Alternator Upgrade available

[Burnszilla]

If you have the 32amp alternator on your K75 or K100 and want to increase it to a 50amp alternator there's one on ebay. Ebay BMW alternator auction (http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&rd=1&item=2494489659&category=35617)

I got one last week from the same seller. I checked out the part numbers on the fiche on www.maxbmwmotorcycles.com and the newer K75/100/1100 use this one. The later K's came stock with heated grips so they used the higher amped alternator with them. I also believe this upgrade may help get rid of that dim battery light coming on.

Don, please correct me if I'm wrong.

[kioolt]

I did the upgrade on my 91 K100LT back in 93. It's fairly straight forward from what I remember. It's been working flawlessly for over 100K miles now.

[deilenberger]

Originally posted by Burnszilla
If you have the 32amp alternator on your K75 or K100 and want to increase it to a 50amp alternator there's one on ebay. Ebay BMW alternator auction (http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&rd=1&item=2494489659&category=35617)

I got one last week from the same seller. I checked out the part numbers on the fiche on www.maxbmwmotorcycles.com and the newer K75/100/1100 use this one. The later K's came stock with heated grips so they used the higher amped alternator with them. I also believe this upgrade may help get rid of that dim battery light coming on.

Don, please correct me if I'm wrong.

Steven.. only thing wrong is this has NO effect on the dimmly glowing charging light. Think of that as a feature (it can be fixed, but it really isn't worth it - it has no functional effect on the charging system.)

Best,

[dgoodwin]

I have a 1985 K100RT bought last year, now with 37K. The charging light has recently started to dimly glow intermittently. The question is, should I check the battery and/or the alternator to see if either needs replacing/work? I have noticed that if I tap the rear brake or front brake, it goes away for awhile. Perhaps a relay issue? Or, as Don says, just ignore it as a quirk?

Dave

[breyfogle]

.... The charging light has recently started to dimly glow intermittently. The question is, should I check the battery and/or the alternator to see if either needs replacing/work? I have noticed that if I tap the rear brake or front brake, it goes away for awhile. Perhaps a relay issue? Or, as Don says, just ignore it as a quirk?


It could be just a "feature" or it could be the early signs of a problem. My K75 never suffered from a glowing alternator light until last winter. Reving the engine did not have any effect at all so I asummed the battery and alternator were OK. Common wisdom is that TADT so I ignored it. It very slowly got worse ( as in glowing slightly brighter but never visible in daylight ). Eventually, the alternator light could be just barely seen in daylight if the brake light was on. Finally, the bike began do die at random times when the alternator light would begin to glow, grow brighter and then the bike would shut itself off. In my case the ignition switch was slowly building up internal resistance due to accumulated grit grim and ware to the point of total failure.

If your K bike did not suffer from a glowing alternator light before, and it does now, and it begins to slowly get worse, you probably have a problem that needs fixing sooner rather than later.

[Burnszilla]

http://ibmwr.org/ktech/charge-light-glow.shtml

[jdiaz]

I like the glowing alternator light at night. It tells me my heated grips are working, and that my K-Tail-Light kit is blinding traffic behind me as well. :D

[dgoodwin]

Thanks for the helpful comments on the dimly glowing alternator light and the link for the diode fix. I did clean the ignition switch when I purchased the K100rt because it would only engage the starting circuit intermittently. If the glowing gets worse, I will recheck the ignition switch contacts as well.

Dave