My labor day project, move the RR and install a voltmeter (with pictures)

[don_vanecek]

All right, its labor day, I'm riding to my brother Frank's house to help me, so my goal was to move my rectifier/regulator (will now be just called the rr), clean up some wiring that had been done in haste, and install a voltmeter.  You will see in the first picture the rr mount that Kevin was so nice to send to me, also the Voltmeter from Radio Shack (about $14.00) and what a starting to melt stator to rr connector looks like-and this was from a new stator and rr about a year and ahalf ago.  By the way just a word about my older brother, he is one of those kids who wasn't real great at reading and writing but when he was 13 my dad bought a new power lawn mower. A few days later he came home from work to find that my brother had taken the new lawn mower ALL apart just to see how it worked. And yes, with no manual at all, he put it all back together and it ran for years. He also does very precise work which he tells me learned from all the remote control model airplanes he has made over the years. It is really fun to watch him work on a project!

Now before this gets to long, in the second picture you will see that we had taken out the quick wiring job I had to do before Joe Friday took my bike to MN this summer BUT we did install seperate connectors for each wire. I plan to do my clutch bolts this winter so I didn't want this solid-I know we have many different opinions on this. You can also see where Kevin's rr bracket goes on the bike. Third picture is how tidy and neat my brother made all these wires before we put it back together. Fourth picture is the finished project. Now with that great bracket Kevin made, I think it looks just like the factory meant for the rr to be there! By the way now that I can touch the rr, I can't believe how warm that thing gets!

Picture number five shows how we set up the volt meter in my little Vetter Bullett faring. The voltmeter comes with a resister that we solid wired (it can go on either positive or neg side) it is grounded to one of the faring nuts in the front, then a wire to a clip (soldered) that goes over the bottom side of the turn signal fuse (original fuse box). The meter will move if a turn signal is on, otherwise it reads pretty much just as you see it in the picture (Yes, the motor is running at idle). Last a picture of the finished project and myself. I don't know why I don't have a big smile on cause I was certainly VERY HAPPY at this point-all the goals of the day had been met! 

A big thank you to Kevin for that geat brace, a big hand to VinceDee for helping with the pictures, and to my brother who not only did most of the work but for his experiance, expertise and having all the right tools, parts and equipment to do such a nice job.

http://www.crazyasafox.com/pictures/vanecek/PA030058.jpg 
http://www.crazyasafox.com/pictures/vanecek/PA030059.jpg 
http://www.crazyasafox.com/pictures/vanecek/PA040060.jpg 
http://www.crazyasafox.com/pictures/vanecek/PA040061.jpg 
http://www.crazyasafox.com/pictures/vanecek/PA040062.jpg 
http://www.crazyasafox.com/pictures/vanecek/PA040064.jpg

[Night Vision]

nice work... you are right about the lack of smile... must a been the sun in your eyes...

I can imagine Kevin's pm box will have some inquiries about the bracket  :D

[haunter]

no kidding!

looks great!

[Superfly]

Looks really good.  I like the idea of the fins going horizontal.  Some of us have added an extra wire from where the RR hooks up into the wiring harness (big black wire) and put that wire to the neg. battery termainal (or any other secondary ground location)

[don_vanecek]

Ah, thanks Superfly, I knew I had read about improving the grounding but forgot about it.  I was talking with my brother this morning and told him how the needle on the voltmeter remains almost rock steady at the same location when I ride and he says this is certainly a sign of a healthy electrical system (but we know Vision improvements are never ending).

I think I should add to someone using the Radio Shack meter, but sure to tape or glue the two halfs together. It is just snapped on and came apart on us before we even put it on the bike. By the way someone else on the forum has used the Radio shack one before my post here, so thank you for the idea.

[zore]

I ended up putting my regulator on the inside of the foot peg assymply.  Figured the aluminum would act as a heatsink and sort of hiding it would keep people from screwing with it.

[Kevin]

Thanks for the compliment, your bike looks great. I've got a couple more brackets if anyone wants one. Right now I'm mounting saddlebags on Carlie's V. Kevin

[Night Vision]

Kevin, sent you a pm for a bracket

[YellowJacket!]

Kevin, sent you a pm for a bracket

Me too. ;D

David

[ps2/bikevision]

that the exact same place i put mine. i had to use a longer bolt to mount the bracket did you? that was the only problem i had. i kept trying and trying to use the stock bolt but it just wouldnt work.

[Kevin]

I tap the bracket and drill the frame mount out and insert a allen bolt from the battery side into the bracket. It makes installation much easier.