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R100GS Omega 400W Alternator Installation |
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Written by Scot Marburger
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Monday, 27 February 2006 |
 | Begin by disconnecting your bike's ground cable from the back of the transmission housing, just above the right side foot peg. The lug on the ground cable comes from the factory with a hole, so you'll have to remove the attachment bolt that also serves to secure the speedo cable. Now would be a good time to snip out the end of the eye so in the future all you'll need to do is loosen the bolt to remove the cable. Push the cable aside and make sure it isn't touching anything metallic thus remaking the ground connection. Wrap it in a rag and hook it on the drive shaft boot to keep it from moving around. |
| Remove the seat and fuel tank so you'll have good access to the top of the motor. Now move to the front of the motor and remove the two socket head screws that secure the cover. The cover should now pop off (there's a steel dowel at the bottom, so you won't be able to wiggle that end). Set the cover aside | | | | |  | With the cover off you'll be able to see the ignition sensor (it's the can at the bottom), the alternator (the next big circular thing above the sensor) and the diode board (perched up under the frame rails at the very top). You'll be replacing almost all the wiring you see with new bits from the kit, so start by pulling connectors off the alternator and diode board. | | |  | | | | With the wires out of the way you'll be able to see the three socket head cap screws that hold the alternator in place. Remove all three and set them aside, as you'll be reusing them. Using a soft faced hammer, give the alternator stator a light tap on the side to break it loose, then pull the stator off the rotor. If you've got lots of miles on your bike, you might need to lift the brushes out of their grooves in the rotor rings. This is easily done by sliding something thin like a feeler gauge under the brushes, which hide in the white housing at the top of the alternator. My bike had about 35,000 miles when this conversion was done and I could find no wear on the rings at all, so the brushes slid off freely. | | | | | | | | | | | | | |  | | | | Take the stator over to the bench and get ready to remove the cover, which you'll install on the Omega stator. In the picture at right you'll see three wires at the lower right that are soldered to the white terminal block, and a fourth wire at the lower left whose terminal you'll need to disconnect. The three wires are soldered in place, and the terminals they're attached to are crimped to the wires under the solder, so you've got a bit of a job ahead of you getting them loose. I found it convenient to clamp the stator in a vise (gently over one of the mounting bosses) so I could use both hands for the operation. My trusty Weller pistol grip soldering iron provided plenty of heat, and I used a jet of compressed air to blow away the molten solder. | | | | | | If you do this make sure you're wearing safety glasses (a full up face shield would be even better) and point the air jet in a direction that blows the molten solder away from other parts of the stator (and your bike, clothes, or other goodies that might be laying on the bench). You might need a thin blade screw driver to pry the terminals loose (they're split at the top) while you pull on the wires with a pair of needle nose pliers. When you've got all three wires off, remove the nut that secures the fourth wire and lift it off the terminal. Straighten out all the wires so they stick straight up from the stator cover and lift the cover off the stator. You might need to give the stator another tap with a soft faced hammer to break it loose from the cover. Use a wire brush to remove any solder that may have accumulated on the white housing around the three terminals. | | | | | | Orient the Omega stator so the three wires are sticking straight up at the lower right and the single wire is sticking straight up at the lower left. Match that orientation with the stator cover and feed the wires through the holes as you lower the cover onto the stator. I found that the three wires were just a bit long, so I shortened them and the high temperature sleeve to reach the three terminals without kinking. I also used a small drill to open up the three terminals to accommodate the new wires. Feed the three wires through the terminals and solder them in place. Use rosin core solder. It doesn't matter which wire goes to what terminal. Trim off any extra wire and reattach the fourth wire to the terminal at the lower left. | | | | | Rick supplies a new set of brushes with the kit, and even though my brushes showed very little wear (left brush in the picture at right) I went ahead and replaced them. Remove the old brushes by prying up on the spring loaded finger at the top of the white brush housing and pulling them up by the lead. Use your soldering iron to heat the lug where the wire is attached and pull it out. Transfer the insulating sleeve from the old brush lead to the wire of the new brush and solder the new brush lead in place. You might want to use the compressed air trick to clean out the hole in the lug. Replace the brush in the housing and repeat the whole operation for the other brush. Congratulations! You've just completed the most tedious part of the transplant, and it's all down hill from here | | |  | | | | |  | | Now let's remove the old rotor and replace it with the one in the Omega kit. Put the bike in gear (I like second for this) and have someone hold the back break on while you loosen the socket head cap screw that holds the rotor in place. Remove the screw (it is threaded into both the tapered shaft and the rotor itself, so | | |  | | | | | you'll end up turing it a lot before it comes out). Take the rotor removal bolt that came in the Omega kit and screw it into the rotor until you feel it bottom out. Keep applying torque until you've got a fair amount of pressure on the wrench. If the rotor hasn't broken | | | | | | | | | | | | | |  | | | | | | loose by that point, give it a sharp tap with a soft faced hammer and it should pop right off. Remove the extractor and use a clean rag to wipe the tapered shaft and the tapered hole in the new rotor. Put the new rotor onto the taper and install the socket head cap screw. Tighten to 18 ft. lbs., again using the rear brake to keep the shaft from turning. Retrieve the stator from your bench top and place it over the rotor, holding the brushes up with your finger so that they ride over the stator rings. Make sure the wires are at the bottom as shown in the picture above. Verify that the stator cover is seated squarely on the stator and the stator is seated squarely on the mounting bosses. Use plenty of light and take your time to make sure everything ends up straight with no binding on the attachment screws. | | | | | |  | | | | | | | | | | | | | Now let's turn our attention to the diode board. It's located at the top of the motor and is held in place by four rubber mounts. You'll be able to remove the four nuts on the front of the diode board pretty easily, but you'll have to pull the cover off the top of the motor to get to the nuts on the back side of the mounts. | | | | | | | The cover is held in place by two socket head cap screws, one on either side of the motor a little less than half way back. It helps to remove the air filter to free up a little room for the cover to slide out. Now would be a good time to replace the filter if you haven't done so for 20,000 miles or so (less if you've been bashing around in the dirt). The little nuts on the back of the mounting studs are a lot of fun to get to, and a universal joint and 6" extension on your 1/4" socket might help. Little fingers are an added asset, so if you've got a little kid handy you might want to have some candy on hand for a bribe. Anyway, remove the four nuts on the front of the diode board and lift the board out. You'll have to remove the blue lead from the back of the board. The picture above shows my old diode board, which happened to be a Thunderchild upgrade to which I'd installed an extra ground wire. | | |  | | | | | | Your board will probably look a bit different, but it comes out the same way. With the board out of the way remove the four nuts that hold the rubber mounts to the motor. Holding your tongue in just the right place helps a lot here. Set the old mounts | | | | | | | aside and install the new solid mounts. Leave the nuts loose until you have the new diode board installed. The broad aluminum surfaces on the new mounts help transfer heat out of the diode board, at least that's the theory. My guess is that the motor is probably just as hot as the diode board, but Rick insists that they really do work. Now find your starter solenoid on top of the motor and remove the large wire that runs to the diode board from under the copper colored nut. Fish the heavy red wire out of the Omega kit and use it to replace this BMW wire. Route the wire to the left toward the diode board as shown in the picture at right. There's a hole in the motor casting that lets the wire emerge directly below the proper terminal on the diode board. Run the wire through that hole and connect it to the heavy terminal on the left side (looking toward the front of the bike) on the back of the board (this terminal is one of three or four on the left side that are all electrically connected). | | |  | | | | | |  | | Connect the blue wire to the back of the new diode board and slide the board onto the mounts. Put the two top nuts on the mounts to hold the board in place and tighten the nuts on the back side of the mounts. Then tighten up the top nuts on the front of the mounts. Slide the two extra ground wires onto the lower mounting studs (follow Rick's directions for which wire goes where) and run them down to the upper mounting screws for the stator. Remove the stator mounting screws to install the ground wires. Run the wires from the diode board down to the three terminals on the stator cover and connect them (order doesn't matter). Reattach the two leads at the top of the stator to the brushes. Zip tie the ground and diode board wires so they don't rub on anything. | | | | | | | Last step: Replace the voltage regulator. The regulator is located under the tank to the right of the central frame rail. Rick's directions for locating it are pretty comprehensive, as the regulator has changed location and appearance several times over the years. The one on this GS was a red and black plastic affair held on by a couple of phillips head screws. Remove the screws, disconnect the wire plug, and remove the regulator. Connect the wires to the new regulator and reinstall the screws. Note that Rick's directions are pretty good at telling you how to remove the old regulator, but don't mention that you should also install the new one. | | |  | | | | | | OK, we're almost ready for a smoke check. Reconnect the ground cable and tighten the attachment bolt. Turn on the ignition and you should see all your dash lights glowing, including the alternator light. If you don't, stop and recheck your connections. If all is well, give it a little choke and hit the starter button. There should be enough gas in the carbs to get the engine started, but if not you'll have to reinstall the tank. With the engine running, alternator light will glow at RPMs below about 1800, which Rick sez is normal. It should go out at higher RPMs. If it doesn't, shut off the ignition and check the connections again, including the wires you soldered to the stator cover (windings and brushes). When everything's working right, disconnect the ground wire again and reinstall the motor covers (top and front), along with the air filter and filter cover. Reconnect the ground wire, reinstall the gas tank and seat, and go for a ride, secure in the knowledge that you'll never be without adequate power again. |
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Last Updated ( Tuesday, 28 February 2006 )
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