen.html
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