Charging Light Bulb

Perhaps they are using a bulb in some sort of buffer, resistor or soft-start.
OM

Bulbs

So, it is funny sometimes how the little difference in a bulbs resistance or wattage can cause problems. While I haven't had charging issues with the old bulbs in my bike or the new Katdash system, I have had the joy of trying to switch to LED turn signal bulb replacements only to drive the "burned out bulb" rapid flash set up crazy in my BMW flasher unit.

Sometimes too much is too much and too little is too little. St.

Some significantly more expensive "fixes" to the burned out charging bulb exist. Namely upgrade the charging system. Both the 600W system from Motorrad Elektrik and the EnduraLast 450W system indicate a means to not be limited by the charging lamp.

http://www.motoelekt.com/charging.htm

https://www.euromotoelectrics.com/product-p/edl4.htm

Darryl Cainey said:

Yes I have seen the Katdash but you can't use a LED as a replacement for the charging light as it too small a bulb.

Thanks!

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I was in my local shipping store in NH today and asked if the crazy price for shipping was realistic. They said it was. Too bad, I could have shipped you the bulbs since I live near MAX.

On the other hand, I recently bought a set of $15 ear plugs from a company in Germany and they shipped them for $4.95. So, I went to the Motobins site which is based in the UK. I picked a random instrument light bulb and priced shipping to Canada. It was about 3.30 GBP. You may want to try and source bulbs in Europe or the UK.

BTW, the Katdash isn't a single bulb setup, it replaces the whole circuit board and includes a resistor so that losing the charging bulb doesn't inactivate the alternator.

Good luck

Anyname said:

... BTW, the Katdash isn't a single bulb setup, it replaces the whole circuit board and includes a resistor so that losing the charging bulb doesn't inactivate the alternator...

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Alas, the Katdash board mentioned above is not available for the R100GS of the OP. Her website specifically mentions the need to retain the incandescent bulb if using her instrument lighting system for the 91 - 95 GS.

http://katdash.com/1991-95-gs-r/

robsryder said:

Alas, the Katdash board mentioned above is not available for the R100GS of the OP. Her website specifically mentions the need to retain the incandescent bulb if using her instrument lighting system for the 91 - 95 GS.

http://katdash.com/1991-95-gs-r/

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Thank You!

20774 said:

OM -

The important thing is the current that it can carry. Current through this bulb is what energizes the rotor in the alternator. If not enough, maybe the alternator doesn't "bootstrap" itself.

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Correct, and it CANNOT be an LED bulb. It must be an incandescent bulb. It must have some resistance (ohms) or the charging system will not work.

edit: Actually, you can use an LED, but you must add an inline (parallel) resistor. Euromoto makes a little pre-wired resistor kit for this very purpose: https://www.euromotoelectrics.com/product-p/boalt-reswire.htm

robsryder said:

Some significantly more expensive "fixes" to the burned out charging bulb exist. Namely upgrade the charging system. Both the 600W system from Motorrad Elektrik and the EnduraLast 450W system indicate a means to not be limited by the charging lamp.

http://www.motoelekt.com/charging.htm

https://www.euromotoelectrics.com/product-p/edl4.htm

Click to expand...

I went with the Enduralast:
https://advrider.com/f/threads/enduralast-on-r90s.712273/