Six To Twelve Volt Conversion

We converted his classic chopped Pan from an antequated 6-volt system to 12 volts, futzed with details on the bike, tuned it and changed the oil. It needed it. It’s a simple operation–yeah right. Nothing is simple on an old, well worn custom. If you want a stellar job done, you need to focus on the details, not just the job at hand. I’ll explain or die trying.

Supplies used for detailing.

Making a six /twelve is simple. Replace the battery, generator, regulator, coil and lights. Done deal. If the bike was new, that would have been the extent of it, but it wasn’t. It needed some new wiring, new battery cables and tenderness. The battery was a very different configuration so it needed to be repositioned. That’s just the tip of the iceberg.

Ah, but the Bikernet staff is not complaining. We handle all projects as a team. Plus there was a couple of mighty reasons to go the extra mile with this putt. The bike is a classic, original custom built in 1975. It has never been changed since, except to slip Sugarbear’s rockers on the Dick Allen Springer for lighter handling. (See the Sugarbear article on Springer handling.) The bike belongs to Bandit’s Martial Arts instructor, a man who trained with Bruce Lee up until two weeks before Bruce passed on. He is a Martial Arts Hall of Famer, with too many other accolades to mention. But the bottom line is that he’s good people and a friend. Another reason to do step across the line, is our code. We like to do an outstanding job. Motorcycles are our lives, and we were going to write it up for the Bikernet readership to view. How’s that for enough reasons to handle the job with Geppetto aplomb?

All the parts were ordered from Custom Chrome. And we’ll take you through ordering recommendations as we dive into the project. We started by ordering a 12 Volt generator, regulator, coil and battery.

We discovered that the new generator didn’t come with hardware, so we had to dig out the old one and see what we had to work with.

This shows the 6-volt unit with the gear in place. The new generator didn’t hold onto the gear in the same manner. Would it work?

With a punch we drove the pin through the gear and the generator shaft.

We had to scavange the gear off the 6-Volt unit and work it onto the new generator. It was pressed and pined to the 6-volt unit and bolted onto the 12-volt puppy. The 12-Volt didn’t come with bolts, gear fasteners or even a gasket. There weren’t ever wire stud nuts. We made up a puller to remove the gear from the old generator using some JIMS mainshaft bearing race puller tools.

Since we were making another tool do the job we had to find a bolt that would extend our pulling function. It worked and the gear was removed.

Generally, if you replace a 6-volt with 12-volt the bolt holes need to be drilled to 5/16 from 1/4 inch diameter holes. Plus the bolts need to be replaced. Early models had generator straps that supported the smaller bolts. They’re no longer necessary with the larger bolts holding the heavy generator in place.

We used the 1.25 amp Battery Tender to charge the battery slowly. The tender monitors progress and shuts off when the battery is fully charged.

The battery came with battery acid and specific directions for filling each cell. Wrench let the battery set for almost an hour then refilled each cell. Then we charged the battery over night and finally topped off the cells once more before replacing the caps. We kept baking soda and water handy in case we spilled any acid. Extreme care, in dealing with this ugly shit, is mandatory.

This shows the new battery in place, but wires are not in place. You can see the bicycle inner-tube suspension around the battery.

We could have installed the original metal battery cover but chose not to for a couple of reasons. One, because of the risk of the battery coming in contact with the metal cap (since the cap is not designed for this battery configuration). Two, because of heat and without the cap the battery can breathe. Third, since Sifu had a custom seat, the area was concealed from view and the ugly battery top didn’t show.

The old coil waiting to be removed.

The new Thunder-Bolt coil came with everything including a mounting bracket, fasteners and sparkplug wires.

Nuttboy began replacing the coil that comes with everything including the bracket, fasteners, wire lugs and spark plug wires. I generally cut wires or spark plug wires long for safety. Then I trimmed back the insulation and splayed the wires out and over the insulation edge for a guaranteed connection.

I decided that Sifu’s cracked taillight lense needed to be replaced (it was busted and duck taped in place) and I found a billet license plate ring to conceal the bent and busted edges of the license plate.

About that time Chris Kallas showed up with a ’60s doodle-bug frame that needed pegs and a brake-pedal manufactured. We took a break and became a welding shop for a couple of hours. Believe it or not Kallas is restoring that pieced of shopping-cart crap. He said they’re worth more restored.

Back to the classic Pan. Sifu didn’t have a traditional regulator but a condensor style bolted to the battery. I removed it, traced the wire with a multimeter and used it for the hot connection to the regulator on the end of the generator. Unfortunately, whoever wired this beast, wrapped all the wires in black electrical tap instead of using loom. Some interesting wire configurating was necessary, but it worked out fine. One of the looms of wire had been stuffed between the left engine case and the generator–very hot placement. I moved the wire away from the cases and hid them behind the frame rail.

These regulators are terrific. They are simple as hell. Just take the cap off your generator and replace it with this unit. Wire the Green wire to the generator terminal marked “F”. Attach the Red wire to the “A” or Armature terminal and the black wire heads back to the hot side of the battery.

This unit comes with an indicator lighting system to show how it’s working. The red light indicates little or no charge, but when we screwed on the revs, the light turned green demonstrating that the generator is charging. If the lights go out there’s a problem.

With the generator installed with new Custom Chrome Colony hardware it needed to be polarized. We could only handle this function after the new battery and regulator were wired into the system.

Figure 1, is the diagram for polarizing mechanical regulators. Momentarily connect a jumper wire of adequate gauge (battery cable) between the “Bat” and the “Gen” terminal on the regulator after all wires have been properly connected and before starting the motor.

Fig 2, shows how to polarize a generator system with an electronic regulator or rectifier. Before mounting the generator on the vehicle, place the generator on a non-conducting work surface (like a wooden bench) and connect the positive terminal of a battery to the armature terminal of the generator. Then momentarily “flash” the negative battery terminal to the generator field terminal.

I ordered a Blue Streak set of points and condensor, since I wanted everything to be electrically fresh. We also replaced the sealed beam and the taillight bulb. I set the points at .022 and the plugs at .024. Then I attempted to time the puppy. I pulled the front intake valve clip and the sparkplugs and pushed the bike over until it began to close. Then I took the timing plug out of the left side of the engine and peered in the hole. When the slot arrived I positioned it directly in the rear of the hole pressed against the back of the circle. With an ohm meter Wrench losened the point plate with a 1/2 inch wrench and rotated the distributor until the points just opened as it was pushed into the advances position. Much care was taken to be exact.

Later when tuning the carb I wasn’t happy with the way the bikes was running and scoured the books for a ’62 timing confirmation. Ultimately I discovered that this bike was equipped with a single point distributor but dual point wheels. I was looking at the wrong slot. I found the slot stamped with an “F” for front and reset the timing. Now it’s running sweet.

I also discovered that the case bolt above the timing hole was loose and we removed it. The threads were stripped off one end, so I brazed the nut on that end and we replaced it for a solid, secure hold.

Wrench removed the air cleaner and discovered a soaked, stained and burnt foam filter. We pulled it and went digging through the garage for a new filter. When we couldn’t find one we dug somemore finding filters for other bikes, so we made our own, soaked it down with foam air cleaner spray for the best filtration and installed the puppy.

Wrench and I retuned the carb settings starting from scratch and followed the old manual. We discovered that the main was set very lean, like less than one turn out. The low end jet was also way off and we adjusted it per the manual, then started the bike and continued the adjustment process until it was warm.

We also discovered an old rusty mirror and decided to replace it. We have a box fulla stock mirrors. We dug one out and discovered the stem was too long for the small handlebar clamp. We also discovered that the clamp was sloop and loose.

Wrench dug a coke can out of the trash and split it in half with his sharp incisors. Then he cut a strip with tin snips and we shoved it underneath the clamp for a secure grip.

That’s it, except for some cleaning and detail work. I touched up rusting fasteners with Rust-oleum gloss black and silver paint. It’s a classic and we want it to remain that way.

–Bandit

PARTS

17190 Blue Streak High-Performance Points and Condenser set.

25588 Thunderbolt Coil. This coil will replace the standard round 6-volt coil. The internal windings are 100 percent immersed in an oi-filled jacket. The oil insulation cannot become brittle with age or crack from heat like conventional jelly materials.. This coil kit includes wire-core yellow jacket spark plug leads with black 90 degree boots, a chromed coil bracket, and hardware. This was a key element for 40 bucks. Since the $200 generator didn’t come with shit. We needed the gear, the generator bolts and a gasket.

25920 Chromed generator. These units come with machine-wound armatures, hardened shafts and premium bearings are used throughout. We tried to but the generator with the regulator attached, but they weren’t in stock.

28092 Regulator with Integral Charging Monitor. This is a CC Rider regulator replacement. There are four regulators of this nature in the catalog. Two of them tout that they are designed for 6-12 Volt conversions, but neither were in stock. With my Panhead I tried the bolt in alternator. They’re bitchin’ except for one small problem. They can’t be used with little rigid frame replacement batteries. They’ll boil the suckers.

36265 Colony Generator Bolts. As it turned out this ’62 Pan had a two-brush 6-volt battery that was held in with the same bolts used with the later model 12-volt generators. Unfortunately Sifu had lost one of his, so we ordered a set.

18951 The smallest 12-volt battery in the Custom Chrome Catalog. I’ve had terrific luck with these little puppies.

12513 Universal Taillight lense:

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