Just wanted to stop by and say,
Thanks for all the help, guys. I didn't ask for any, but I've read all the information here on the retrofit, and it was invaluable. Thanks for the work.
Now for my story...
I bought a '92 ST1100A a couple years ago after a five years without a bike. Using it as a commuter so I could use the HOV lanes here in Phoenix, and loving it (well, except for June...and July...and August...and most of September).
Anyway, last fall on a nice 95 degree day, traffic on the freeway stopped. When the bike came down to idle, it died. It cranked weakly a few times, and gave up. So there I am, on the shoulder of the fast lane, with traffic (which has picked up again, natch) whizzing by, trying to push start my 700 pound ride. It may be a marvelous ride at 80 on the highway, but it's a real pig at 3 mph when you're trying to launch yourself into the seat to bump it over. Not being quite as strong, lithe, or in practice as I was in my teens doing the same for my (much lighter) Honda Elsinore 125 enduro, it took 5 or 6 attempts before I got it running. Talk about sweating!
Anyway, the freeway was doing the stop-and-go thing, and the bike was starting to get hot running at 3000 rpm (where I had to keep it to keep it running). Getting off the freeway to try the surface streets, I forgot, pulled in the clutch and let go of the throttle. So now I'm trying to push start it through the middle of the intersection. Only took twice this time.
Finally got to about a mile from home, and even spinning at 6000 rpm, it died. I'd had plenty of time to think by this time, and having recognized that it was an alternator failure back on the freeway, was just trying to figure out how to get the last mile home, when I realized that reducing battery load would probably help. Off came the headlight connectors, and with one more push I made it home.
Pretty disgusted, and with no time to work on the bike, it sat for several months. I didn't want to do the whole alternator swap (and didn't really want to spend $600), so eventually I found a $50 replacement 28A alternator. My plan was to split the alternator in the bike, leaving the rotor and gear bolted in place, and replacing the stator assembly with the one from the replacement. The plan worked well, until (late one night) I did the swap, then tightened one of the bolts holding the two halves together before the alternator was correctly mated. The crack of the mounting ear breaking off broke my will. I halfheartedly retrieved the ear, and the stator half, but couldn't imagine any fix, including welding, that would make it mechanically sound and leakproof. I was disgusted again, and it sat for another month.
Finally, I realized that having a broken bike taking up half the garage wasn't a good long-term plan. Besides, we had a couple of nice 80 degree days, and I decided it was time. Got a good price from discounthondaparts.com, roughly $526 including the Swingarm rubber, and got to work.
The install went fairly smoothly. I didn't have one of the kits, so I made my own (anybody want it? Free for the taking). Cut down a large socket for the swingarm nut, made my own Lewis pin and FrenStick, bought a large hex socket at the local Harbor Freight, and made do for the rest of it. I probably spent an hour on the tool building, so it wasn't so bad.
One note I had was that, once I fully seated the alternator base, my Lewis Pin copy pretty much fell out on its own. I used the PVC alternator shaft bearing driver (Forgot, made one of those myself also. Add 5 minutes to the tool making time) and a hammer to tap it into place; I grabbed hold of the wire with my vise grips and was wedging myself into place to give it a monster tug, when I heard it go "ting" and land inside the engine. Pulled the cable, and there it was.
Fired it up before attaching the swingarm, and got 14.2 volts out. Boy was I a happy camper. Finished bolting it back up (except for the plastic), and gave it a ride today. As I was pulling back into the driveway after a mile or so to check for oil leaks (None,
), I remembered that I hadn't yet refilled the rear drive case. Oops! Filled it, and took it for a couple more miles. Now, it sits at 14.2V at idle, and 14.36 at 3000 RPM. I'm back on the road!
Once again, thanks for the help and writeups. Hope I brightened your day with my little tragedy here.
/frank
Thanks for all the help, guys. I didn't ask for any, but I've read all the information here on the retrofit, and it was invaluable. Thanks for the work.
Now for my story...
I bought a '92 ST1100A a couple years ago after a five years without a bike. Using it as a commuter so I could use the HOV lanes here in Phoenix, and loving it (well, except for June...and July...and August...and most of September).
Anyway, last fall on a nice 95 degree day, traffic on the freeway stopped. When the bike came down to idle, it died. It cranked weakly a few times, and gave up. So there I am, on the shoulder of the fast lane, with traffic (which has picked up again, natch) whizzing by, trying to push start my 700 pound ride. It may be a marvelous ride at 80 on the highway, but it's a real pig at 3 mph when you're trying to launch yourself into the seat to bump it over. Not being quite as strong, lithe, or in practice as I was in my teens doing the same for my (much lighter) Honda Elsinore 125 enduro, it took 5 or 6 attempts before I got it running. Talk about sweating!
Anyway, the freeway was doing the stop-and-go thing, and the bike was starting to get hot running at 3000 rpm (where I had to keep it to keep it running). Getting off the freeway to try the surface streets, I forgot, pulled in the clutch and let go of the throttle. So now I'm trying to push start it through the middle of the intersection. Only took twice this time.
Finally got to about a mile from home, and even spinning at 6000 rpm, it died. I'd had plenty of time to think by this time, and having recognized that it was an alternator failure back on the freeway, was just trying to figure out how to get the last mile home, when I realized that reducing battery load would probably help. Off came the headlight connectors, and with one more push I made it home.
Pretty disgusted, and with no time to work on the bike, it sat for several months. I didn't want to do the whole alternator swap (and didn't really want to spend $600), so eventually I found a $50 replacement 28A alternator. My plan was to split the alternator in the bike, leaving the rotor and gear bolted in place, and replacing the stator assembly with the one from the replacement. The plan worked well, until (late one night) I did the swap, then tightened one of the bolts holding the two halves together before the alternator was correctly mated. The crack of the mounting ear breaking off broke my will. I halfheartedly retrieved the ear, and the stator half, but couldn't imagine any fix, including welding, that would make it mechanically sound and leakproof. I was disgusted again, and it sat for another month.
Finally, I realized that having a broken bike taking up half the garage wasn't a good long-term plan. Besides, we had a couple of nice 80 degree days, and I decided it was time. Got a good price from discounthondaparts.com, roughly $526 including the Swingarm rubber, and got to work.
The install went fairly smoothly. I didn't have one of the kits, so I made my own (anybody want it? Free for the taking). Cut down a large socket for the swingarm nut, made my own Lewis pin and FrenStick, bought a large hex socket at the local Harbor Freight, and made do for the rest of it. I probably spent an hour on the tool building, so it wasn't so bad.
One note I had was that, once I fully seated the alternator base, my Lewis Pin copy pretty much fell out on its own. I used the PVC alternator shaft bearing driver (Forgot, made one of those myself also. Add 5 minutes to the tool making time) and a hammer to tap it into place; I grabbed hold of the wire with my vise grips and was wedging myself into place to give it a monster tug, when I heard it go "ting" and land inside the engine. Pulled the cable, and there it was.
Fired it up before attaching the swingarm, and got 14.2 volts out. Boy was I a happy camper. Finished bolting it back up (except for the plastic), and gave it a ride today. As I was pulling back into the driveway after a mile or so to check for oil leaks (None,
), I remembered that I hadn't yet refilled the rear drive case. Oops! Filled it, and took it for a couple more miles. Now, it sits at 14.2V at idle, and 14.36 at 3000 RPM. I'm back on the road!Once again, thanks for the help and writeups. Hope I brightened your day with my little tragedy here.
/frank
