So I refitted the new regulator properly. Nice soldered connections and a new fuse in the headlamp housing. The new fuse is from the output of the regulator. So now the bike has 3, one at the output of the battery, one at the output of the regulator and one as original for the switches and lamps. I guess back in the day they didn't bother protecting the two power sources (the battery and regulator) from shorts in the ignition system or horn. Well now they are properly protected.
I'll also note that the bullet connectors were a real pain. The regulator came with beautiful brass male bullet connectors. But of course there were no matching female connectors. Here in the USA I only can get fairly cheesy aluminum connectors, and they crimp only weekly. So I crimped them for the test. And then I soldered them. Unfortunately, once I soldered them, some solder wicked into the connector area... making it so the male and female would no longer fit together. A bit of work with a small file and some pliers fixed that. But as usual something that I expected to be simple took a lot longer than I anticipated.
So then I suited up and took a 5 mile ride to test things out. Its was a hilarious start as I made it about 100 yards before stalling because both petcocks were off. Then I made it about another 25 yards before a remembered to turn off the choke. Luckily I did remember the shift pattern (right foot; heel for downshifts and toe for upshifts) and the manual ignition advance.
The ride went well. No problems. So I pulled into the driveway stopped the engine and went to check the lights and horn. Nothing. What!? Just when you think you have everything under control the rug gets pulled out from under you. I bumbled around for quite a bit with the new fuses and my voltmeter before I realized I had two problems. The key's on off contacts were dirty, and my old battery was shot. The battery had been rather abused while fighting with the old mechanical regulator and I've already ordered a new one. And a bit of emery paper and the key contacts were repaired. So it appears all ready to go...
I put the bike up on the lift again, and ran upstairs for a beer and this blog. Gotta stop before something else breaks!
But actually, that seems to be the process with these old bikes. You restore them, and then you have to debug them. All those people who don't ride or drive their vintage machines miss the debug part. And then they are upset when the vehicle has problems on the annual outing. I believe that if you restore the vehicle, and then use it and debug it, after a couple hundered miles you end up with a car or bike that will be more reliable than it was back in the day fresh from the factory. More reliable, due to whatever modern enhancements you have fit, like maybe an electronic regulator. ;-)
Minggu, 15 Agustus 2010
Jumat, 13 Agustus 2010
California Melee XIV! I'm in!
Just received the good news, I have great honor of being accepted (with the Alfa and Lorraine) into the California Melee XIV! This is a great event that I've wanted to attend for years, and finally managed to get it on the schedule, and to apply in a timely fashion. This event is selective and sells out fast. So whoo-hoo! We're in!
Rabu, 11 Agustus 2010
Mondial Electrics
I probably know more about the Mondial 175 TV electrical system than anyone else in North America. I have had trouble with it for a couple years in Italy, and brought it back to diagnose and repair here in California. Somehow in the course of this I burned out the dynamo armature. Of course, lacking proper test equipment, I ended up using an oscilloscope to be sure this was the actual problem (actually the oscilloscope is remarkably useful with these vintage electrical systems). Here's a shot of the bad output from my broken dynamo.
After a bit of a search, a friend sold me a possible replacement armature... but it was going to require some machining to get it to fit. So I ended up having the original rewound by the helpful people at Eurton Electric.
So the repaired dynamo worked adequately for the 2009 Giro d'California... but the regulator was still not good. Another friend managed to get me a replacement in Italy. But both of these regulators are pretty crude mechanical devices. Essentially they have a set of contacts inside, and these contacts open and close if the voltage is too high or low. On the oscilloscope you can watch this, and the rather rough waveform that gets output. And the regulator, even with it's built in temperature compensation is very variable. Mine seem to vary by a couple volts... leading to under or overcharging (and boiling or destroying) the battery.
Unfortunately, you cannot use a typical regulator on a dynamo system. A dynamo is a DC generator, and puts out a substantial amount of "over power" to the regulator. It requires a switching type regulator to dissipate the power sensibly.
I finally found a replacement (and modern) regulator that may work well in this system. Apparently many old British bikes also used dynamo systems and they suffer the same problem. So I ordered one of those, a DVR2.
After waiting a couple weeks for delivery (some Internet problems at the factory), I finally received this last week. And I test fit it tonight. It does appear to work! Now I need to fit it a bit more properly and give it a more formal test run. Here is a pic of the mounted DVR2. Note it fits in a hollow in the underside of the tank, where the original was.
After a bit of a search, a friend sold me a possible replacement armature... but it was going to require some machining to get it to fit. So I ended up having the original rewound by the helpful people at Eurton Electric.
So the repaired dynamo worked adequately for the 2009 Giro d'California... but the regulator was still not good. Another friend managed to get me a replacement in Italy. But both of these regulators are pretty crude mechanical devices. Essentially they have a set of contacts inside, and these contacts open and close if the voltage is too high or low. On the oscilloscope you can watch this, and the rather rough waveform that gets output. And the regulator, even with it's built in temperature compensation is very variable. Mine seem to vary by a couple volts... leading to under or overcharging (and boiling or destroying) the battery.
Unfortunately, you cannot use a typical regulator on a dynamo system. A dynamo is a DC generator, and puts out a substantial amount of "over power" to the regulator. It requires a switching type regulator to dissipate the power sensibly.
I finally found a replacement (and modern) regulator that may work well in this system. Apparently many old British bikes also used dynamo systems and they suffer the same problem. So I ordered one of those, a DVR2.
After waiting a couple weeks for delivery (some Internet problems at the factory), I finally received this last week. And I test fit it tonight. It does appear to work! Now I need to fit it a bit more properly and give it a more formal test run. Here is a pic of the mounted DVR2. Note it fits in a hollow in the underside of the tank, where the original was.
Its been ages... working on the Mondial
Its been ages since I posted what was up here. Time to get back in the habit. Have two events coming up. The Giro d'California with the Mondial and (hopefully) the California Melee with the Alfa. The Alfa needs a basic going over and some work with rattling accelerator linkage. The Mondial is a bigger project. More on that in later posts.
Selasa, 13 April 2010
Kamis, 01 Januari 2009
ideal battery charger for motogiro?
For those riding a vintage bike in Italy... One of the most common failures is the charging system or battery. A couple years ago I bought a battery charger in Italy, it was huge to lug around, but saved my day a couple times, allowing me to charge my battery overnight.
In the past it has been impossible to buy a charger in the USA that will work on a vintage 6V battery in Italy, as the Italians use 220 VAC. Surfing the web this fine New Year's morning, because my old battery charger failed last week, I just found a manufacturer that makes a charger that may work in the USA and Italy. Find the specifications here:
http://www.power-sonic.com/site/doc/prod/146.pdf
They appear to be available at various vendors online.
I should note these chargers are for SLA batteries, and you do need to pick the correct type of charger for your battery! These won't work well for all battery types. Google around to understand the differences and make your own choice. I have had problems with battery chargers "boiling" and overheating vintage 6V batteries, so be careful.
If one of these chargers will work for your battery, I recommend bringing on with you to Italy! Along with the proper plug adapters, of course.
Carl
In the past it has been impossible to buy a charger in the USA that will work on a vintage 6V battery in Italy, as the Italians use 220 VAC. Surfing the web this fine New Year's morning, because my old battery charger failed last week, I just found a manufacturer that makes a charger that may work in the USA and Italy. Find the specifications here:
http://www.power-sonic.com/site/doc/prod/146.pdf
They appear to be available at various vendors online.
I should note these chargers are for SLA batteries, and you do need to pick the correct type of charger for your battery! These won't work well for all battery types. Google around to understand the differences and make your own choice. I have had problems with battery chargers "boiling" and overheating vintage 6V batteries, so be careful.
If one of these chargers will work for your battery, I recommend bringing on with you to Italy! Along with the proper plug adapters, of course.
Carl
Sabtu, 17 Mei 2008
Spoleto Today, Motogiro next week!
Lorraine and I made it to Spoleto Wednesday. It was as easy as a long plane trip can be! It was hard to get off the flights after 14 hours arriving at 8AM and hop in a rental car to drive two hours to Spoleto. But Spoleto seems like a wonderful and sleepy town. There is a big festival here annually sometime in the summer, but it is quiet now.
Thursday I met with my friend Pirro and checked out my Mondial 175. I took it for a very short test ride and repacked all my spares and tools. I had brought many things to supplement my existing gear and to replace used up consumables. Everything looks good. Pirro will bring the bike to Roma for the giro. (Thank goodness I brought a new helmet. The one I had left here sat two years in its dark bag and smelled quite musty.)
Yesterday we visited Assisi, a really wonderful town. Its just beautiful. And the Cathedral of St Francis is stunning, especially the lower cathedral and the tomb. Giotto has great works all ofver the ceiling. You could spend a week there just studying the ceilings.
And last night we sat in a little cafe, only inches from the route of this years Mille Miglia. The 300 or so fantastic vintage cars streamed past as Lorraine and I sipped our drinks and cheered them on!
Tomorrow some friends are meeting us in Spoleto and we will spend the day socializing and checking out some sites. Then Monday we leave first thing in the morning for the Motogiro. At 2PM registration starts and the tech inspections for the bikes follow with rider briefings in the evening. We leave for Pescara on the first leg Tuesday.
As usual, with the hectic schedule of the race it may be impossible for me to post updates. If I cannot, I will be sure to provide full coverage after the event.
In bocca al lupo...
Carl
Thursday I met with my friend Pirro and checked out my Mondial 175. I took it for a very short test ride and repacked all my spares and tools. I had brought many things to supplement my existing gear and to replace used up consumables. Everything looks good. Pirro will bring the bike to Roma for the giro. (Thank goodness I brought a new helmet. The one I had left here sat two years in its dark bag and smelled quite musty.)
Yesterday we visited Assisi, a really wonderful town. Its just beautiful. And the Cathedral of St Francis is stunning, especially the lower cathedral and the tomb. Giotto has great works all ofver the ceiling. You could spend a week there just studying the ceilings.
And last night we sat in a little cafe, only inches from the route of this years Mille Miglia. The 300 or so fantastic vintage cars streamed past as Lorraine and I sipped our drinks and cheered them on!
Tomorrow some friends are meeting us in Spoleto and we will spend the day socializing and checking out some sites. Then Monday we leave first thing in the morning for the Motogiro. At 2PM registration starts and the tech inspections for the bikes follow with rider briefings in the evening. We leave for Pescara on the first leg Tuesday.
As usual, with the hectic schedule of the race it may be impossible for me to post updates. If I cannot, I will be sure to provide full coverage after the event.
In bocca al lupo...
Carl
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