Iron Sportster generator overview

I go over the generators and voltage regulators used in 1952 K-models to 1984 Iron Sportsters. The factory did put and alternator behind the clutch in late 1984, I don't cover that.
Big website article:
www.open-sport....
Fixing oil coming out the generator article:
www.open-sport....
Harley K-Model site:
www.harleykmod...
Cycle electric:
www.cycleelectr...

[@chrisatkins7959]

Thank you. I’m going to dig my 77 out. Been stored for 30 years. Always had a charging problem. Always had a tire/wire problem. Never put the two together. Also never knew about polarization. I did not have help when I was younger. I want to get it ready for my grandson and your vid has gave me a wealth of knowledge.

[@Open-Sport]

How cool. I just took my 1977 out for the first time in months, now I have my vaccination. It started up after a four kicks, and thank heaven for the alcohol-free gas I put it in it. I have never let it sit this long since 1985 when I bought it. It used to be my daily driver, even those lean years when I didn't have a car. I just bought 6 armatures, and will be comparing them. One cost 10 bucks, another cost $120. I will test them all. I just posted a big rebuild video, and the article I link to in the description is 21 pages of going through the Model 65A generator. Good luck with that '77, it's a great bike!

[@WolfPred]

@@Open-Sport I just found your channel after I purchased a 77 ironhead, do you think its worth the time and effort to change the generator out for an alternator?

[@stevehiscox1473]

Valuable experience indeed.. thanks

[@Open-Sport]

Thanks, I hope to do a similar video about Iron Sportster regulators in the near future.

[@rickbower5646]

sportster Paul, you just got your 973rd subscriber!!!! AWESOME!!!!

[@Open-Sport]

Thanks for the sub! I hope to get some more armature videos up, and I also have a show about setting up an LED headlight in an old Bates-style housing. Stay tuned!

[@danieloregan2330]

Very interesting really enjoying this series of videos very detailed excellent quality I shared the channel with sportster sickness UK Facebook I'm shore a lot of my fellow sportster riders will really enjoy this channel excellent job 😎👍

[@Open-Sport]

Thanks so much for your kind words, it really gives me incentive to go dig out some more parts and do some more videos. I intend to show testing these generators and how to rebuild them in coming videos. One day I will get the special tool to remove the Timken bearing in that 1982 case, and will be stripping and bead-blasting it in yet another video. I have been to Swindon, Manchester and Farringdon, so I am a big fan of the Mother Country. I visited a train museum near Oxford, it was amazing, some serious machinery.

[@danieloregan2330]

@@Open-Sport I look forward to more videos u show so much in detail makes the videos easy to follow the amount of times I've had an issue and searched KZbin for a video on it and finally find one for my bike and they skim over my problem or don't show the part orientation I needed to see 🙄 Swindon is very near me and dicot I think is the railway museum u visited I think we have walked sum of the same floors I live in Newbury Berkshire Can't wait to see more keep it

[@71butcher22]

This is a great resource! I just drug home a 65 xlch I'm that sat for 25 plus years. I need all the help I can get

[@Open-Sport]

@@71butcher22 Those mid-sixties Sportsters are getting very sought after. It's kick-start only, and should have a magneto. I switched my 1962 to coil and points, and don't miss all that kicking. It would start one-kick when warm, but that magneto was sure cold-blooded after the bike had sit a day.

[@Open-Sport]

@bozo clown I just tested a whole bunch of my generator stash. I have seven of those Hitachi 65B. Man are they smooth and put out more power at lower RPM. I will post the video tomorrow, and then start rebuilding a 65A, with a 65B to follow. I guess a Bosch regulator would work, I will be sure to try this setup on my generator tester next week. The factory electronic regulator is good since it limits current to protect the generator. The Bosch mechanical won't limit current so a short like I had in the taillight harness will cool armatures.

[@rogerdamron1744]

The video helped me so much thank you please keep going would like to see a video on regulators that would be wonderful thank you

[@Open-Sport]

Will do!

[@normppjr4429]

Cool video. Thanks for making it.

[@Open-Sport]

Glad you liked it!, Thanks for the comment, more videos on the way.

[@dancingwulf3351]

I'm going to look at the rear wires but I never seen a short. My 1984 sportster thanks you💯. Thinking about putting alternator on it and how much longer did you battery last? All else fails I'm going kick starter route 😤

[@Open-Sport]

Cool, be warned the little alternators are noisy, that is one bad thing about them. There is that guy that adapts the Toyota Nippondenso tractor alternators, he would sell on eBay, but he wanted 400 bucks and that was years ago. If you don't have a lot of lights or radios, a factory alternator will work OK.

[@codybuller5736]

You happen to still have a magneto been looking for one for my 72 kick only cant find a used one anywhere and cant afford the 900 for a new one

[@Open-Sport]

I gave the mag from my 1962 to my buddy Preacher, for the 1969 Sporty he bought right after getting out of Vietnam. The original ones are almost as expensive as the new ones I hear, but like you say, they never come up. It was so hard to start my bike, I was glad to give the mag away. Sorry I can't help.

[@davidhamilton7628]

So what do you think I should do to make a 84 ironhead reliable 🤔

[@Open-Sport]

Well, one thing is to keep it stock and only use stock factory parts to fix it. Nobody does that, including me. You can hope to find the good aftermarket parts from forums like the XLForum. When I was an engineer at GMC Truck and Coach in 1974 (well, a co-op student,) I asked Wally Edwards, the chief engineer, why any car or truck was less reliable once a mechanic worked on it. He said, "Two things, torque control, and cleanliness." And that was before knock-off parts from China and Mexico flooded the market. In Hot Rod magazine back in the 1970s writer Don McFarland pointed out that almost every hop-up modification reduced the reliability, trading that and drive-ability for more HP. So I run stock cams, and as Duncan Keller taught me, cheap nitrided valves, not stainless steel, and cheap cast iron guides, not bronze. Stock stuff even works when it is aftermarket. And when I work on the bike I pretend it is me on an operating table opened up, and I try to be as clean as I would want the doctors to be. On top of this, fresh oil and hit those old fashioned lubrication points, Zerk fitting and oil the cables. A 1984 is one year before the Evo, and it is quite modern compared to the older Iron Sportster. I never let my old lady wash the bike. I also learned to never pressure-wash it. Just a wipe-down and you do it yourself so you see the stuff that is loose or broken. It only takes one episode of being on the side of the road, and your girlfriend saying, "Oh, I saw that thingie like that when I washed the bike," and you learn to let them show their love in other ways.

[@L2fish]

Not a sportster. I have a pre evo 85 and the only difference is that alternator. I would rather have that alternator. But yeah my back tire hits wires too in the fender.

[@Open-Sport]

Yeah, the fact they came out with the alternator in the middle of the model year tells you they had some development problems. You should have that Hitachi generator on an early 84, but all the 1985 bikes were alternator. They changed from a 8-hole stator in 1984L to a 4-hole stator in 1985, so that shows more development problems. I just would hate to have to remove the primary chain to work on the alternator. I admit the alternators make more current, but a Hitachi is rated 13-14 Amps, way better than the 10-11 Amps of the -65A used 1965-1981.

[@Martien327ci]

I have an 84,:(

[@Open-Sport]

Yeah, if it is late 84 that means the alternator is stuffed under the clutch. That is so different, I don't cover them in my videos or articles, sorry.