ST1100 40 Amp Alternator Upgrade - Success!!!

What can I say? With as many talented LiST resources as we have backing you up, this is a job that you cannot screw up unless you try really hard.

John O. made me promise to do a write-up on the job, so here goes:

PREPWORK:

This is one of those jobs that you really have to do your homework for. There's a list of parts and supplies a mile long that you'll need, and then you need to learn new terms like "Lewis Pin", "Flange", "Bearing Locknuts" and so forth. Go to Mike Martin's maintenance page, read the combined MM/John O. writeup, as well as the Mark Frost Swingarm procedure. A view of John's Webshots album showing Rob Parker's upgrade speaks volumes as well.

Now for the parts....y'know, I was GONNA do this job NEXT winter, when a scan of eBay showed a 40A upgrade kit for auction. One week later, I had it for $390 shippped....this probably saved at least $100 over even Service Honda.

But wait....you cannot do this job without John's care package. Along with some magic dust, there is an assortment of very useful, specialized tools to get this job done. Don't even THINK of doing this job without them!

THE JOB

FedEx showed up with the last couple of needed parts the day before I was to begin. Nothing like testing my patience....teardown was quick as I've torn this beast down several times. The old alternator proved to be a bitch to get out....specifically because the OLD shaft assembly is held in by FOUR flange bolts, and the new shaft assembly is held in by THREE flange bolts! I didn't know about the fourth flange bolt so I pushed and pried in vain until I consulted the service manual and caught my error. Oh, and don't try to fight physics.....if you're going to change the oil in your bike, do yourself a favor and keep the oil IN THE HOUSE in the winter. Otherwise you'll end up like me, trying to pour fluid resembling congealed maple syrup into a funnel, where it invariably ends up on the floor.

Frankly, the easiest part of the job came with installing the new shaft assembly with the Lewis Pin...only took about 5 minutes of dorking around with John's wooden shaft adjuster to get it to line up....and the new alternator somehow fit in between the frame members although I swore that mine was different and there's NFW that SOB's fitting through there......damn! How did THAT happen!!!! Cool!

So I hooked it up for the smoke test today....fired right up and purred at 14.4VDC. Nice. Stayed really steady too, even at idle <1k rpm.

CREDITS

All the credit in the world goes to the giants on whose shoulders I'm presently standing....John Oosterhuis, Rob Parker, Mike Martin, Mark Frost, Mark Hosier, and last but not least, Alan Barbic for being the first to walk the plank.

Thanks all for making this liST so great....

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Craig Severson, W8CS
1994 ST1100 53k "ShafT"
1999 CBR1100XX 16k, in restoration
STOC 3075, IBA 9294, AMA

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