[JPJP]

I finally got around to installing a 7" headlight on the gt, with 55/60 watt H4 bulb. Problem is, the battery light comes on whenever the bike is idling for a few seconds. Add in brake lights or high beams and it's worse. At 1500rpm, the light won't come on, but at the usual idle of 1000 rpm, my battery ends up draining.

Anyone have a good solution for this issue? I'm considering an led bulb which should eat up less power.

Thoughts, suggestions?

[hpwaco]

How old is your battery?   Its normal for battery light to be on at lower rpm.   Did you remove the red jumper to enable the head light on/off switch?    I have an h4 bulb that came with my 7" head light, its never been a problem.

[ROVERMAN]

Having the battery light come on at idle with any of my bikes certainly isn't normal.

[krusty]

My UK spec Conti GT has done this from day one. It's worse on a hot day sitting in a jam. But to be fair as soon as the revs rise beyond 1500-1800 the charge light goes out.
In the UK we don't tend to sit in traffic anyway, filtering is legal, thankfully!
When the engines cold the light goes out almost straight away, even at idle.

[longstrokeclassic]

one suggestion...

http://www.norbsa02.freeuk.com/goffyWhyNotLEDs.htm

[Rattlebattle]

+1 on what Roverman says; I've never had a bike in over 45 years on which the charging light comes on at idle, including my C5. To be fair, on the old 6 volt dynamo charging systems on old Brit bikes the ammeter would show a discharge at idle, but dynamo output depends on revs much more than on an ac alternator. The 12 volt ac Brit bikes would balance the load at tick over.

[JPJP]

Well, I did the conversion to the H4 bulb this morning. I took her for a ride yesterday with the old 5 inch headlight and it wasn't an issue,  nor was it ever an issue since I bought the bike, which leads me to believe that this isn't an issue woth the battery. The battery is about 4 months old. I will definitely buy an led headlight as suggested and hope this will no longer be an issue.

On another note, where exactly is the red jumper located that's inhibiting the function of the headlight switch? I think it'll be very useful for me to be able to keep the headlight off while I warm the bike up in the mornings.

I appreciate all the responses

[gizzo]

Mines done this since day one with a pb battery. Hardly ever with the lithium though. Now it has a pb one again, it does it. It doesnt bother me.

[Arizoni]

JPJP

If you follow this link, you will see the video our own Singhg5 made showing how to remove the short jumper that bypasses the headlight switch.
The video shows him removing the headlight in stages but if you've switched to the 7" light, just remove the front chrome ring and light to get inside the casquette.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UhQUNMKRix4

Long ago, I installed a voltage indicator on my 2011 G5.
It uses several different LED's to indicate the system voltage.

With the original small sealed beam headlight the LEDs indicated the voltage was always above 12 volts with the engine idling.

After changing the headlight to a 7" Lucas I notice the system voltage drops below 12 volts with the light on and the engine running.  Revving the engine slightly raises the voltage back up into the 12-14 volt range depending on the engine speed.

The bottom line is, I think this is normal for the alternator that is used in the RE UCE engines.

Getting back to the headlight switch jumper, if you remove it and connect the remaining connectors back together, don't forget to turn your light on if your State's laws require it.

Also, if your motorcycle has to go thru a State Inspection, be sure to turn your headlight on before giving it to the inspector.
One of our members didn't do that so the inspector, not knowing the light switch even existed flunked the bike for not having a working headlight.   

PS:  While your watching that video notice Singhg5 has a large number of other videos available.
They are all for Royal Enfields and they are all excellent giving information which shows things from checking voltages to replacing the oil pump drive gear and crankshaft seal and more.

Check them out.

[motomataya]

On the few old bikes, like Guzzi and BMW that have a charging light, its perfectly normal for the light to come on if the idle is set on the low side. If the battery is staying up, not to worry.

[hpwaco]

Owners manual says:    ".......700rpm...... OR if battery voltage drops below 12v for more then 3 seconds ....  ".   I have a Battery Tender digital voltmeter that plugs into the pigtail.

[iRideRoyalnVA]

Lithium battery

[JPJP]

The 7 inch headlight I installed was a cheap one on ebay that came with a bulb. I wasn't satisfied with the beam pattern so I bit the bullet and shelled out a hundred dollars for the one on classic motorworks.

What a world of difference! I can actually see at night, and the bulb they supplied doesn't set off the battery light, so I'm a happy camper.

But I think I'll need to get a lithium battery eventually. My lead acid battery is struggling in the cold

[gizzo]

Lithium batteries struggle in the cold too. It doesn't mean it's flat though. If you can warm it up a bit it'll work like it should. Might mean leaving the headlight on for a  while to warm it up. Storing them in the cold is good for them though. They just need warming up to deliver their best. It never gets cold enough where I live for it to be a problem.

[Richard230]

Lithium batteries struggle in the cold too. It doesn't mean it's flat though. If you can warm it up a bit it'll work like it should. Might mean leaving the headlight on for a  while to warm it up. Storing them in the cold is good for them though. They just need warming up to deliver their best. It never gets cold enough where I live for it to be a problem.

The lithium battery that I have in my B5 has been working just fine for about 5 years without a single problem.  Of course, my RE with its kick starter, doesn't task the battery very much.    However, I do recharge the battery every time I return home with a small Deltran lithium battery charger, which typically takes about 15 minutes to fully recharge the battery after a ride.

[gizzo]

Well you could probably start it with a torch battery in that case. Why do you need to top the battery up after each ride?
The lithium I had, I used in my Ducati, a Suzuki 650 single and my Enfield. It was great and I had it 5 years before the suzy got sold. But, it never gets below freezing here.

[Richard230]

Well you could probably start it with a torch battery in that case. Why do you need to top the battery up after each ride?
The lithium I had, I used in my Ducati, a Suzuki 650 single and my Enfield. It was great and I had it 5 years before the suzy got sold. But, it never gets below freezing here.

That is just something that I do with all of my motorcycles after I finish riding them during the day. It is a habit. I have discovered that their batteries last twice as long if they are fully charged at the end of the day.  A couple of my motorcycles have a computer that causes a constant drain on the batteries when they are turned off and the European bikes never seem to fully charge their batteries no matter how long I ride.  I think they deliberately specify relatively low voltage regulators, compared with the ones that the Japanese install in their bikes, for some reason.

[KD5ITM]

My battery light is always come on at idle. I wouldn't worry about it unless you notice at idle that the headlight gets real dim. Get a battery tender and charger battery overnight about once a week.

[Guaire]

one suggestion...

http://www.norbsa02.freeuk.com/goffyWhyNotLEDs.htm

That one looks like the one I bought through https://www.superbrightleds.com

[dickim]

Bought a 90's Guzzi Cali 3 (as donor for a trike) and on tick-over the charge light is on, my 2014 C5 has a voltmeter and that dammed thing never gets into the green - and lots of yellow / red when lights on and dances with the indicator beat - fitting an LED Headlamp globe and taking the voltmeter off - "out of sight out of mind" as I haave never had an issue - Motobat fitted.