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[Norm]

Hi Roger, I don't know the original reason but there could be a couple that I have thought of. First one is that some countries require the headlight to be on at all times. The factory knew how poor the charging system was, so they decided to fit a 4 wire stator and split the coils up and use half the stator to charge the battery and the other half to run the headlight. This meant you were not drawing any power from the battery to run the headlight so you wouldn't end up without enough power left to run the ignition coil. The second theory I have was with the introduction of the electric start they could run the headlight as A/C and not draw too much power from the battery so you could still be able to start the thing. What I haven't been able to establish is when they first started fitting the 4 wire stator. I am working on 3 late sixties 350 Bullets at the moment and they all have 4 wire stators and the A/C D/C setup. Obviously this was not factory but it helps blur the info I have tried to gather

[PeteF]

Just to muddy the waters a bit more, it's not just electric start bikes that have AC/DC

[Roger the old]

Thanks Norm' interesting, I can see your reasoning for having a separate charging set up for lighting especially when using coil ignition, but were the British built Bullets the same (AC/DC)or just the imports? I will follow the progress with interest.Regards,R.

[Norm]

Hi Roger, British Bullets had magnetos and generators and I'm not sure just when they switched to alternators but I'm guessing with the frame change in 56 they probably went points/alternator, I know by 1960 they certainly had but the Super Meteors/Connies and early Inters still ran a magneto even though they had been fitted with an alternator

[JTL]

Hi Norm... now is the time for me to do the ac/dc to full dc conversion. I'm preparing all the wires, their connections and placing the relay. At this stage I have a question regarding the 4 wires for the relay. The wire coming from the battery and the ground one is ready. So, if I understand it correct, the trigger wire is branching out from the red/white wire going to the brake light switch, right? And the feed wire to the headlight (the LH handlebar switch cluster) is the yellow or the yellow/red one? You are mentioning the yellow wire coming from the ac regulator, but my wire from the ac regulator is the yellow/red one? Both are going the switch cluster. The yellow is coming from the alternator and the yellow/red is coming from the ac regulator. If I just knew the two different functions of the wires and their arrival in the switch, it would help me a lot to understand the entire set up. Can anyone explain this to me? Thanks... Jacob

[JTL]

... and what to do with the orange wire going to the casquette? Jacob

[Norm]

Hi Jacob, the yellow wire from the alternator connects to one of the purples as does the orange from the alternator. That puts all the power directly into the powerbox. This leaves the red/yellow which now connects to the relay as the feed to the headlight. The orange can be cut off as it is an earth connected internally in the loom to a black wire. You can connect it back to the fame if you wish, doesn't matter. From memory the red/white to the brake switch is the ignition on power to the brake switch so this is the relay trigger wire

[JTL]

Thanks Norm, everythings gets more clear. During the conversion I'm also trying to simplify things meaning less wires in the loom... and more questions for me to ask. Hope this is alright, and I also hope this thread will help others to do a conversion.

So, the orange can be cut off. I'm making an earth terminal (taken from the frame) in the casquette for all earth wires including the ones connected to the orange. The feed for the headlight will be the yellow/red (there is another red/yellow in the loom) returning from the switch cluster. This is the one originally connected to the ac regulator. The yellow coming from the alternator is going to the switch cluster too. When I connect the 4 wires from the stator making 2 wires into the new regulator/rectifier, I will have a (spare) yellow wire returning from the light switch cluster. Can this be cut off too? I can't really see how they are connected in the switch cluster, just that they both goes to the headlight terminals... all the best Jacob

[Norm]

Hi Jacob The orange going into the loom from the A/C reg gets cut, the yellow/red from the A/C reg is the new feed to the headlight from the new relay. Now going back to the wires coming from the alternator you have 4 wires there, 2 purple an orange and a yellow. You now connect the yellow to one of the purples and the orange to the other purple and these then connect to the 2 yellows from the powerbox. Either way doesn't matter. I use screw connectors here at this stage because you have to swap the wires around for checking. Once you have these wires connected, start the motor and with a multi meter check what A/C reading you are getting across the connectors.Rev the motor up to about 2000 rpm. Then swap the orange and yellow wires on the purples and run the motor again and see what A/C reading you get this time. Then use the combination that gave you the higher A/C reading. Sounds a lot but it isn't too bad when you think through it slowly, just takes a lot of explaining in words

[JTL]

Thanks a lot Norm. Once the overall picture is there it is sort of simple. I get the new reg/rec this coming Monday. In the meamtime I do all the wire work and arrange for trying out the alternator wires... Jacob