The generator is the part that recharges the battery while the bike is operated. It doesn’t look like a difficult part to handle, but it is worth spending some time on it, to align it properly, to see if it charges properly and … confirm it is grounded! Indeed after riding Minty for a while, we realized there was something wrong with it and soon confirmed it was because of the paint!
A little global status update
The renovation of my Indian Scout is now (mostly) finished, although it feels like there is always something to do!
Minty is already gloriously beautiful and rides like a charm. I haven’t been around much here because I’ve been occupied by work and life and riding! 400km so far! It may not feel like much to experimented drivers but to someone like me who started riding a bike like this one, with a brand new motorcycle driving license, it feels like a real accomplishment! If you’ve read my first test drive piece, you know I’ve come a long way!
Why did I write (mostly) finished then? Well, because we never handled the wheels completely. The pandemic and the lockdowns prevented us from doing so. We decided, at the time, to move forward with the rebuilt because handling the wheels’ chromes and hubs’ paint would have delayed us too much. This winter, this and a couple other things shall be handled. If we are not in lockdown again!
As for the ongoing things to do? Oh well, you know… little issues popping up all the time it seems! From bolts unscrewing themselves, to carburetor leaking, fuel valve getting stuck… to the generator overheating!
The generator was overheating and it took a while for us to notice
Don’t be like us… When you test drive your Indian, check the temperature of your generator!
For no particular reasons, one day, my dad touched the generator when I got back from a little ride. It was sooo hot, almost as hot as the engine and he almost burned his hand. This didn’t feel right but we didn’t know for sure as he had never touched it before. The Indian manual didn’t mentioned anything about temperature issues, so I continued riding. Luckily not very fast and not for very long rides, I should add!
The generator temperature bugged us and after considering many possible actions and potential issues, I wondered about the generator grounding. If I had learned something from the dimmer switch issues is that the first thing that happens when something isn’t grounded properly is that it overheats. Then it catches fire!
I finally called my wrench and he confirmed what didn’t feel super clear in the manual:
- First the generator shouldn’t be super hot, just a little warm. OK, so we do have an issue!
- Second, the generator body being attached to the frame and therefore to the engine, it should act like the ground. OK, we do have a big issue!
The generator was overheating because it wasn’t grounded
When my wrench explained the above, I knew the grounding deficiency was because of the paint! Paint is a very efficient insulator as I had understood when doing the wiring of the rest of the bike (which is something I maybe should still write about?!)
He obviously confirmed it.
So indeed, we had a big issue which could have had ugly consequences. However there was a simple solution to such issue. No! I wasn’t about to remove the paint from the generator!
Adding a wire to ground the generator!
The solution was simply to add a wire to ground the generator. That’s it. Darn!!
So on the generator side, I used the little screw that is in the middle of the cut out relay wiring. Temporarily I connected such wire to the frame near the battery mount.
The obvious place to connect such wire to the frame is at the level of the generator mount. Short and sweet! But for now, I have a wire that runs above the clutch to the battery mount because PAINT!
You see, I had diligently removed the paint off this little lobe of the frame because when we did the electrical work, we already had trouble finding a good ground. My paint job, glorious or inglorious as it is, had created troubles at the time.
But this time I knew the ground was good there, on this little lobe.
And it worked. The generator now is grounded and is warm not burning hot when I ride. I can put my sensitive little hand on it, so that is all good.
When we work on the bike this winter, we will dismount the generator, look at it inside to see if there has been any damage, and indeed, I will strategically remove some of the paint from the mount, to allow for the wire to be connected there.
I am a little pissed at myself… for once!!
Well, I might get really pissed this winter if there has been damage to the generator… fingers crossed it isn’t the case.
The reason I am pissed at myself is because I have found an email trail where I explained to my Indian pro, that the generator was not grounded! This email is from a year ago!! I knew it back then and I forgot. Stupid me. Grrrr…
I have been so eager to ride Minty that I don’t really study anymore. I let go.
When I started looking for answers on this, I went back to the manual and spotted a few other things I really need to do and check. The manual is really a great read and even if I don’t always understand it, I should keep on reading to learn more things, to prevent more issues.
I guess this is a nice winter activity!
Don’t be like us! Ground your generator! It’s a stupid mistake to not do it and generators are quite expensive to replace.
