'91 R100GSPD Any Downsides to Installing an Upgraded Alternator?

I am seriously looking at installing an upgraded alternator to my PD. I think the stock unit can muster only 238 watts at 3000 RPM. Motorrad Elektrik has a 600 watt kit that looks attractive. Any thoughts???

alternator

Before you spend the money, ask yourself why do you need the extra output? The stock system is good and reliable enough for the basic lights and even heated hand grips.

I only upgraded to a higher output system when I started wearing some of the electrically heated clothing, pants and jacket, along with the heated grips. Plus I am planning on putting on some driving lights. It was at this point, the stock system started to show it's weakness. While I never had a battery go dead, nor did I have starting problems, I did see the voltage meter show a significant drop when everything was turned on.

I purchased my system from Motorrad Electric, and have been happy with it since, in fact, I upgraded the system on my RS with the same kit, only that one came from Ted Porter's shop.

Even in the freezing weather I sometimes ride in, I am now warm and the system is happily keeping up with the drain.

I went with the 600 Watt Omega system as it's installation was neat, used factory wiring, and was installed the same way as the stock system. The only tick I had was unsoldering the old stock stator windings then soldering the new stator windings to the stock alternator housing.

To be honest, if you are just going to run the stock lights, no heated stuff, I would stay with the stock system, I would have. St.

Following With Interest

I too, am considering the 600 watt kit for my 95 R100RT. I am used to Goldwing's 1200 watt system, which I ride year round. For me, electric socks, pants, jacket, gloves, grips and aux lights are often all used simultaneously. I watch the RT's volt meter when the heated grips are on HI, and it sits on 13V, on LOW it sits on 13.2. With the grips turned off, it sits on 13.4. Not sure how far the RT's 240 watts go in satisfying my electrical load needs, but pretty sure it falls way short. Back in the day, I used to ride an Airhead and use an electric vest, and do not recall any problems. But nowadays, I need much more in terms of electric clothing.

So, will be following here with interest.

Yes!

I just finished first year with the Omega 600W upgrade on my 1991 R100RT. It is cold in eastern Canada and even with heated gear my volt anxiety is gone. It was a good decision that I would repeat.
Craig

Yes, the stock charging system works with a stock bike but, like most people considering an upgrade, I want to use a heated jacket, my electric grips and maybe a pair of auxiliary lights. To compound the problem, I do off road running and rpm's sometimes linger in the low ranges that further limits the stock alternator's output.

Has anyone detected any noticeable load on the motor with it spinning a higher output alternator?? I assume generating more current requires more effort.

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Engine drain

I have not noticed any kind of load on the engine from installing the higher output system.

There has been no down side at all to the upgrade. I installed one in my primary bike and a year later, my other one.

My friend at his airhead shop installed one of the kits I think it is the enduralast kit from EME, a vastly different system and the customer is very happy with it.

A note, even with the higher output system, the charging light comes on and the output drops at idle. At least it does on the Omega system. Can't say anything about the Enduralast system. St.

Looks like the OEM Airhead alternator has about 85 extra watts available to power accessories. Not including aux lights, looks like I need an extra 110-145 watts over the stock 240 system, in other words an alternator that provides minimum of 350-385 watts. So the 450 watt kit would fit the bill, but not leave much for aux lights later. The 600 watt kit would leave a wider margin for error. At only $50 more, it seems like the best deal, but looks to bit more PITA to install.

Today I will try riding the Airhead awhile with the jacket plugged in and on various settings. When I did that with a Suzuki Strom, I discovered the jacket would not get nearly as hot as it does when powered by the GoldWing. The Strom system leaves about 135 watts for accessories, compared to the Airhead's 85 watts, so expecting less warmth from the Airhead. Will soon find out, though I recall my Widder vest from yesterdecade being pretty toasty. Guess I am just getting spoiled in older age.

As for the OP's concerns on reliability of the 450 and 600 watt systems, sounds like there's not much long term / high mileage field feedback yet. Maybe someone else will speak up soon and give us more encouraging news. Reliability is critical to me, so if it came down to the 450 kit being more reliable, I'd have to choose it over the 600.

Reliability

I have the 2nd Omega Rick built installed on a 84 RS & it is still going with over 175,000 miles on it. I am still testing it for him!
Skeeter

Heat Concerns?

bmwskeeter said:

I have the 2nd Omega Rick built installed on a 84 RS & it is still going with over 175,000 miles on it. I am still testing it for him!
Skeeter

Click to expand...

Great to hear! I see you are in Minnesota, any concerns about heat with the OMEGA? Ever ridden in the desert Southwest since it was installed?

Thanks Much,
Joe H

Most of my riding has been from the deep South over to CO.,UT & north up to BC.. Plenty of midwest heat in the summer. The bike has the front cover with the small vent openings, running lowers. Rick is great to work with. Skeeter

A plus side

One of the things I used to determine which system to use was the wiring and installation. The Omega 600 watt system from Motorrad Elekik, uses the same wiring as the original BMW system. The big advantage to this is that any wiring schematic for the bikes will be used in any future troubleshooting.

As far as reliability goes, the upgraded system is pretty robust looking and the reason for higher output is different winding in the rotor and stator. I would imagine if you pull them apart, there is more wiring in both compared to the stock parts. I don't see anything radically different in quality or build which would lead me to think they will not last as long as the stock parts.

I found installation a breeze with the exception of unsoldering the stator windings from the alternator cover and soldering the new windings in their place. I myself don't play well with soldering things, so a friend of mine did it for me. The new brushes in the system are not soldered but use existing nuts and bolts in the brush carrier assembly. I like this as the next time I have to change brushes, there will be no soldering involved.

As for the shop to buy from, Either Ted Porter, or Rick at Motorrad Electrik are great to deal with. Any questions are answered quickly and politely. St.

Snowbum has this article about alternator failures and at the start of the article he asks about the reliability of the Enduralast and Omega systems:

https://bmwmotorcycletech.info/rotorsfail.htm

Here is his article on the aftermarket systems:

https://bmwmotorcycletech.info/AftrMrktAlt.htm

Anton also lists some basics about aftermarket alternators:

http://largiader.com/articles/charging/

Upside

In California, U may be able to sell the excess electrical energy your GSPD now makes to your neighbors during brown outs and black outs.

20774 said:

Snowbum has this article about alternator failures and at the start of the article he asks about the reliability of the Enduralast and Omega systems:

https://bmwmotorcycletech.info/rotorsfail.htm

Here is his article on the aftermarket systems:

https://bmwmotorcycletech.info/AftrMrktAlt.htm

Anton also lists some basics about aftermarket alternators:

http://largiader.com/articles/charging/

Click to expand...

Aha, now we are getting into the weeds with this. The lower-rated alternators, by design, provide better charging at lower rpm's in return for their moderate high rpm output.

As an upgrade for a bike used off-road (lower rpm operation), would the Enduralast unit be preferable to the Omega??? The current Enduralast is rated at 450 watt and the Omega at 600 watt maximums.



.

I went with the Omega 450 from Motorrad Electric for my R80RT about a decade ago when my original rotor failed. At the time the 450 was the highest output available. I was running a pair of halogen driving lights and the stock alternator was marginal with the extra draw for the lights. I later went to LED driving lights and now I could use heated clothing if I wanted. I have put about 100k miles on the Omega system with no problems.

Wattage Needs

Tody I rode about 100 miles in mid to upper 40s temps, and experimented with my electric jacket and factory grip heaters on the RT. I use the bike's volt meter to estimate wattage draw, and it appears the coat, when on hi, draws about same as the grip heaters when on high. Without either turned on, the gauge steadily reads 13.4 to 13.6V. With the grip heaters on low, it reads 13.2; on high, it is 13.0. Then, shutting the grip heaters off and turning the coat on, it reads 3.4 with the coat setting on low, 13.2 on medium, 13.0 on high. I am a bit surprised, as I figured the coat would draw about 90 watts and the grips about 70, so the coat would drop the gauge a lot more.

Running both simultaneously is when it gets interesting. When I turn the coat and grips on low, the gauge dips to around 12.8V. With either the coat or grips turned above low, the gauge dips even lower, and tends to stay there, as low as 12. If I turn either off, it soon rises to 13. So it appears the stock alternator is marginally up to the chore of powering both the coat and grips on low, but no more. If going on a long trip in 30s-40s temps, I'd probably keep both on low, or alternate turning one off and the other on high, and alternate at 15-20 minute intervals. But that would be a pain.

I am tempted to buy the 600 amp kit, but the cheap side of me says maybe I can do without it. Then too, if I really wanna ride in colder temps this winter, I can always just jump on the GoldWong, and enjoy its 1200 watt system. Then too, Ted Porter has the 600s on sale, at $545. Hmm

Riding in colder temperatures

I remember all the years when I rode before the great advent of electric clothes and easily upgraded charging systems. I could have stood in for the Michelin man.

My first heated item was the handgrips on the RT. Second item was one of the first Widder electric vests. I don't recall it using a lot of power. I went a long time without electric clothes after I grew out of the Widder vest. The new jacket I purchased has more heating elements in it than did the poor old Widder so, it uses a bit more power. OF course, since I am wearing an electric jacket now, I am not bundling up with four layers of clothes to keep warm. That means the thermostat on the jacket is set higher and gobbles more power. Then, I added electric pant liners. No way with the current drain, would my poor stock system keep up. The 600 Watt Omega system I have now does a fine job.

I never owned a Gold Wing K bike or post 84 airhead so I was never spoiled by a better charging system than the one on the BMW airhead. Maybe if I had ridden one of the OM bikes, I might be writing in a different forum. St.

STEVENRANKIN said:

I remember all the years when I rode before the great advent of electric clothes and easily upgraded charging systems. I could have stood in for the Michelin man.

My first heated item was the handgrips on the RT. Second item was one of the first Widder electric vests. I don't recall it using a lot of power. I went a long time without electric clothes after I grew out of the Widder vest. The new jacket I purchased has more heating elements in it than did the poor old Widder so, it uses a bit more power. OF course, since I am wearing an electric jacket now, I am not bundling up with four layers of clothes to keep warm. That means the thermostat on the jacket is set higher and gobbles more power. Then, I added electric pant liners. No way with the current drain, would my poor stock system keep up. The 600 Watt Omega system I have now does a fine job.

I never owned a Gold Wing K bike or post 84 airhead so I was never spoiled by a better charging system than the one on the BMW airhead. Maybe if I had ridden one of the OM bikes, I might be writing in a different forum. St.

Click to expand...

I recall the Michelin man look too, and used to wear so many layers I could hardly get on/off the bike. I also have nearly frozen to death a couple of times, when I underestimated the situations. The Goldwing and its 1200 watt system spoiled me with electric gear, and I usually used heated socks, pants, jacket and gloves simultaneously when temps were below 40 F. I am sure 600 watts will be plenty on the Airhead, but I hate to spend that much $. As is, with the Airhead's 240 watt system, I am good down to about 40, then I want more than just a jacket and grip warmers, both set on low, which is about all the 240 system can handle. At 68 years old, layering just doesn't keep my core warm enough anymore. Then too, I probably compounded the problem by losing 60 pounds almost 3 years ago (224 down to 164); I am definitely am more cold natured since. But electric heated clothing works very well. For this winter, maybe I will just jump on the Goldwing when temps are below 40.

Its nice

It is always nice to have more than one bike, LOL. St.

Omega 600 On Order

I just placed an order with Ted Porter's BeemerShop for the Omega 600 watt kit. This bike is becoming a money pit, but hopefully I'll get my money's worth out of it down the road, in the wind.