Heated gear on a Superhawk?
01-02-2012 | 01:54 PM
#31
Out of my mind, back in 5
MotoGP
Joined: Nov 2006
Posts: 6,109
From: Skurup, Sweden
Hi guys, I'm just jumping in here after a long time away and this is just the type of info I'm needing, but I'm pretty clueless. I have a 1998 'Hawk with 15k miles on it.
We've been down to one car since September, so I'm commuting an hour each way to work the days my wife needs the car.
I've been lucky with the temperatures here in NE Kansas. I learned quickly that I need heated gloves but felt that diving into a project to wire my 'Hawk for plug-in gear was going to be as expensive as a down-payment for a new car and over my head as a DIY.
So.... I bought a pair of Venture Epic battery-powered gloves. I never really thought to look at the National Weather Service's wind-chill charts (OMG!), the gloves barely coped with evening temps in the upper 30's F, and now they've failed. The vendor is working with me to get them replaced, as it's quite obviously wiring failures and the gloves are going to need wind-chill protection even when they are 100%.
Tomorrow's DIY project is to take my big, ugly, green Army Surplus arctic guantlets and turn them into heavily-waxed canvas fabric. (Folded newspapers inside them on top of the non-working gloves blocked the wind and got me home OK on Friday night.)
My fingers have gotten chilled enough often enough that they are almost permanently tender right now. Very bad. I deal cards for a living.
I've had a higher-output headlamp put in, so I'm drawing some extra wattage there already. I estimate that I need to reliably have 75 - 80 watts EEC for good gloves and a vest and would like to eventually add driving lights and integrated rearview/turnsignals.
Probably 150 watts EEC so I have room to grow?
What's it going to cost me, parts-wise, for the neccessary alternator upgrade and a state-of-the-art R/R? (Is that the Moffsett? I read the sticky on replacement and can't remember.) I agree that this isn't worth doing without some kind of inexpensive voltage meter, I just have no idea how to install one.
I know nothing about the new battery upgrade technology you guys are discussing, but it sounds like something worth considering.
The discussions about voltage being high or low have me worried. I keep the battery (standard lead-acid from Interstate) on a charger set at 2 amps with the idea being that it'll keep the battery from freezing. It's supposed to have a "float mode." When I hoook it up each night it shows the system as drawing anywhere from 13 to 15 volts and the other night it showed 17.5, which scared the snot out of me. I unplugged it very quickly, redid all the connections and started it up again and it went back to it's "normal" 14.5 volts. Is the system slowly frying right now as it is?
What kind of money am I looking at (not even counting the cost of clothing or the nightmare of shop-rate labor) to get my 'Hawk electrically able to be as close to 100% ready, willing, and able to A: keep me healthy and B: keep itself healthy in the parking lot for about 10 hours a day at work?
I'll be springing for a new chain/sprocket set this spring and she hasn't had a valvetrain adjustment since she was brand-new.
Should I just park the 'Hawk for the winter, look for a $2000 beater Ford Fiesta, and then pray that it runs for a year or so?
Sorry for being so wordy. There's definitely no one in my day-to-day life that can help me get the info I need.
TIA for any help you can give... just use small words. ;-)
We've been down to one car since September, so I'm commuting an hour each way to work the days my wife needs the car.
I've been lucky with the temperatures here in NE Kansas. I learned quickly that I need heated gloves but felt that diving into a project to wire my 'Hawk for plug-in gear was going to be as expensive as a down-payment for a new car and over my head as a DIY.
So.... I bought a pair of Venture Epic battery-powered gloves. I never really thought to look at the National Weather Service's wind-chill charts (OMG!), the gloves barely coped with evening temps in the upper 30's F, and now they've failed. The vendor is working with me to get them replaced, as it's quite obviously wiring failures and the gloves are going to need wind-chill protection even when they are 100%.
Tomorrow's DIY project is to take my big, ugly, green Army Surplus arctic guantlets and turn them into heavily-waxed canvas fabric. (Folded newspapers inside them on top of the non-working gloves blocked the wind and got me home OK on Friday night.)
My fingers have gotten chilled enough often enough that they are almost permanently tender right now. Very bad. I deal cards for a living.
I've had a higher-output headlamp put in, so I'm drawing some extra wattage there already. I estimate that I need to reliably have 75 - 80 watts EEC for good gloves and a vest and would like to eventually add driving lights and integrated rearview/turnsignals.
Probably 150 watts EEC so I have room to grow?
What's it going to cost me, parts-wise, for the neccessary alternator upgrade and a state-of-the-art R/R? (Is that the Moffsett? I read the sticky on replacement and can't remember.) I agree that this isn't worth doing without some kind of inexpensive voltage meter, I just have no idea how to install one.
I know nothing about the new battery upgrade technology you guys are discussing, but it sounds like something worth considering.
The discussions about voltage being high or low have me worried. I keep the battery (standard lead-acid from Interstate) on a charger set at 2 amps with the idea being that it'll keep the battery from freezing. It's supposed to have a "float mode." When I hoook it up each night it shows the system as drawing anywhere from 13 to 15 volts and the other night it showed 17.5, which scared the snot out of me. I unplugged it very quickly, redid all the connections and started it up again and it went back to it's "normal" 14.5 volts. Is the system slowly frying right now as it is?
What kind of money am I looking at (not even counting the cost of clothing or the nightmare of shop-rate labor) to get my 'Hawk electrically able to be as close to 100% ready, willing, and able to A: keep me healthy and B: keep itself healthy in the parking lot for about 10 hours a day at work?
I'll be springing for a new chain/sprocket set this spring and she hasn't had a valvetrain adjustment since she was brand-new.
Should I just park the 'Hawk for the winter, look for a $2000 beater Ford Fiesta, and then pray that it runs for a year or so?
Sorry for being so wordy. There's definitely no one in my day-to-day life that can help me get the info I need.
TIA for any help you can give... just use small words. ;-)
Well, the first thing I would do to the bike cost you almost nothing, provided you own a cheap multimeter... Set it to measure ohm's, resistance, then put one end on the battery negative pole and start measuring every groundwire you can find on the bike, including most parts of the frame... If it's close to zero, it's fine, if it's not, clean every connector and exposed part of it, and then seal it with vaseline... That's the only item that costs money...
The first thing to spend money on in your place is a new R/R... And you are correct, it should be a Mosfet type... Look here for info on a low cost one that are currently not that "hot", so get it now... https://www.superhawkforum.com/forum...looking-27218/
If you are comfortable with a soldering iron, that and shrinktube works well, or spend the cash for a pair of weather sealed connectors for the R/R wiring...
Second, you have a higher wattage bulb than stock, but with stock wiring? I'm willing to bet you a dollar that it's actually glowing dimmer than the stock bulb...
Short term, stick a stock wattage bulb in there, I think that wattage is better used to keep your fingers warm... Long term, either get a the supplies and make it yourself if you are inclined, or get an eastern beaver relay kit for the headlight... That let's you use the full light from whatever bulb you choose... With that you most definetly get more light from the stock bulb than you have now, with the wattage to spare for heating...
Third, an onboard voltmeter is easy to hook up... Two wires, one to ground and one to the supply wire to the lighting in the gauges is a good option... Then it's already fused, and will only be on when you turn the bike on... And hooking it in is as simle as finding the correct o-ring connectors on the back of the gauges (97-01 year gauges), and then sticking another one on top of the first one... Just make sure to clean of corrosion first though...
Those simple things will be enough to let you use some heated gear... It's not enough to have the capacity to throw anything at the bike and it will take it... But it moves the bike from marginal to decent capacity... Swap in LED bulbs in the rear and signals, and you free up a bit more... A HID headligth even more...
If you go past that, you need to swap the stator... And that means custom parts, and that's going to be very expensive...
01-02-2012 | 02:00 PM
#32
Out of my mind, back in 5
MotoGP
Joined: Nov 2006
Posts: 6,109
From: Skurup, Sweden
As for onboard voltmeters...
I really don't like them... And no, that doesn't contradict my advice...
I don't like onboard VOLTMETERS... But I do like onboard VOLTAGE WARNING...
This is what letsrideinc talked about...
http://www.bkrider.com/bkrider/skusearch_v3.asp?scriteria=C01060504
It has a few drawbacks... One, it's always on as soon as the ignition is on, even if the engine isn't running... That means that you can drain the battery, slowly but still enough to be a problem... Two, since it's always lit up, it will glare at night... Three, if you have trouble already, knowing the actual voltage isn't going to help you fix anything, for that you have a normal voltmeter when fixing the issue...
My advice, either build your self a "dummy light" from the manual i have posted in the knowledgebase, or I'll gladly sell you one for 8$ + shipping, which is likely to be around the same since I'm in Sweden... Or buy a similar one, they are available online...
The reasons are simple... It has nothing to do with me selling anything... One, it's not drawing anything at all if everything is OK... No light means OK, and no light means no draw... Can't drain the battery even if you try... Two, no light means no glare at night... Three, if there is a problem it lights up which is something you notice... With the voltmeter, you are already used to a light there, problem or no problem... And you have to look at it and think to know if the voltage is OK... Ie this LED means OK, but the one next to it means not OK... Four, it's a lot smaller and easier to hide around the gauges...
You don't get a voltage readout, but as I said, the normal voltmeter is a lot better for that anyways...
I really don't like them... And no, that doesn't contradict my advice...
I don't like onboard VOLTMETERS... But I do like onboard VOLTAGE WARNING...
This is what letsrideinc talked about...
http://www.bkrider.com/bkrider/skusearch_v3.asp?scriteria=C01060504
It has a few drawbacks... One, it's always on as soon as the ignition is on, even if the engine isn't running... That means that you can drain the battery, slowly but still enough to be a problem... Two, since it's always lit up, it will glare at night... Three, if you have trouble already, knowing the actual voltage isn't going to help you fix anything, for that you have a normal voltmeter when fixing the issue...
My advice, either build your self a "dummy light" from the manual i have posted in the knowledgebase, or I'll gladly sell you one for 8$ + shipping, which is likely to be around the same since I'm in Sweden... Or buy a similar one, they are available online...
The reasons are simple... It has nothing to do with me selling anything... One, it's not drawing anything at all if everything is OK... No light means OK, and no light means no draw... Can't drain the battery even if you try... Two, no light means no glare at night... Three, if there is a problem it lights up which is something you notice... With the voltmeter, you are already used to a light there, problem or no problem... And you have to look at it and think to know if the voltage is OK... Ie this LED means OK, but the one next to it means not OK... Four, it's a lot smaller and easier to hide around the gauges...
You don't get a voltage readout, but as I said, the normal voltmeter is a lot better for that anyways...
01-02-2012 | 10:30 PM
#33
Administrator
MotoGP
Joined: Apr 2006
Posts: 4,402
From: Kempner, TX
As for onboard voltmeters...
I really don't like them... And no, that doesn't contradict my advice...
I don't like onboard VOLTMETERS... But I do like onboard VOLTAGE WARNING...
This is what letsrideinc talked about...
http://www.bkrider.com/bkrider/skusearch_v3.asp?scriteria=C01060504
It has a few drawbacks... One, it's always on as soon as the ignition is on, even if the engine isn't running... That means that you can drain the battery, slowly but still enough to be a problem... Two, since it's always lit up, it will glare at night... Three, if you have trouble already, knowing the actual voltage isn't going to help you fix anything, for that you have a normal voltmeter when fixing the issue...
My advice, either build your self a "dummy light" from the manual i have posted in the knowledgebase, or I'll gladly sell you one for 8$ + shipping, which is likely to be around the same since I'm in Sweden... Or buy a similar one, they are available online...
The reasons are simple... It has nothing to do with me selling anything... One, it's not drawing anything at all if everything is OK... No light means OK, and no light means no draw... Can't drain the battery even if you try... Two, no light means no glare at night... Three, if there is a problem it lights up which is something you notice... With the voltmeter, you are already used to a light there, problem or no problem... And you have to look at it and think to know if the voltage is OK... Ie this LED means OK, but the one next to it means not OK... Four, it's a lot smaller and easier to hide around the gauges...
You don't get a voltage readout, but as I said, the normal voltmeter is a lot better for that anyways...
I really don't like them... And no, that doesn't contradict my advice...
I don't like onboard VOLTMETERS... But I do like onboard VOLTAGE WARNING...
This is what letsrideinc talked about...
http://www.bkrider.com/bkrider/skusearch_v3.asp?scriteria=C01060504
It has a few drawbacks... One, it's always on as soon as the ignition is on, even if the engine isn't running... That means that you can drain the battery, slowly but still enough to be a problem... Two, since it's always lit up, it will glare at night... Three, if you have trouble already, knowing the actual voltage isn't going to help you fix anything, for that you have a normal voltmeter when fixing the issue...
My advice, either build your self a "dummy light" from the manual i have posted in the knowledgebase, or I'll gladly sell you one for 8$ + shipping, which is likely to be around the same since I'm in Sweden... Or buy a similar one, they are available online...
The reasons are simple... It has nothing to do with me selling anything... One, it's not drawing anything at all if everything is OK... No light means OK, and no light means no draw... Can't drain the battery even if you try... Two, no light means no glare at night... Three, if there is a problem it lights up which is something you notice... With the voltmeter, you are already used to a light there, problem or no problem... And you have to look at it and think to know if the voltage is OK... Ie this LED means OK, but the one next to it means not OK... Four, it's a lot smaller and easier to hide around the gauges...
You don't get a voltage readout, but as I said, the normal voltmeter is a lot better for that anyways...
Im going to build the Tweety device (Like that..:
or should we call it the "Tweety Tool" ) BUT I will add a 4 digit, digital volt meter display with a momentary push button switch SPST OFF-(ON). That will satisfy my “need” to have a voltage display while having an instant on attention grabbing light, and no battery drain worries from the volt display.
Thread
Thread Starter
Forum
Replies
Last Post
