Forum bmwbike.com

Dear Who owns single models,
I drive 1961 R27 for daily use. I use longer at night than day time as here (Bangkok), traffic is very terrible. I usually drain battery very easily. After I drive far to rural area, battery is usually charged. I wonder other users also has a same experience as I. I recently rewired the amature coil and renewed battery. I would like to know whether other owners have same problem as I.

Very truly yours,
Shingo Ishitaka

I used an R27 for daily transportation for 2 years. I did not have a problem with the battery going dead, but I did not use the bike at night. I wonder if your red generator light is glowing? Since you have repaired the generator and replaced the battery, maybe the voltage regulator is not charging the battery enough. You could try replacing the regulator. When my R27 restoration was completed, the one thing that did not work was the old regulator.

Hi Shingo,

At times I had similar problems during night rides with my R26 here in Manila where traffic is about the same like in Bangkok: stop and go most of the time. Most probably revs are notoriously to low to charge your battery. A local veteran suggested to me to use only the parking light while trapped in stop and go situations. Meanwhile I have moved to a less congested area and the problems disappeared.

Regards,
Thorsten

Dear Thorsten,
I also do the same practice while caught in dense traffic. Anyway I could charge battery when I went to outer bangkok where you can hold 70 to 80 mph for as long as you want.
Local machanic suggested me to use a dry battery which has a larger capacity.
Anyway today I changed the regulator to electric one so I will see whether it works or not.

Regards,
Shingo

Dear Shingo,
I too live in Bangkok and am having the same problem.
Did fitting a new regulator help?
I use the mechanics at Chulalonghorn, but irrespective of
me suggesting to them to fit a new regulator they haven't.
In fact they bought me a battery charger!

Look forward to hearing from you,
Regards,
Pete

Dear Pete,
I also use the same shop! hahaha.
I think the regulator helps better but in addtion to that I changed the dynamo springs which hold blushes. It works better as I use most of my batteries during night lide but after my daily trip to Chula accroding to the battery indicator on the battery, it indicates that it was charged again.
Anyway if you drive it more longer at night or during hefty traffic congestion time than daytime, I think the battery charger helps. Maybe Lung Jun was right in that respect. Anyway you can contact me via E-mail.
Sawadee
Shingo Ishitaka
VBMWOC # 6138 '61 R27