My 1970 CL175 has been running ok all summer, charging at around 13v. Never really rode it long distance nor did I ride it at night much. Mostly to and from work in the morning and evening. And its been doing great.
Lately however, I've been riding on weekends long distance and noticed that it was actually not charging enough. I was getting maybe 12.5v at around 4-5k, with no light or nothing. As soon as I applied the brake (brake light coming on), the bike would sputter or want to die, and turn signals would be very dim and barely signaling. I would recharge the battery and everything would be ok for a while and then it would happen again.
So I finally decided to upgrade the stock selenium rectifier with the Radio Shack $5 rectifier (50v 25am). As soon as I hooked it up, it started giving a steady 13v, going up to 13.2 around 5k rpm. Still not enough juice to power my lights, because I was seeing a dip when I turned on lights.
Then, as I was going over the wiring, I noticed that the yellow (Y) and white/yellow (Y/W) were not used at all. From my understanding of the diagram and reading posts the additional power coming straight from the stator is used as a supplemental power for the lights. I measured the output of the wire and it read round 6v at idle and a little higher at higher rpms.
My original controls were completely toast, corroded, and spliced up. So I purchased an aftermarket light controls from DCC. The power source I used for the light and turn signals was the black (B) wire. Which I now realize might have been the wrong thing to do.
So, just for shits and giggles, I connected the Yellow (Y) and Yellow/White (Y/W) together. Aaaand now I have over 13.5-14v at idle and 14-15v at higher rpms. Doesn't seem to exceed 15v.
So, my question is, should I try to hook up the light the way it should be as in the original diagram? My understanding from the SparckMoto wiring simplification sticky, the yellow and white/yellow should be spliced together anyway, and the headlight should be fine running off the black wire.
Just wanted to make sure, I don't end up frying my rectifier, battery, or worse stator.
Thanks in advance for all of your input.
Lately however, I've been riding on weekends long distance and noticed that it was actually not charging enough. I was getting maybe 12.5v at around 4-5k, with no light or nothing. As soon as I applied the brake (brake light coming on), the bike would sputter or want to die, and turn signals would be very dim and barely signaling. I would recharge the battery and everything would be ok for a while and then it would happen again.
So I finally decided to upgrade the stock selenium rectifier with the Radio Shack $5 rectifier (50v 25am). As soon as I hooked it up, it started giving a steady 13v, going up to 13.2 around 5k rpm. Still not enough juice to power my lights, because I was seeing a dip when I turned on lights.
Then, as I was going over the wiring, I noticed that the yellow (Y) and white/yellow (Y/W) were not used at all. From my understanding of the diagram and reading posts the additional power coming straight from the stator is used as a supplemental power for the lights. I measured the output of the wire and it read round 6v at idle and a little higher at higher rpms.
My original controls were completely toast, corroded, and spliced up. So I purchased an aftermarket light controls from DCC. The power source I used for the light and turn signals was the black (B) wire. Which I now realize might have been the wrong thing to do.
So, just for shits and giggles, I connected the Yellow (Y) and Yellow/White (Y/W) together. Aaaand now I have over 13.5-14v at idle and 14-15v at higher rpms. Doesn't seem to exceed 15v.
So, my question is, should I try to hook up the light the way it should be as in the original diagram? My understanding from the SparckMoto wiring simplification sticky, the yellow and white/yellow should be spliced together anyway, and the headlight should be fine running off the black wire.
Just wanted to make sure, I don't end up frying my rectifier, battery, or worse stator.
Thanks in advance for all of your input.
