From:Gene Harper e-mail:gharperxman@excite.com
Subject:RE: DELUXE REPLACEMENT GENERATOR QUESTION Date:Mon Jan 31 10:05:32 2011
Response to:3272
Barry,

Please think long and hard about cobbling some ugly generator or alternator onto your Henderson! Consider the following options.

1. See my article in The Antique Motorcycle Winter issue, (The Three R's column) about how to get the most from you 3 brush generator. I discuss this very topic in detail. The second half will be out in the Spring issue, due at the end of Feb. Adding one of my voltage regulators will increase generator output slightly (www.splitdorfreg.com)and eliminate most of the other problems. This will allow use of modern lighting equipment, like some halogen bulbs.

2. An alternative to the measely output of the good old Splitdorf generator that I'm working on for my 1931 Chief is this: I found a generator from an Indian vertical twin, 6 volt, 2 brush using an external mechanical regulator. It was made by Autolite and can easily put out 10 amps, twice what the Splitdorf can do. The case is the same diameter and will fit in a Splitdorf bracket, though a bit longer. A DU-7 cap will fit over the end and will house my small solid state voltage regulators (havn't tried a DU-5 cap yet). Depending on rotation, some minor changes will need to take place inside (re-arranging the field wire connections and re-indexing the brush plate). The end result will look almost like a Splitdorf and work much better. This will allow retaining all the other 6 volt stuff, and by using halogen and LED lights (I cover this in the second half of the article too), you can hopefully see Bambi before it's too late, and look good doing it too!

Gene Harper


----- ORIGINAL MESSAGE FOLLOWS -----
As lack of lights can spoil one's riding pleasure not to mention safety especially
here in deer country, I have decided to commit "Schwinn Blasphemy" . Has
anyone "upgraded" from the pathetic original Splitdorf system ? As my bike is
far from original anyway I am thinking of a 12 volt bosch or cycle electric
generator but don't think I could stomach the appearance of an alternator as
they look like an abomination on most classics.