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R100 support for heated gear

jpetropoulos

New member
I have a stock 79 R100RS and would like to fit it out for heated jacket / pant / gloves. I understand that the stock bike is not capable of supporting the load that heated clothing will impose. Can anyone confirm / dispel this and is there a solution?

Thanks,
 
That idea is generally correct. You would need to add up the watt-draw from the heated gear and compare that to available power. Most likely you would need to consider an aftermarket 400 watt alternator. Check out Mottorad Elektrik.
 
My Experience

I can tell you my experience with my 84 R80RT (basically the same charging system as your bike stock).

I was fine with just the heated hand grips.

When I moved on to a heated jacket and clothing, the system was not able to keep up.

I have since installed a system from http://www.motoelekt.com.

My feeling is it was worth the money to upgrade the system.

As for service and installation, Rick at Motoradd electrik is the person to do business with.

The new system is very much a bolt in, No major modifications needed. St.
 
The kit will include a new diode board also. I have installed the Motoradd Electric 400 watt alternator on two airheads and my mechanical skills are in the middle "shade tree" range. getting at the diode board mounting nuts/posts takes some patience and dexterity, but I found the swap to be quite doable. You will be pleased with the outcome.
 
I don't run any extra electrical loads but when i see this question i wonder if it would be cheaper and easier to convert the head light and maybe other lamps for LED equivalents? About 45 watt or more saving on the headlight alone, maybe there is a reason folks don't go this route, but I've wondered about it in the past. Maybe all the gear you listed would still exceed the output perhaps. Must be cold around your parts. 90F here today, and nice riding today. cheers.

edit to add: some more snowbum info on airhead stock charging systems and what they will support. About half way down.

https://bmwmotorcycletech.info/altcapability.htm
 
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Snowbum has a discussion about LEDs near the top of this page:

https://bmwmotorcycletech.info/lamps.htm

I don't know what a stock H4 bulb draws offhand...Snowbum's link to a product shows an LED set up that is rated at 25 watts for each of the low and high beam.

One thing I wonder about...maybe he discusses it...what is the light dispersion from and LED. The lens/reflector in the stock headlight is designed for the standard bulbs.
 
I’ve occasionally needed and used an electric vest with unmodified airheads’ electrical systems for years without problems. With just the vest (a NLA Widder w/thermostat switch) and an Aerostich Darien jacket and pants, I’ve been comfortable on my RT for a couple of hours (90+ miles) in rain at 35-38F. Your RS has only a bit less wind protection, but I’ve never needed to plug in my companion Widder electric gloves, and I don’t have heated grips, either. A heated vest really keeps your core warm without a huge power draw (like 60 watts, or so), and leaves warm blood flowing nicely to all extremities. Your actual needs may, of course, vary from mine, but I wouldn’t assume that mega-electrical systems are needed for cold weather ops on a fully-faired bike.
 
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Off subject

In regard to LED tail lights, go for it! I have one on each of my bikes and they are far better than the stock bulb system for visibility.

As for the LED headlight bulb replacement, I do have one in my 84R80RT, not sure of the make right off hand. In the daytime, it is apparently brighter, whiter, slightly more visible, than the yellowish standard bulb. A plus for this.

However, I no longer ride at night so I cannot say what the beam patter will be like. It is correct, replacement LED bulbs do not work 100% with the stock BMW reflector and lens. I CAN see the pattern on my garage door and it IS markedly different with the LED bulb versus halogen bulb. I also noticed a different patter between LED bulbs. I started out with one company LED and noticed the beam was illuminating the top part of the reflector and lamp. This was the worst beam pattern. I switched to another LED bulb and the pattern is more like the stock halogen but NOT the same.

So, I CAN see a difference between LED bulbs made by two different companies. I CAN see a difference in the beam pattern between LED a halogen bulbs. But, only on my garage door. I have yet to see how the LED bulb I am currently using will behave at night.

So, from what I can see of LED bulbs, they are directional in light output, so far, the two bulbs I have tested illuminate on two sides of a triangle device. The third side is high beam. It is this bulb direction that plays havoc or effects the beam output from the head light. The stock halogen bulbs emit light all around the bulb evenly. The high beam is just a larger filament an also is even in light output.

Anyway, I have drifted far from the topic at hand, this is something for another thread of discussion. Sorry about that. St.
 
Depends on the kind of riding ...

My only ever riding with heated gear was highway riding and it worked fine with stock electrical system (‘84 RS)

I had the ability to turn headlight off as well, but not sure I always did.

These are barely city commuter bikes with just headlight on if trips are short.
 
Stock versus update

After riding a few hours with my heated grips and jacket, I would notice the voltage was much lower than without the added load.

Now I know from experience the BMW volt meters were not precision instruments. They show a trend or rough voltage of the system.

I am not going to say my voltage reading on the volt meter with the heated stuff was 11 volts versus 13 without because as I have said, the meters are not precise. I don't know exactly what the voltage was at the time as I did not have a proper volt meter hooked up.

MY experience with long rides and electric clothing was to see a gradual drop in voltage as I rode. Adding any stop or go traffic showed a greater drop in voltage. The stock system was NOT able to keep up.

Now, I must say, I never had the system voltage drop beyond a point where a good battery was drained and the bike would not start if shut off at a rest stop or gas stop. Nor was the system drained to the point where the bike would not start the next day.

So in theory I suppose the stock system is capable of keeping up with the drain on it due to added stuff. In fact, yes, it did keep up. It did so because there was a good battery in the combination.

So my bottom line is the upgrade was worth it. I don't have any worries about load on the system now. I no longer see a drop in voltage on my longer rides and definitely see less of a drop on short rides and stop and go traffic. My battery has lasted longer. I can also add extra daytime lighting for visibility now with out any worry of added strain on the system. St
 
Supposedly, BMW was going to supplant the Airhead with the coming of the new K bike Bricks. One of the good features of the K was plenty of electrical juice to power the electrical add ons. But as BMW is want to do, they solved some of the old issues, then created new ones with the new models. :)
 
Old saying

I was told a while back that you only get voltage if you have amperage.

It is all related.

I also recall working battery voltage could be 13.8 to 14.8 volts for a twelve volt system with proper charging amperage. St.
 
I have found that you can run a jacket and grips as long as you use a heat controller for the jacket. Running the controller at 60% or so still gives good heat and doesn't tax the system as much. Turn it all off for the last ten minutes of the trip so the battery can recover a bit.
 
Choice

I appreciate everyone who has taken time to answer this thread. Each of us have our own experience, knowledge and made choices on what they felt best for themselves.

It is nice to see how the choices made turned out.

At least, there is now a way to upgrade the charging system of the airheads, I am thankful for someone who took the time to put the packages together and brought it to market.

For me, it is a vast improvement and worth the money.

If I have my way, my airheads would last till I bury them next to me. St.
 
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