The International CBX Owners Association

In the recent edition of the CBXpress, there was an acticle writen concerning the CBX alternator and aftermarket alternatives. I wished the author would have contacted me to help with the details.
I'd like to add to the content about the conversions since the information seemed a little dated.

FYI, along with my automotive wiring business (street rods and drag cars) I also teach automotive electrical at a local college and have been producing CBX alternator conversions for about seven years now under my company name "CBX-tras LLC". Additionally, I service CBXs and 1100Fs and I'm a member of a team that races at Bonneville. (Yes, we've set records).

The alternator conversions made today are of higher quality than those that Stefan Jung produced years ago and I don't believe Stefan has produced any in the last 5 years. His units were functional but lacked finesse. The adapter plate appeared to be cut-out on a band saw, the splash shield was screwed on and sealed with silicone and the wire harness was spliced onto the 2 existing Kawasaki wires. I thank Stefan for initiating the idea but, I saw a better way.
Insidentially, when I decided to produce these conversions, it was my intent to utilize new alternators purchased from Denso. However, these alternators are exclusive to Kawasaki since they paid for the tooling and no one else can buy them. So, used alternator cores must be procured to build the complete conversion. I refurbish every one myself to keep the costs down. Although deemed expensive, my complete "plug and play" kits are still cheaper than buying a new alternator from the Kawasaki dealer.

The one thing I do offer is a Do it Yourself kit to help keep the costs down. No one else does this.
You supply the Kawasaki/Denso alternator, I sell you everything you need to complete the kit.

My prices haven't changed since June of 2010 making mine the most economical and are the finest available.

The benefits are: Instant charging (better starting, the ignition works better, the lights are brighter)
*Direct "Silent Drive" coupler - no plates to slip
*The stock rectifier can be removed from the bike (self-contained )
*The brushes won't wear nearly as fast due to the better design of the unit Output is about 400 watts (@ 13.2 VDC, ~30 Amps)
I sell:
Complete conversions in Black - $600
Complete conversions Ceramic - $650
Do-it-Yourself Kit (you supply Denso alternator) - $325 (I need to know the model of Denso Alternator you have)
Finish-it-yourself (you paint/plate/polish as desired) - $500 (Black or ribbed version, supply varies) All plus shipping.
Included with every kit is:
*CNC machined adapter plate with internal splash shield Custom designed and CNC machined drive hub
*A new Honda square shaped o-ring to seal against the case
*3 new Honda chrome plated attachment fasteners
*4 new Kawasaki cushions for the drive hub
*A new o-ring to seal between the alternator and adapter plate
*A new 3 wire harness/connector to directly attach to the CBX main harness so wiring modification is not necessary. Includes dedicated ground circuit.

Contact me if interested,
J.R.
CBX-tras LLC

Stefan Jung went through one step of refinement on his units by offering a spark eroded spline in a manufactured drive adapter instead of welding one together from a CBX drive plate. He stopped making them because Tom Dick and Harry copied his design and offered it for sale. He never had the intend to turn this into a business and competing with others but was providing help to those who wanted it and he was just breaking even with the price he charged. Bear in mind, his conversions were $425.- a piece when they were for sale last. Louis and Tim's then brought over a unit made by a German named Peter Barrrabas, who was the first to copy Stefan's idea, and they raised the price by charging $625.- because it had become a commercial project. Now, there are several sources for complete units, partial kits and components.
Dennis' article in the CBXPress was conceived quite a while ago and while it may not reflect the latest improvements on the kit, it is still basically a true description of the process. Dennis deserves our thanks to providing the write-up.
After Columbus had discovered America, and asked for some reimbursement of his expenses from the royal court, he had a lot of critics who claimed that it was no big deal at all. All he did was sailing West. They said, they could have done this too.
The difference was, he did.

I just received my alternator from J.R. and I am impressed with the workmanship on the conversion. The fast service and excellent packaging were first class too. My bikes are stored until April, so I will have a running report in the spring.

I put my alternator from J.R. on my 79 CBX last night and I am impressed with the ease of the installation. It took about 45 minutes, with alittle cleaning added in, to make the switch. The charging is better and the workmanship on the converted alternator is outstanding. The instructions are easy to read, which made the switch an easy task.

Same results for me, bigsix.
Spring will be here soon for all of us and the riding reports can begin.

I also did this mod - or rather I ordered the alternator & kit and had my mechanic do the installation as my bike was already in the shop for a few other fixes.

He was very impressed with the quality of the product and the completeness of the kit. I am pleased with the improved charging, and I can live with the looks. The black version looks unobtrusive to me on my black bike. While it does protrude farther than the stock setup, it's not going to interfere with the shin/knee of any rider I can imagine.

So far I'm definitely glad to have made this swap. I was on the fence until I learned that my batt was drained to almost dead as a result of a few back & forth trips to my mechanic's shop through Toronto's heavy stop & go traffic. I hate riding under those conditions, but living in a city with such bad gridlock problems, it does end up happening from time to time, and I wanted a solution to help deal with that use case.

Syscrush wrote:... until I learned that my batt was drained to almost dead as a result of a few back & forth trips to my mechanic's shop through Toronto's heavy stop & go traffic. I hate riding under those conditions, but living in a city with such bad gridlock problems, it does end up happening from time to time, and I wanted a solution to help deal with that use case.

I have European handlebars and switches on my CBXes. The switches have a provision to turn the headlight off. When I am in a situation, that I sit in traffic and the engine rpm is consistently under 3000, I switch the headlights off ( during the day only, of course).

That's not a bad idea. I may also switch to LED taillights & indicators.

Hi guys, I have one of Stefen Jung's alternators that I purchased years ago. Mine is putting out 14 volts when I bring up the rpms and then it blows the 30 amp fuse.

Dose anyone know the part number for the voltage regulator that is inside this thing. And how easy is it to replace.

Hold still Bob, I haven't posted about this yet as I am on the road, but your trouble does not likely lie in the regulator, more likely in the wiring connections. Take the red connector apart and look very closely at the wires and insulation. I'm going to bet they are starting to look toasty.

As J.R. explained it to me, there is a black signal wire that goes to the alternator, and if it senses less than 12 v it will signal the alt to go full field. As I learned, this alt is cable of putting out as much as 15.4 volts if asked, and if it does for long, it will toast your battery, and some wiring besides. Pop the cover to your alt, measure the voltage at the black wire, and compare it to the battery voltage. If it's 2 or so volts different, then that indicates some meaningful resistance somewhere in your wiring harness.

So my advice to you is don't waste your time troubleshooting your alt before you thoroughly inspect and renew the connections on your wiring harness.

Welcome Bob! Good to hear from you again. Don't make yourself a stranger.

Dave

Is that Bob "C-Man" Buehler? Holy cow, it's been a long time. Too long.

Hi Dave and Rick. Yes it has been too long. I have had a couple of very busy years since getting into the Oil and Gas industry. I also got divorced and had to move the motorcycle junk yard out of the barn along with a bunch of other stuff. I’m just now getting organized in my new garage but may be moving for work again. I’m kind of torn between finally putting the turbo together or just getting the 82 back running so I can sell it.

I am looking forward to getting back together with some old friends here so thanks, when is the next rally.
Maybe I should post something under the new members introductions it give everyone an update.

Regarding the alternator the wiring sounds like a good place to looks since I know it is a bit of a mess. I am sure I have had some melting going on down there and had to replace the main fuse.
So the problem is likely to much resistance between the black wire coming from the battery to the alternator if I understand correctly. That would be much easier to fix (maybe ) than replacing the voltage regulator.

Sounds like you have a solid plan.

As for upcoming rallies, it sounds to me like you're volunteering. Just don't make it for late July/early August as that's when I'm doing the Glacier NP- Canadian Rockies tour. More to follow as plans gel.

Rick Pope wrote:Is that Bob "C-Man" Buehler? Holy cow, it's been a long time. Too long.

Hey Bob, does C-Man still stand for the same thing it used to?

Hope all is well with you,
Jeff