175TS with 125S engine project

[themoudie]

Excellent George.

Slainte, Bill

[DBDBrian]

Good result George, it's always satisfying on the first start up after a rebuild, and all is well, I have lost count of the number of engines from single to twelve cylinders I have rebuilt over the years . But that first fire up is always a tense moment, more so with something extremely old. Look forward to your first road test report.

[George]

Had bike running on bench to correct tick over and check for oil leaks, so far so good. Made mistake of making new clutch cable same length as old one. Should have realised that previous owner did nothing right. Cable curves to tight making clutch heavy to operate. New cable ordered. Will follow Dewcat Bob's excellent explanation on clutch cable and fulcrum arm. Ready for road test once cable fitted. For safety I have added mirrors and indicators.
This bike has original electrics system, 6 volt, points, three wire alternator, rectifier. The headlight shell has a red light with 12v 3w bulb connected from ignition switch, to earth. Am I right in thinking that this is purely 'ignition on' warning light and if so is there a way to check battery is being charged. I have only run engine short period with fully charged battery.

Although I have restored a number of British and Italian bikes this is my first Ducati, not helped by total b**ls up previous owner made, and would like to thank members for the help and information received. This is the best forum. I include Ranton_Rambler (Ian) who started my Ducati journey by writing about his restoration in VMCC magazine. The bad news is that I am already thinking of my next Ducati single, expensive addictive hobby.

[veloduke]

Sparkbright make a simple to install and use voltage monitor.
It's an LED indicator that basically is green for charging and various red states (flashing,...) for not charging (happens at tickover/low revs).
I have one for each of my bikes (yet to be installed on the 125).
The 12V 3W bulb on my 125 is simply an 'ignition on' indicator.

[Jordan]

For some reason, red and green are the usual choices for LED indicators.
Yet red/green colour-blindness exists - the most common type.

[Duccout]

'The bad news is that I am already thinking of my next Ducati single, expensive addictive hobby.'

If you think that the Singles are expensive, don't look at Twins, where almost everything is x2!



Colin

[veloduke]

Yes, red blue might be better. Traffic lights have some blue in the green for that reason.
Still, the Sparkbright indicator does flash when the system isn't charging.

[Jordan]

Blue would save confusion - I can see it well.

Is there an advantage to having dual-coloured lights for charge indication though?
The old convention of a single light that is either on or off would seem to offer equivalent functionality.

[veloduke]

KISS is a good principle to maintain.

However, my electrics do not have the facility to operate a light that goes out when charging, so the Sparkbright works for me. Just two wires and no need for a major rewire.

Not saying anyone should do this, just that it works for me .

[George]

Sparkbright sounds like a good idea. Should fit in place of ign on light with simple connection to ign switch and earth. Cheap way to check battery charge without worrying that battery is going flat when out for a ride.