I got this for Christmas


Im doing this to it:




Im going to polish it by the time im done.

That's clever, strip the paint and polish.
My neighbor had a Sachs just like yours. He said sit on the bike pull in front brake lever and push, the front suspension went up. felt weird. I never rode a bike with leading link forks.

I wouldnt say the front end lifts but its definitely anti dive.

There, thats better.

So for a while now i have been working on electrical. Ive been working with a supposed 1971 ct1 wiring harness i got off ebay. Except for wiring in a power dynamo and gages i think im finally done.

Thought this was a good hat tip place for the key switch.

Power dynamo showed up today. Im sure ill have some questions about the install starting with; the instuctions say to not run the headlight through the key switch. Is this true? Also does anyone know why they say the power dynamo wont work with a lithium ion battery?

Thanks
Jonathan

Well according to vape the power dynamo dosent stop charging all the way and this can cause a lithium ion battery to over heat, fail, and posibly explode. So i returned my 4 cell anti gravity battery and got a small liquid battery.

Still wondering if i can run my headlight through the key switch.... anyone?

On a separate note i got my front wheel back from the shop.



Unfortunately i lost a ball bearing somewhere... i have a new set on order but they are maybe right or maybe not. The old bearings measure out at .2800 to .2805. The closest i could find on the interweb is .281. Obviously this difference could be ware on a 50 year old bike or the difference in the measuring tool. Or its a 50 year old German bike and they used some truely oddball size bearing. Anyway, i ordered enough to replace all the balls in the front so they will all be the same size. And hopefully they will work.

Jonathan

Powerdynamo does work fine with AGM lead-acid batteries. No chance of spillage. (I hate wet cell batteries... they always seem to puke acid on something)

I have no idea what your instructions say so can't comment on why they say not to run headlight through key switch.

If you can post or link to the instructions, that would help.

Thanks for the reply MarkT. See section 2 below. It sounds to me like they are saying to not run the headlights through the key switch because it wont handle the current draw but maybe im misinterpreting it.



Thanks
Jonathan

Thanks. I have not seen the VAPE instructions.

What they are saying is the original headlight was run on AC power off the engine and was not switched on and off by the key switch. This is true only on Yamaha models built after 1973.

If you follow their wiring instructions on a 1974-on Yamaha, the headlight will be run off the battery and will be controlled only by the headlight switch on the handlebar. If you turn the key off, the headlight will still be on until you turn off the handlebar on-off switch. If someone turns on the headlight switch on the headlight will come on... key or no key.

The battery will go dead very quickly if the headlight is left on or switched on on the models without the headlight wired through the key and the bike is not running. So what they are saying is if you have a later model without a key-controlled headlight, the key switch won't have the "power capability" to turn off the headlight and you'll have to install a relay if you want to prevent the headlight from coming on with key off.

It doesn't mean the switch can't handle the power... when you go to 12v the amps cut in half... so your original switches and wiring can handle roughly twice the power they could compared to when they were 6v.

The real problem with following the Powerdynamo instructions with the later USA bikes that by US law had an "always on" headlight is if you follow their wiring instructions the headlight will be always on... ALWAYS. Key on or off. Bike running or not. On those bikes you'll have to add a headlight relay or a headlight switch as there won't be any way to turn off the headlight, period.

There is a very simple way to wire a Powerdynamo and have the headlight work only with the engine running on any of the "split system AC-DC" bikes. No headlight switch or relay needed.

Bottom line: If your bike has the headlight switched by the key you can keep it that way. Just know that if you wire the bike like VAPE recommends and stall the bike with the key in "headlight on"... the headlight will remain on until you turn the key to off or at to least headlight off... if this bothers you, it's easy to wire so that the headlight goes off when the engine dies just like stock.

I don't know how your bike is wired since it's a Sachs chassis... if you have a wiring diagram I can help you understand how to wire the Powerdynamo and keep the lights working like original... engine off... headlight always off, switch or no switch.

Hope that all makes sense.

(Edited to correct a couple of errors... I shouldn't post when still half asleep! )