CalVin Charging System

[Jerryd]

I know that if the charging system of my new to me CalVin is anything like my '98EV, its pretty feeble. Although my Norge was great.

I was thinking about it the other day while following a local county sheriff on I-95 riding a very good looking well equipped Harley, and wondering how they can power up all those extra lights, communication systems, etc., and I would be hard pressed to run heated gear on my CalVin unless I was running at highway speeds?

[Cam3512]

Make sure spotlight bulbs are 30W, not the stock 50W.  Even then, don't use 100% of the time,

Heated gear is fine.  It's not the "speed", it's the RPM's.  Keep it up over 3k and you'll be fine.  Easily done on roads other than the "highway".  They love to spin.  Mine never saw 5th gear until 80mph, and was happiest at 4K+

So what do you think of the bike with fairing?

[Jerryd]

Make sure spotlight bulbs are 30W, not the stock 50W.  Even then, don't use 100% of the time,

Heated gear is fine.  It's not the "speed", it's the RPM's.  Keep it up over 3k and you'll be fine.  Easily done on roads other than the "highway".  They love to spin.  Mine never saw 5th gear until 80mph, and was happiest at 4K+

So what do you think of the bike with fairing?

Yeah, know about the lamps and keeping the rpm' up, having owned 5 of these now. My question is more about the weakness of the charging system itself. Harley's are typically driven at lower engine speeds yet appear to have more then enough power to run a lot of "stuff" without a problem.

[Cam3512]

I had a Harley police bike for a year. I believe it had an upgraded charging system to handle all the bells and whistles at lower RPMs.  What exactly made it "upgraded", I don't know.  Also had stock run-flat tires.
  I wasn't into that bike.  Surprised I made it a year.  Didn't have a problem selling it.  

[Steve Swan]

Does anyone know of an LED bulb source that will fit the CalVin spots ?  i've been running 35W bulbs continuously since 2009 without any problem, but i wold like to be able to run higher wattage LED's.

[Murray]

Gen output is governed by a number of factors rpm while it helps isn't the be all and end all. Although one of the most important is number of windings and thickness of the winding rotor size and capacity of the reg and charging circuit are also important. The charging system on you bike was originally a Ducati item that first appear on the early 90's 900 ss's. A relatively lightweight carburettor sports bike also on the 1100 sports daytona's etc where they have served very reliably for many many years (although the regs can be flakey). There is one drawback of a bigger rotor more windings that are thicker they are heavy. So a sports bike with a massive gen that has a capacity many times what the bike actually needs brings that enemy off al sports bike marketing wieght. There is also an increase in parasitic drag associated with making more electricity which cost HP. In the 1100 sports case when you are trying to wheeze out 90hp at the crank out of a design that time has forgotten none of these have an upside.

Even on the fuel injected bike the gen has done well enough its only when you load it up on a touring model which generally does lower RPM and has more fnarkles that the gen seems a bit weedy.

So basically HD does it because they have designed the gen for that output or more likely fitted one with it in mind it has penalties HP and weight but when you are turning out 250 000 odd bikes a year to a customer base that either don't care about power and wieght or don't really understand it you can do this you can also commission a parts supplier to provide you with specific components for your product.

When you are a busted arse bike company wedged between a mountain and a lake barely getting 8000 bikes out the door on a good year you take what you get from parts suppliers or what they have left over.

[Jerryd]

Great story ::), but doesn't really answer my question. My CalVin,  as I use it, is strictly for touring to replace my Norge. It's not a lightweight sports bike, so a few extra lbs isn't going to make a difference. The CalVin is rated at 350 watts. I believe my Norge was 400 or 450? Not sure, but it was certainly more. So, I guess I should ask, is there a way to upgrade what I have?

Jerry

[Kev m]

Actually it answered your question... I.E. parts are not available to upgrade your Cal-Vin because of the market.

What it left out is that your Norge is a completely different design. Instead of a power coil driven directly off the end of the crankshaft (limited in output by size and rpm), your Norge uses a belt driven alternator that takes up more room (which you don't have) and utilizes the mechanical advantage of gearing for greater rpm via pulley sizes.

[Nick]

I believe my Norge was 400 or 450?

I think it's 540 Watts

[Wayne Orwig]

My CalVin,  as I use it, is strictly for touring to replace my Norge. It's not a lightweight sports bike, so a few extra lbs isn't going to make a difference. The CalVin is rated at 350 watts. I believe my Norge was 400 or 450? Not sure, but it was certainly more. So, I guess I should ask, is there a way to upgrade what I have?

Simple. The CalVin/Tonti alternators are driven off of the front nose of the crank. They ran out of room. Anything larger will hit the front wheel when the suspension is compressed. On some models you will even see the dimpled front fender to add clearance.
The CARCs allow for a good sized alternator with a huge output.
The Harley alternator is turned 90 degrees, and has a good bit more length across the frame.
If you find the 'magic dust' that lets you physically put a larger alternator in there, let us know. I've really liked my California/EVs, for around 1/4 millions miles, with that small weak point.  Personally, I've run driving lights with electric vests and heated grips and never had an issue other than simply switching off the vest and dimming the driving lights in slow traffic. 

[Nick]

Personally, I've run driving lights with electric vests and heated grips and never had an issue other than simply switching off the vest and dimming the driving lights in slow traffic. 

On my '03 EV, I've also run heated grips, heated gloves and jacket and have had no problems. (not nearly as many miles as WO  ;D)
Just get/install a voltmeter to keep you informed and do as Wayne says when it gets in the amber/red zone.

[MAC]

Jerry,the current led spots are only 10watts each and if you go back to the stock spots they have the lower wattage bulbs installed.The only time I had a problem was with the stock 50watt spot bulbs.I ran heated gear all the time,and like Nick said just shut off the spots or keep an eye on the volt meter.I guess this is a Tonti issue,crank driven alternator.

Mike (previous owner)

 

[HDGoose]

I ran two electric vests, spot lights and headlights on my 1979 SP with stock alternator and regulator for 100,000+ miles. Never an electrical issue. Bikes with he newer Ducati alternators should not have a problem.

[Jerryd]

Actually it answered your question... I.E. parts are not available to upgrade your Cal-Vin because of the market.

What it left out is that your Norge is a completely different design. Instead of a power coil driven directly off the end of the crankshaft (limited in output by size and rpm), your Norge uses a belt driven alternator that takes up more room (which you don't have) and utilizes the mechanical advantage of gearing for greater rpm via pulley sizes.

Kev, great explanation! Thanks