Hi everyone
I've got a 1971 RT1B 360 that I am slowly going through to make more reliable for long enduro rides.

I'm moving on to the electrical stuff and I've found great stuff in the tech library on the site, which I am very grateful for. I'm looking to switch to 12v mostly for brighter lights and to be able to run LEDs to hopefully draw less power and have more light (?). I have looked for a forum topic on here regarding upgrading to 12v on my bike with only surface level results. I've done a 12v conversion on vintage bikes before so I'm not totally flying blind here, BUT I am a little stumped when it comes to finding a regulator/rectifier for my bike. I've got a white regulator wire coming from the case, but don't I also need to run all the lighting wires through the R/R as well? I guess I am asking which wires need to go through the R/R / how many wires does the R/R need to have? I am planning on putting a small battery on the bike and just running the night time charging circuit all the time since my bike did not come with an ignition switch. Please see pics below. Thanks for any help, yall rule
 

I also emailed Rexs Speedshop and got a reply that said they "dont have a 12v kit for my bike, sorry".

There's actually quite a few regulator & 12V conversion threads in here. This one will help you out:

www.yamaha-enduros.com/index.php/forums/...ing-out-bulbs#106499

The white wire goes to the rectifier, converts ACV to DC for battery recharging, so that's not your regulator lead. The Yellow wire is your ACV for the headlight, instrument lights & tail light, and that's the circuit that needs regulating. 

ok great, this has been very helpful, thanks! I'm planning on running an LED head light and tail / brake light, no turn signals. Would it be a bad idea to ditch the current lighting wire for everything but the lights in the clocks (I don't plan on changing the backlights for tach/speedo) and just wiring the front and rear lights directly off the battery? This would allow me to just run a 12v rectifier to the battery and not need a regulator for the lighting wire, which will be mostly disconnected?

If that were the case would I need to also swap to a 12v ignition coil?

Hope I'm not sounding to ignorant here, cheers
 

Won't work, all lights in key position 2 (headlight, instrument bulbs & taillight) + the battery, together, all need to be in play to "regulate" the ACV. You take one bulb out of the equation and risk popping all the bulbs, hence adding a regulator to the circuit. All the detail you need is contained in the thread I attached in my other post. There's no "easy" way to do what you're asking for.

I thought, probably incorrectly, that to turn it into 12 volts with a proper regulator rectifier you had to use both ends of the lighting-charging coils, somehow. In other words un-earth the coils & both ends-earth & plus end go to the modern regulator/rec. I guess you could-- with the original system--run a single wire 12 volt regulator & use 12 volt bulbs but lights will be dull until revving the tripe out of it & possibly none left for a small 12 battery to get any charge via the original rectifier. I did say once somewhere that i ran 12 volt quarts halogen headlight off an "82 model XJ650, huge headlight. Worked great with no regulator but no battery either. Dull at idle then melted the highway at open road speed & never blew it. Not sure what tail light bulb i used. In my case a single wire 12 regulator like some XR hondas i think run--two wires but one is earth green where yamy 6 volt ones earth through the reg body. So , where was i--one of those honda regs would have made my setup safe with no battery to charge. Probably just lucky mine survived & don't recall the wattage but original would have been likely 60/55. I recently bought some 12v 35/35 halogen bulbs for my honda trx300 quad. They have the same fitting as my AT1 headlight unit. I know you guys in the US have fully sealed units but we're pretty lucky in that respect. Anyway--woffle on, forgotten the question. Correct me 'someone' regarding the first few lines.