In article , PAROADHOG says...

Aw c'mon now guys , be honest. Lucas electrics weren't really all that bad
except when they were on poorly maintained machinery.

Wrong. Even on impeccably maintained vehicles the stuff was
was simply poorly engineered. For example BSA, Triumph, and
Norton all sold motorbikes with the archaic zener diode
"regulator" technology, that was simply not up to the
US DOT requirements for full-time headlight on use. The
batteries would simply go dead because the charging
system was improperly designed.

The diode would sink 50 watts max, so the dynamo (that's
what the brits termed them) could only put out that much
at maxiumum.

The total load on the bike was 45 watts for the headlight,
5 watts tail light, plus an amp or two for the ignition
system. Add them all up and the buss voltage was typically
11 volts. Not enough to charge. God forbid you should
have turn signals or a brake light.

Never trust a bike with an ammeter in the headlight bucket.

Honda understood the frustration that faced riders, and
marketed their vehicles with absolutely bulletproof
charging systems. This was one way they were able to
eat the brit manufacturer's lunch.

Jim

==================================================
please reply to:
JRR(zero) at yktvmv (dot) vnet (dot) ibm (dot) com
==================================================