Motorbikes.

[Baggy Trousers]

Originally Posted by bikerhifinut

Greetings fellow Motorbicyclists!

On a tangent, I knocked up a wee gizmo for a mate who wanted a means to charge his USB phone and power the odd USB Gadget, eg MP3 player etc.

Goodness! This smacks of electronics and thermionic devices - way off topic!

My current project is getting 12VDC/85W from a 6VDC/60W generator. I'm told it can be done with some motorcycling electrickery and I'm about to embark on the project. The plan is to run a 60/55W headlight with the hope of being able to see where I'm going. That would be a novelty. The combination of oncoming vehicles failing to dip with the concomitant blindness, the level of illumination equivalent to a couple of glow-worms and "vintage" braking performance means the life support machine beckons me too.

I'm fighting back but may be forced to accept the Prince of Darkness's dictum that gentlemen do not motor after dark.

A couple of sign-offs used by contributors to the AJS/Matchless forum seem apposite: "Always ride your bike as if your life depended on it - because it does." Another is "Never ride faster than your guardian angel can fly." Just thought I'd mention them . . .

[Greg.]

Hi Baggy,

Forgive me for any inacuracy because my memory is poor, but I converted my Royal Enfield 6V system to 12V about thirty years ago (I no longer have the bike). The alternator can be wired to produce 12V. I then introduced a solid state RS rectifier to get rid of that appalling Lucas unit and introduced a zener diode that was securely grounded to burn off excess voltage. I hope that helps.

[pre65]

6v alternators are simple to convert to 12v,6v dynamos (as per Baggo's Ariel) less so.

My two scramblers are both 12v alternator with a Boyer powerbox and ignition modules. The Metisse has the Boyer ignition trigger instead of twin points (unit 650) and the TriBSA has the Boyer ignition trigger mounted inside the Lucas distributor (pre unit 650).

[bob orbell]

Don't think that helps at all Greg, Baggo's Ariel has a dynamo, not an alternator. Baggo, I used one of these 12v control units on my Triumph T110 with a 60/55 QH bulb, worked well with the engine above 3500 rev, but total discharge at anything below that, if you do long runs at speed it should be OK, but for short runs and town use, no good I found, also after standing for a week or more, it did not charge for some time, I think this is something to do with the way the field and armature have to be rewired. Went back to 6v and the CVC. BOB

[Baggy Trousers]

Originally Posted by bob orbell

Don't think that helps at all Greg, Baggo's Ariel has a dynamo, not an alternator. Baggo, I used one of these 12v control units on my Triumph T110 with a 60/55 QH bulb, worked well with the engine above 3500 rev, but total discharge at anything below that, if you do long runs at speed it should be OK, but for short runs and town use, no good I found, also after standing for a week or more, it did not charge for some time, I think this is something to do with the way the field and armature have to be rewired. Went back to 6v and the CVC. BOB

Well, thanks chaps. It might help to explain that I'm doing this in two stages.

Stage 1 is a new headlamp to accept the modern H4 bulb and a proper connector, not the poxy hit/miss electrical continuity of the old British pre-focus arrangement. A new light also ensures compatibility of lens, reflector bulb etc. Stop/tail light replaced with LED unit. AGM batteries wired in series and new electronic regulator replacing the old bobbin job. The consumption now equals the rated output of the dynamo (60W). The speedo light will condemn me to permanent discharge! It is claimed that at 12VDC, (despite the dynamo continuing to be 6V) the output will be greater than the notional 60W. Don't ask me! The system might just work; I'll give it a try.

Stage 2 will require an Alton alternator capable of 150W although the output is likely to be around 90W at the rotational speeds offered by a slow revving engine. This should guarantee sufficient energy but it's more than 400 quid (could buy several 3ooBs with that) and I should prefer to keep the original dynamo if possible. In the 'fifties before the Lucas reputation was assassinated by association with a dysfunctional automotive industry and before the King of the Road morphed into the Prince of Darkness, Lucas stuff was not bad.

Anyway, ta for the interest - I'll let you know how things go.

Baggo

[dan_s]

If you want to fit modern bulbs in your old headlamp you can use a P43t H4 bulb adaptor, or you can buy a new UK spec headlight, you can find ones from £25 from ebay sellers.
Most clock illuminations have LED replacements, , this may reduce current consumption.
afaik the most common type is the BA9 type. They sell very cheap, i bought mine from ebay sellers from hong kong, they fit with no problems in my Veglia clocks.
Obviously LEDs don't tolerate +/- replacement, as happened in by bike's indicators...

This thread is lacking PICTURES.

[pre65]

Quote Bob Orbell.

"Reading a past post of yours Baggo, do you remember that man who designed the Daimler V8 engine? long live Triumph twins, I love them. BOB vibrating back to happiness."

Did Edward Turner design both the Daimler V-8 engines, or only the "little" one as used in the SP-250 and the 2.5 saloon ?

[Baggy Trousers]

Originally Posted by pre65

Quote Bob Orbell.

"Reading a past post of yours Baggo, do you remember that man who designed the Daimler V8 engine? long live Triumph twins, I love them. BOB vibrating back to happiness."

Did Edward Turner design both the Daimler V-8 engines, or only the "little" one as used in the SP-250 and the 2.5 saloon ?

Originally Posted by bob orbell

Reading a past post of yours Baggo, do you remember that man who designed the Daimler V8 engine? long live Triumph twins, I love them. BOB vibrating back to happyness.

Which twins, Bob?

Some of the Triumph parallel units were tolerably smooth but these were drawn by one of the best designers to lead the British (or anywhere else) motorcycle industry. Val Page is one of my heros.

He was succeeded by your chum, Edward Turner and it was with his new designs that the trouble started. In fairness to Turner, however, he did acknowledge that with this configuration, it would be inevitable that primary and tertiary harmonic vibrations would increase as a function of swept volume. Nevertheless, the bosses largely under pressure from the American market, continually increased output and my fillings fell out. Perhaps his best remembered design was the Sq4 Ariel.

I could rant at length about the infantile and churlish behaviour of William Lyons and his treatment of the former Daimler Company but the destruction of the 2,5 and 4,5 litre engines for no reason beyond that they were smoother and more powerful than his ancient sixes was really unbelievably stupid. He never forgave the market for regarding his Jaguars as "Wardour Street Bentleys".

Curiously, when I was much younger and an habitue of the original Ace Caff, the police, in seeking to catch the T110s and A10s which were causing much consternation on the North Circular, introduced their black SP250s but with little success. I have always thought it ironic that one Edward Turner design should be despatched to catch another!

And always a little pleased that usually faster than these (as well as my camshaft Norton) was the Goldie from the drawing board of . . . . . yes, you've guessed it, VALENTINE PAGE.

Philip - correct, both engines were by Edward Turner with a lot of help from a fellow called Wickes but I don't think the latter had his name on it . . . . but if I remember correctly, the basic configuration of the pushrod engines was followed from General Motors - probably Buick as they sired so many British V8s from Rolls Royce to Rover - and the combustion chamber ethos was carried over from the Triumph m/c cylinder heads. A bit like the Vanwall engine being, sort of, four Manxes joined together.

The Dart/SP250 was an interesting car but probably overpriced to gain much market share before the grubby little sidecar manufacturer put the boot in. It was certainly nice to drive although the appearance and finish never reached "Daimler" standards due to the shortcomings of GRP production. The big engine in the Majestic Major was an impressive unit and propelled this large and heavy car with surprising elan. I had a friend who built a two-seat special using this engine - it was electrifying.

[bob orbell]

:Hi Baggo, and all who are interested, I ride two Turner twins, a 1956 T110 & a 1979 T140D, they are both very nice machines, but the 750 is better and up to 4500 rpm is quite smooth, I have done just over 250 miles almost non stop, and still retain my teeth. Turner never wanted to make his engine bigger than 500cc, but the yanks wanted more and had allredy stetched the 500 to 650, so turner followed with the T110 and latter the Bonneville. The CO-OP set to work enlarging the engine even further, stiffer crank, stiffer crankcases bigger and better main bearings 10 stud head and more. My engine is 100% oil tight, yes it is, it sports the fabulous Morgo rotory oil pump in place of that poxy thing from the Ariel singles. The balance factor of these engines is 72% and latter changed to 85%, the T110 is only 50%, of course this only moves the vibration to a diffrent rev. range. As for Val Pages engine, the 6/1 it was called, never hit the public the same way as the Turner twins, and I have never seen one. Keep up the chat, it's great to talk about the past. BOB

[pre65]

Morgo rotary oil pumps are good.

I use them on both my scramblers, and have had no problems except once when doing an oil change the unit engined bike needed to be bled at the pump which meant the timing cover had to come off.

The plunger oil pumps are OK till you get a bit of grit under one of the balls. Had that problem once with my Ariel Reg Hunter 500 on the scavenge side and the crankcases soon filled with oil.

A "special" with a Daimler 450 V-8 sounds interesting Baggo.