How robust is the NC's alternator for powering heating clothing?

[mike5100]

I just run the heated gloves. Everything else is body heat and I ride from 25 degrees F. and above.

Masochist

 

[JamesD]

I just have heated grips, but I drive a cage when it gets to sub freezing temps.

 

[Ridr44]

To be clear, if you have a voltmeter, what is the minimum reading that tells you that you are not overloading the system? Is it 13 volts or like my dealer told me 13.7? I can't seem to get a clear answer to this...Thanks guys...dan

 

[ste7ios]

Have in mind that FULLY charging a lead acid battery is a long process especially when the charger is the primitive motorcycle charging system and not a sophisticated hi-tech charger.

13.2V may not charge or discharge the battery but is it fully charged? It's very important to keep a lead acid battery always fully charged, otherwise it dies by sulfation soon or later... You need several readings to see what's the battery's SOC (state of charge - see Yuasa's Techical Manual for details) and a watt meter can be very helpful here...

Also riding at higher RPMs (like S mode) may really help to get more juice from the charging system. (Max. power is at about 5K RPMs).

 

[lootzyan]

To be clear, if you have a voltmeter, what is the minimum reading that tells you that you are not overloading the system? Is it 13 volts or like my dealer told me 13.7? I can't seem to get a clear answer to this...Thanks guys...dan

Battery manufacturers don't provide this kind of information because threshold when battery starts to discharge depend from many factors of electrochemical process inside a battery - temperature, age of battery. You would have to install ammeter and observe when current is reversed, something like analog charging meter from very old vehicles, with a needle in a middle - green on a right - charging, red on left - discharging.