Triumphrat

Sasquatch

I found the solution. My 01 955i has always seemed to charge at a lower voltage than what I am comfortable with. I have a Volt meter on My GPS and constantly watch it. With no accessories on it would charge around 13.5 volts. It has done this for the last 25k miles, since new.

Yesterday morning was the straw that broke the camels back. It was cold, about 35 degrees F, and I have a long ride in. I had the grips on high and my Gerbing full jacket liner on about 3/4ths on the temptroller. My cruise voltage never exceeded 13.1 volts and at idle it was 12.0-12.1vdc.

I pulled it into the shop last night, hooked all my heated clothing to it, took the seat of and with my Fluke DMM, started tracking voltage with the bike running at 2500rpm. I was loosing 1.2 volts between the battery and the regulator. The fix was so simple, everyone should do it if they have a problem or not.

I unplugged the charge side of the regulator from the chassis harness. In that connection there are 2 red and 2 black wires. Power and ground. I re routed the wire around the side of the regulator so the connector was sitting by the positive battery terminal. I picked up 2 inline blade style fuse holders, waterproof, from NAPA auto parts. Keeping the wires short, I put female spade connectors on one end of the fuses and plugged them into the two red wires at the connector. The other ends of the fuse wires I joined into one ring terminal and attached it to the positive battery post.

I installed 2 20amp fuses into the holders. I will update the group on the fuse ratings, I need to talk to our electrical engineer about that. I dont know if I need 2 20's in parallel or 2 40's to get the proper fuse connection. Then remove the 30 amp fuse from the fuse block, number 2 I think it is. That will kill power going down to the loose connector now hanging in your engine bay.

The grounds I did the same, but with no fuse holders. I just ran 2 10" pieces of 12awg wire from the connector to one ring terminal at the battery.

Huge, HUGE difference. This morning, it was 31 degrees F when I rode in. Gerbing liner on roast, heated grips on High, high beams (100w x 2) on most of the way and the cruise voltage hovered between 14.2-14.4 vdc. At idle it never dropped below 12.5v at full load. The lights were brighter, my heaters were warmer and warmed up much faster. The engine seemed crisper, but that could be in my mind.

Do it guys. I will have photos when we do my fathers Tiger in a week or so.

Diego

There is a factory approved field modification for charging. I would have that done before trying something like this, which (just from the written description, that admittedly I may be miscomprehending) sounds a bit dodgy... especially the part about the fuses. Sounds like it would be very easy to end up with no regulation at all.

Beware the Ides of March!

John

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John

blacktiger

Tell us more please.

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H
'02 Tiger955i in black.

Diego

> Tell us more please.

This is actually very old news and I don't remember the details; but your dealer would. It was done on my first service visit to the shop back in '03.

Doesn't bring battery terminal voltage up into the 14+ range, of course. That much voltage is not a particularly good thing.

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John

CBMMA1969

14 +/- volts across the battery is generally considered in the correct range, car, truck or motorcycle.
I've had my bike in and the dealer has said all is good but my voltage will drop without added loads to 12.1 volts at idle. I also loose about 3/4 of a volt through the fuse block. I'm assuming it's a connection on the back side of the block that's an issue. Sasquatch's fix leaves you regulated and fused but bypasses several connections.

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Clint

Sasquatch

Couple days on this mod now and it is fantastic. Fully loaded with heated clothing, grips, and 80w headlights the cruise voltage at the battery is 14.1-14.3vdc. At idle I do not drop below 12.5.

But, we have a correction. Use only one fuse holder rated at 30+ amps. Join the two red wires into one and then go through the fuse holder. My EE told me that running two parallel fuses was a bad idea. I need to re do mine tonight.

TiggerTwo

Sasquatch -

Could you please provide a marked up schematic from the shop manual?

I gamble to say that when you return to the 30A fuse that you'll see the system drop back down to the original voltage level.

I would be curious to know what happens.

TT

[ This message was edited by: TiggerTwo on 2007-03-17 12:53 ]

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OAK

Diego

> My EE told me that running two parallel fuses was a bad idea.

Quite. If I may, though, I second the request for a schematic. I'm still having a little trouble visualizing the mod as described verbally.

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John

Sasquatch

Hold tight guys, I will do one better and do it with photos. I'll try and get it done today.

cjmadura

I too have had numerous problems with my battery and charging system. Yesterday was the last straw. The bike started fine, rode for 50 miles, stopped and refueled - started fine. I rode for approx. another 30 miles, hit the head at Mcdonalds (all it's good for...), and climbed back on - barely cranked, no start. I was riding with a Gerbing jacket liner and heated grips, with the full beams on. Jumped the bike and off I went, straight home. Parked, waited 10 minutes and.... Started right up!
What's it's game!!!

The fix mentioned here sounds right. I've read it before and now it's time. Combine the two red wires from the regulator with a "button hook" connection (12 or 10 gauge wire) with an in line 30A fuse directly to the battery. Do the same with the two ground wires (sans fuse).

The charging system should be far more potent, just as Sasquatch says.

Getting stuck at McDonalds is one thing. Chancing a breakdown at 3am somewhere on a New Mexico rally is quite another....

Check out this thread for the fix - nicely done.
http://www.triumphrat.net/modificati...nator+charging

Happy motoring my Brothers!!!