Where can you mount a RT reg on an M94

[TheBevman]

Evening all, I’m looking for a bit of inspiration on where abouts to mount my RT reg on my M94 Wombat. I looked at the valley under the seat but there didn’t seem to be a good spot so I figured I’d ask since I’ve read of some of you doing the mod too.

Any and all help is appreciated.

Bev

P.S. - I should have my Bushy story up tomorrow if all goes to plan. It’s been a busy few weeks.

[viclioce]

You want to mount what? What is an RT reg? As a Road Toad owner, I’m not even sure what you’re asking. Please advise! Victor

[taber hodaka]

I would think a RT reg is a Road Toad regulator and he wants to install it on a M94 Wombat?? -------------Clarence

[Bullfrog]

The voltage regulator from a Road Toad is a solid state 6V regulator and it is a fine addition to the Wombat to protect the sealed beam. I'd lean toward mounting it to the steering head gusset. The mounting bracket of the regulator is an aluminum plate which serves as a heat dissipating feature, and bolting it to a flat steel plate (like the steering head gusset) helps "draw" heat away from the solid state components.
Ed

[matt glascock]

Aye Captain. That's where I mounted mine. Works like a charm.

[Bill2001]

I mounted the later volt reg on my Wombat 94 on the lower right side of the battery box, near the site of the stock load-shedding resistor. And put a 1/8" aluminum plate under the VR to act as added heatshink. I'll look at the circuit and see if there is an electrical advantage to mounting the VR up forward. With an LED forward lighting there is an advantage to holding the voltage between 6 and 9v.

[TheBevman]

Well for some reason I was focused on mounting it by all the electric-ery components, i.e. under the seat or around the battery box, and never thought about putting it up by the steering head. Truth be told I haven’t had a need to pull the tank in months and kind forgot what it looks like under there.

When I was removing the headlights or the race I noticed some of the plastic covers on the headlight wiring were cooked, browning and a bit crispy so I ordered the reg (regulator ) from Paul, so I could install it when I was putting things back together. I just didn’t think it would take a month to find the time to do it.

Thanks Gents. This forum saves the day again.

[viclioce]

Ah Regulator! Now I got it! I was reading it as something else, not sure what else, but something else. The gusset idea is a good one. Just a couple of holes to mate up and it should go right on! As my wife would say in Spanish, “pues Duh!” Victor

[Bill2001]

That type of VR does not regulate the putput from the alternator but simply diverts or dumps the excess voltage to ground, creating heat. That aluminum plate Ed mentioned is the device's heat sink. The heat generated is not a lot and it does it's job by radiating heat to the air. Bolting the VR to a frame gussett helps increase the thermal mass and give a margin. It would also help if some "heat sink compound" or dielectric grease was applied between the VR and the gussett. I mounted mine at the battery box because it replaced the old resistor and I added the aluminum plate because the batt box is thin metal.

[viclioce]

Am I mistaken, or isn’t what Bill is describing the red rectifier which mounts behind the battery box, while the black & silver labeled Regulator is the rectangular voltage regulator under the fuel tank behind the horn, and does regulate the voltage output to the headlight. It connects via the green wire, through the main harness. At least that’s what I remember from my Road Toad.

On newer motorcycles the Regulator & Rectifier (R&R) are often built together. But they are separate on the older Hodaka technology found on the Model 99 and newer Hodaka bikes. Victor

[matt glascock]

The rectifier is the red, square metal plate. Its function, like any rectifier, is to convert alternating current to direct current. By design it should allow current to pass through in one direction only. The output from the magneto is alternating current. If you think of AC as a sine wave, half the time, the wave is below the median line. A rectifier basically cuts off these negative deflections resulting in a pulsed, always positive direct current. What I'm not sure about is whether or not the "voltage regulators" used on Hodaka motorcycles are true voltage regulators meaning they both lower voltage higher than regulated voltage set range and raise low voltages to the regulated set range. If if only lowers voltage spikes, then it is a voltage limiter. My understanding is that it is the former.

[viclioce]

Yes, it would seem it needs to be so that it can maintain proper voltage without spiking or browning out the headlight. So what the original poster is asking is where should you mount the regulator. I would mount it to the frame truss under the fuel tank, where it would be protected from impact. The Rectifier is still needed and it’s already on the rear of the battery box. Victor

[rlkarren]

Sounds like Bill and I did the same thing. And we're not talking about the rectifier.

My Battery box has extra mounting tabs to mount the "current limiter" on the right side bottom of the box just behind the battery. My battery bracket came from a model 94a

I used a piece of angled aluminum about 3 inches long and mounted the VR to the aluminum and then mounted the aluminum to the existing two bracket tabs so that the VR was mounted parallel to the bottom of the battery box. Then routed the green wire up through the rectifier cavity to under the seat.

This is what my battery bracket looks like with the extra mounting tabs:

I suppose you could fabricate something similar with similar pleasing aesthetics.

$0.02

Roger

[Bill2001]

We did close to the same thing. Mine was a 94.0 batt box with no tabs, the resistor was mounted on the right side of the "rectifier cavity" and the VR was mounted there, too.

[TheBevman]

I ended up going with Ed and Matt on this one, I still haven’t got the garage up to snuff from the move, so drilling 2 holes and running some wire was up my alley... and the tank had to come off anyway to seal the petcocks, the garage is smelling like gas again

Here’s the two previously mentione holes

Here’s the reg mounted up

I probably should have moved it down a bit but wanted it hidden as much as possible, I like the look of an unfettered Hodaka. If I need to get at the horn, I’ll probably need to remove it to remove the horn but it clears everything and it’s out of the way.

Here is is with the tank on.

Thanks guys for saving my bacon yet again.

[matt glascock]

Looks great Bev. That's exactly how I mounted mine. Out of the way, protected, and cosmetically unobtrusive. Perfect.