Voltage Fix - 955 Tigers .......better known as the SASQUATCH MOD

[Bob Tosi]

does this charging fix apply to Girlies? or do they have the electrical system like the last post and pics?

[Stretch]

885i Girlies (1999- early 2001) have one-piece external alternators (like a car), and are not candidates for the Sasquatch Fix.

955i Girlies (mid-2001 - 2006) have the alternator Rotor and Stator inside the engine case, with an external Regulator / Rectifier mounted to the frame under the seat.  This is the system that can be improved with the Sasquatch Fix.

[Mini Mo]

Thanks for the reply and setting the record straight. Now I can go back and tell my wife I'm NOT as dumb as I look!
You guys might want to go back to the thread and update it with this info so some poor slob doesn't have to rip everything apart for nothing. Thanks again.
Steve

[Stretch]

You guys might want to go back to the thread and update it with this info so some poor slob doesn't have to rip everything apart for nothing.

Alright, good idea.

[JasonS]

but not in the dog sense!


After way too many hours... over the weekend I did a major electrical upgrade to y '06 Girly, adding a fused power supply to feed the Volt meter, Radar detector, GPS, Horns, Accesory socket and driving lights. A significant increase int he potential load, especially on top of the heated Jacket I already run when needed.

My first test ride, the volt meter paid off before I even left the driveway. I went out to jump on and go and saw that voltage was at 8 V and dropping and no amount of throttle changed that...

Back into the garage I went, and soon found that the main wire had pulled out of its crimp on the Voltage fix, but was covered by shrink tube so it couldn't be seen... and I swear I pull tested all my crimps.. honest!

So with that fixed I went on a nice test ride, and all was well.

I get up to 14.9 volts when not much is running, but turn on those driving lights and we are instantly hovering at 12v with all else shut off and sitting at 5000 rpm.... so I will have to get the 35 watt bulbs and swap out the 55 watt ones.   even with that I question if the lights will be able to be run much.

Last night I got a chance to run with the light a bit and I need to
remount/aim them anyway.

Now comes the issue....and the second issue diagnosed and monitored by the new Voltmeter,   'cause there just had to be an issue, right? ......

the Gerbings jacket I have will cycle on/off as a matter of course when it isn;t set on high... as the jacket kicks in I can see voltage drop to low 13's, but what really got me was all the lighting dimming significantly when the Jacket kicked in... the instrument lights would dim significantly and the headlights the same.

Prior to doing the bypass voltage fix, I had run the same jacket on a night ride, running the jacket the entire time, and I never noticed this effect.

The jacket plugs into the access socket in the factory harness to the bike.

I do have the wiring kit that came with the jacket and can try that..

(update) Gerbings agrees... hook the jacket direct to the battery.. once again the wimpy Tiger wiring harness strikes fear into the hearts of the non-mechanically inclined!!  LOL  SO I will perform the swap and see what happens.

BTW, the Gerbings sucks 75 watts at full load.. I would assume that with most else off the bike would support that load... ??

I have some most excellent pictures I will post at some point

thanks for the thread!

[TigerTrax]

Jason...
I've run 2 Gerbings jackets + heated grips all day w/o problem.

That should be about 200 watts ( 76/liner + 48 for grips )..
I did not run my radio or aux lights .... pressing for a messing!

[atokad]

Thanks Stretch and others for all of the input. A few Q's I have:

I have an '06 - no charging problems to date
Use a battery tender when ever it is sitting in my garage
I have factory heated grips
Direct wired Garmin Zumo
Don't have heated liner - but plan to some day
Other than that, no plans for any extra lights, voltmeter etc etc
Have not tested my bike's current output.

I was going to do the Sasquatch fix, but after reading all of the charging threads/voltage threads, wonder, it ain't broke, should I fix it?

If I proceed with the Sasquatch fix, is it OK to just cut off the stock connector and splice/solder/shrink/tape the new connections. Am I going to regret having cut the stock connector off? Should I leave it there for future ability to "test" the RR if necessary?

Thanks.

UPDATE:  I went ahead and did the fix since I'd constructed the leads to go from the battery to the RR. I did the female spade ends (vs cutting the stock connector off) figuring that if I screwed some wiring up or if it ever went bad (my connections) during a trip I could remove all of my connections and just plug in the stock connectors.

[swamper650]

Finally got off my duff and did the voltage fix. Printed out all the pics and followed it step by step. No problems...no hassles  and...................My cheapo volt meter was showing 13.9  @ 3000 rpm......now showing 14.9. Verifying  it with a small hand held meter shows a variance of as much as .5 volts from what my dash mounted unit displays..Allowing that it still indicates kicking 14.4 volts to the battery.................Thanks Stretch

[M.T.]

Hey Swamper-

You bring up something that was annoying me too-  that my voltmeter was not really very accurate by the time the current travelled up to the dash.  (It seems that I lose about .6 volts)

I spent some time with my good hand-held meter at the battery to test what the battery is really getting vs. what the dash mounted meter says.

Now I just have to do mentally add about half a volt to whatever the meter says. Sort of annoying, but I've made peace with it!

[oxnsox]

The only real place to measure the voltage is....  at the battery.  If you fit a voltmeter the (Voltage sense) wire should, in an ideal world,  connect thru a fuse to your battery...  but of course you don't want it on all the time so it should connect thru a relay.

[Nimrod11]

Guys,

First of all, thanks for a great fix. I hope this will solve my problem. When riding in town, with two 55W aux lights on, I get down to 11.5V or so. If I turn off the bike, it won't re-start at that voltage. On the road, no problem.

I just wanted to check the fuse amperage. You say 30A in the original post but the Tiger's alternator is rated at 40. Is 30A enough? No blown fuses here? I wanted to put a 40A fuse, but have not found a suitable fuse holder. Seems they are all rated at 30A (see Radio Shack). Is the one in the original post rated at 30A?

Thanks for the help.

John

[Stretch]

I've found that an ATC fuse holder won't handle the current flowing from the R/R to the battery.  I had a fuse holder melt on me a couple months back, so I switched my Sasquatch Fix to an in-line Maxi fuse holder with a 30-amp Maxi fuse.

Compare the Maxi with the ATC automotive fuse...



These fuses and fuse holders can be found at car stereo shops, used for high-wattage amplifiers.

You'll probably do fine with a 40-amp fuse.  I think the reason the original Sasquatch Fix went with 30-amp fuses is that 30 amps is the rating of the fuse holder.  A Maxi fuse holder is capable of handling nearly 100 amps, so you certainly won't have resistance heating problems with the wire or fuse holder at a mere 30 or 40 amps.

Be sure to keep a spare with your bike.  You can't find these fuses just anywhere.

[matttys]

I'm using a 40 amp fuse holder with a 30 amp fuse.  It was a difference between 10 and 12 ga wire.

[Stretch]

It's not the wire that caused me problems, but the spade connectors in the ATC fuse holder itself.  Under a heavier load (radio, heated gear and grips, etc), the 3/16-inch spade terminals inside the ATC fuse holder couldn't flow that amount of current for hours on end, and the connectors overheated and melted the fuse holder.

The 3/8-inch connectors in a Maxi fuse holder are much, much bigger, making for tons more surface area between the fuse and connectors, drastically reducing the electrical resistance in that connection.

[matttys]

The 3/8-inch connectors in a Maxi fuse holder are much, much bigger, making for tons more surface area between the fuse and connectors, drastically reducing the electrical resistance in that connection.

Sure.  What's he running that will need a maxi fuse?  Or is he just looking for another way to get a little bit more power out of the electrical system.