Electrical capacity for the R Nine T

According to bmw specifications the nine t produces 720 watts with a three phase alternator. This is a new bike for me and I intend to winter ride most of the season, so wondering if ,this is capable of powering heated jacket, gloves and foot warmers along with everything else like gps and Denali running lights? In mot wrested in electrical knowledge but all my previous bikes have carried most on the load, although I had to be a bit careful with my previous f700 at stop lights. I’ve always believed a bike uses about 200 watts to power normal circuits so anything left over is free to use. My gear ads up to about 200 watts so say with a comfortable fudge factor, 500 watts usage. My concern is the three phase configuration terminology, it that’s a total of 720 watts or if that number is divisible by 3, only providing 240 watts of useable energy. Or am I over thinking this?

Over-thinking: 720 watts is the grand total of the alternator output (provided all three phases are working properly).

Pauls1150 said:

Over-thinking: 720 watts is the grand total of the alternator output (provided all three phases are working properly).

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Wonderful.Thanks for the reply. Let the cold fun weather begin. Really tired of hot, humid St Louie Missouri afternoons.

Pauls1150 said:

Over-thinking: 720 watts is the grand total of the alternator output (provided all three phases are working properly).

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Once one phase goes out all bets are off. When it happened on Voni's F800S we limped home to Texas from Montana with peak charging voltage of about 12.7v - barely enough to run the bike and keep the battery more or less charged. When it happened on my G310GS last month the bike went 8 miles before it quit and in the process fried the regulator.

Agreed! A somewhat similar thing happened when I bought my '87 FLHTC: the previous owner had installed the larger alternator rotor (to power the helicopter landing lights in the "spots" position), but he inadvertently swapped the positions of the inner and outer spacers (large fat washers) on the shaft... so the coils were no longer centered to the magnets, and the battery therefore wasn't getting a charge. Took me a while to find that one.

Several years ago, a neighbor's Yamaha XV-920 (?) wasn't holding a charge, and my DVM confirmed that the alternator wasn't cranking out what it should've... Some brilliant designer had placed the alternator's connector down low, near the pipes... unwrapping the sheath showed that it had melted, and then barbecued the contacts.

PGlaves said:

Once one phase goes out all bets are off. When it happened on Voni's F800S we limped home to Texas from Montana with peak charging voltage of about 12.7v - barely enough to run the bike and keep the battery more or less charged. When it happened on my G310GS last month the bike went 8 miles before it quit and in the process fried the regulator.

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As an aside, was that something you figured out in the field?
How much trouble was the repair?
TIA
OM

Omega Man said:

As an aside, was that something you figured out in the field?
How much trouble was the repair?
TIA
OM

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I knew the charging system had failed. I didn't know the details. The bike was under warranty. I had roadside assistance. The repair took the dealership nine working days to diagnose, get parts, and install parts.

PGlaves said:

I knew the charging system had failed. I didn't know the details. The bike was under warranty. I had roadside assistance. The repair too the dealership nine working days to diagnose, get parts, and install parts.

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Thanks.
There was something about that kind of thing with the F800GS bikes that I have thankfully skipped- so far.
OM

So Paul which two bmw have been the most trouble free overall?
So far for me the worst was a holed piston on a RD350. I ended up with colder spark plugs. It was an easy repair.

EUGENE said:

So Paul which two bmw have been the most trouble free overall?
So far for me the worst was a holed piston on a RD350. I ended up with colder spark plugs. It was an easy repair.

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Hands down no question the most trouble free bike was "Old Smokey", my original 1986 K75T. In 19 years and 369,643 miles it never had any major issues. The only real "repairs" were a driveshaft (splines) and a cooling fan. We also had seven other K75s and none of them had any major issues either. Also my R1150R with 177,000 miles was essentially trouble free with no major issues or repairs.

Omega Man said:

Thanks.
There was something about that kind of thing with the F800GS bikes that I have thankfully skipped- so far.
OM

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Voni's F800S fried a stator. I installed an aftermarket unit from Rick's and it was/is fine.

Edited to change Rich's to Rick's.

PGlaves said:

Voni's F800S fried a stator. I installed an aftermarket unit from Rich's and it was/is fine.

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I have bought from them with success as well

https://ricksmotorsportelectrics.com/index.php

OM

Electrical Capicity

For reference, the original Volvo 140 had a 650W alternator. You should have no problem powering heated clothing. Remember that when these bikes were designed, part of the equation was to build an electrical system which was up to the task of police work. Never had a problem with the electrics of any BMW from a 94 R1100RS to a string of oilheads and hex heads.

Best.

3hawks

This is why I install a voltmeter on all my bikes

Omega Man said:

Thanks.
There was something about that kind of thing with the F800GS bikes that I have thankfully skipped- so far.
OM

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Yep - 2013+ was when BMW went to a vented rotor, which seems to have decreased the problem.