I am new here.  I know there is information on the sight about this topic and I have reviewed what I could find and tried to piece it together.  I never got where I wanted to be.  So, probably for the 100th time............here is goes.  I have a 1971 RT1 360.  It is blowing headlights and tailights.  I assume I need a regulator to stop this.  Which one specifically and how should it be installed?  I would prefer to switch lights to be 12V (better yet, 12V LED).  Is this possible?

Thank you so much in advance for any help you can provide.  This is really not my cup of tea, so, if you can help please be OVERLY specific.  THANK YOU!!!!!!

Rex's in the UK do a 12v conversion and I think that there are others - hopefully someone will chime in with these.

If you stick with 6v then, yes, you need to fit a 6v regulator and used ones appear regularly on fleabay. A cheap option, which others have used successfully, is to just fit a 12v headlight bulb (though I've no idea what the light output is like, though!).

I have a 6 volt regulator on mine and it works good and I run a LED headlite and a 1154 taillight/brake light.  Connect the regulator to the yellow coming off the stator I believe.  I havn't looked at it for a while
Doug

Regulator connects to the darker blue wire (clock illumination lights) in the headlight bucket.

Doug, this is good information. Could you please share exact regulator and LED headlight bulb? Thanks.

Thanks! Would connecting to the dark blue wire also protect the tailights? The yellow wire (headlight circuit) would seem more logical to me.

See attached pdf, stored in the Tech Library on this forum.

  

Just my thoughts but happy to be corrected as been years for me playing with a regulator. But--if the tail light runs off the mag with a blue, connecting the Reg anywhere there's a blue will save the head-- tail & instruments--all AC of the mag & Reg won't be in use when lights off. But--if you connect to the yellow out of the mag--which runs the AC light in the end anyway--it'll be getting worked hard--heat-- with lights off & will limit charging or overcharging to the battery. Think the finned type like on IT enduro model yamahas might stand the heat but not sure about the ordinary type in link above. US models that have the tail via the battery won't have a blue to the tail--i think. I have problem reading wiring diagrams so try & work it out myself. Thinking back to my old ride to work 360 RT1 with no battery i just hooked it to the tail blue as was convenient at the time. Don't take all i say as gospel & happy to be put right please.

That makes a lot of sense to me, RT325. So, it would not matter if it is in the blue wire in the headlight bucket or the one going to the tailight?

So, the 6V regulator will only have two wires and it gets spliced right into the blue wire?

Here is something I can't understand. There is already a rectifier on the bike. There is a red wire coming out of the rectifier that reads a steady 6 volts DC when the bike is running. I have tried to tap into that but still end up blowing bulbs. I don't know what it reads at revs, though. At the 3 prong plug to the headlight, I get about 17 volts AC. Why would AC voltage be going to the headlight? Is it meant to run on AC? Seems like you would want to rectify and regulate the AC output from the stator right away and only send DC around the bike, since that is what it is going to use? HELP!! This should not be this complicated!!!!!!

I struggle a bit with electrics so i'll let others chime in. But Head, Tail, & Instrument illuminating bulbs run on AC from the mag but regulated "to a point" by the battery soaking up the excess for charging. i guess if the tail in the US is DC then its likely a brown as brown but could be corrected. There's brown & Browns. Light brown is power after the switch. Dark brown is flashers to one side & dark green to other side. The AC regulator only has one yellow wire but i guess there may be aftermarket ones earthed by a second wire instead of through the regulator body. So question is what do you have. Originally nothing had a regulator but from about "74 guessing, they started to appear because nobody looked after their battery & it ran dry so next minit all the bulbs are gone pooffff. Not so bad for us in NZ with replaceable bulbs but a bugger for US & a complete sealed unit headlight. I'll leave it there as starting to wonder a bit, 'old age'. Regulator i'm talking is separate to the rectifier & rectifier is still needed if ya running a battery & DC accessories like flashers horn brake light etc. I'll find a pic of what i think is a good type but they all work but just don't look as flash.