Forum

[John L]

I have a Redditch Bullet 350 with 6v system on which I am checking out the electrics and tidying up the wiring. (The bike hasn't been run for a number of years and so I am not aware of any particular problems.) I am trying to locate a wiring diagram - I have an owner's handbook containing one, but many of the cable colours are different. I also have a Hitchcock's workshop manual, but the wiring diagram in that is merely a copy of the handbook one. Additionally, my 3-wire alternator stator p/no. 47127A differs from what is listed in the parts book for this bike. (As it bears a 1/60 date code I am assuming it is original to the machine). The ignition switch is marked "Minda" - obviously Indian) - and has what seems to be a different terminal layout. Any of this familiar to anyone, or do I have a suck-it-and-see non-standard bodge up ?

[Mark M]

I rebuilt a 58 SM and got a switch from Hitchcocks which was also a Minda copy of the Lucas. H's supplied a crib sheet to convert Lucas terminals to Minda. Try asking them! REgards, Mark

[Adrian]

It is worth rewiring for 12 volts for better lights (and even running without a battery if desired), I suspect your original alternator might still be well up for it if my 1957 Bullet was anything to go by.

Regards,

Adrian

[simon]

Not sure I'd bother going 12v but I would be tempted to get a Pazon (or other brand) solid state regulator/rectifier as the old Lucas switched charge system is crude and inefficient. It tends to boil batteries dry and then you,blow bulbs. The reg/rec can be fitted with minimal modification and means you have lovely bright lights and a charged battery without acid splattered everywhere. If you want to return to the old system for originality it is a simple matter of replacing the old plate rectifier and reconnecting the toggles in the switch.

[simon]

Not sure I'd bother going 12v but I would be tempted to get a Pazon (or other brand) solid state regulator/rectifier as the old Lucas switched charge system is crude and inefficient. It tends to boil batteries dry and then you,blow bulbs. The reg/rec can be fitted with minimal modification and means you have lovely bright lights and a charged battery without acid splattered everywhere. If you want to return to the old system for originality it is a simple matter of replacing the old plate rectifier and reconnecting the toggles in the switch.

[Norm]

Hi Simon, I'm working on this Super Meteor which is 6 volt and it only has a rectifier under the tank and no regulator and also the Super Connie in Tas has the same setup, no reg and I have been told they didn't use a reg. I can't understand how it could work without a reg and not boil the battery.

[John L]

Thanks all for the comments and suggestions so far. I hadn't considered making any changes to the basic layout as I thought I'd get it working with the existing parts and see how it goes - definitely worth thinking about for a later date, though. I probably wouldn't change to 12v. - although I'm aware of the improvement to lighting I'm unlikely to ride a 53-yr. old bike much after dark (if ever). Originality is not an issue either, but I've not ridden the bike enough to give it a worthwhile appraisal "as is". At the time of purchase, the bike had a tiny (Honda C50?) battery - someone obviously thought that was adequate.......Norm - regulation, such as it was, (as with many older machines), relied on the (discharged) battery itself as a buffer. On the Enfield you have the further "sophistication" of using only part of the alternator windings and switching in or out additional coils through the headlamp switch...

[Norm]

John, call me old fashioned but if I'm going to have lights on a bike I like them to be decent and I like to have voltage into the battery regulated so I can see what is happening and I'm not sure a Motorbatt battery would be too happy with power just being thrown at it. Might be ok for old type batteries but we have moved on from that old stuffbut thanks anyway

[simon]

Yes the system involves switching in or out various different coils on the alternator which have varied outputs. The bike can run with a trickle charge with no lights and then the charge steps up as the lights are switched on. The introduction of a Zener Diode which dumps all charge to earth above a specific voltage shedding it as heat was a refinement on this system but it doesn't relate in any way to the requirements of the draw so if the battery is fully charged or flat it still only gets the same charge. There is an AMC site (Danish in origin I think) call Jampot Archives or some such that has a reprint of a Lucas manual that describes how the switched stator works. With a solid state reg/rec you simply setup the stator for its maximum output and let the clever bit of kit do the rest. It warms my heart to see the ammeter on the Bitsa go from seven amps out put on startup down to less than one as I drive up the road. Also the needle just flickers when you switch on the lights as the extra draw is quickly compensated for.

[John L]

Norm - "call me old fashioned". Nah, won't call you that - " if I'm going to have lights on a bike I like them to be decent and I like to have voltage into the battery regulated" - sounds like a thoroughly modern outlook to me........