Britbike forum Forums British Motorcycle specific Brands Triumph bulletin board Charging system confusion

Hi Forum,

i am getting confused about the electrics on a T6 1965 the I am looking to buy, and hope that some of you can enlighten me:-)

The bike has been "converted into a bonneville look alike. i.e the Nacell has been removed and a smaller US tank mounted.
Seller says it is a 6 volt bike, and here I get confused.

As far as I know the 6T in 65 had a 12 v system with a Zener under the seat.
In this case I expect the Zener would be used to regulate the voltage?

Now the Zener has been removed and I do not see any other means of voltage / charging control, and there is one 6 v battery mounted.

I believe that the 65 Bonnevilles had a 6 v system.

Looking in the spares catalog it looks like both the 12 v and 6 v systems of the year uses a RM19 stator.

questions

can it really be the same stator in both systems?
how is the charging / voltage regulated in the two systems?
also it seems that at least the 6 v system currently on the bike can run with a disconnected battery?
What is the benefits of the seller having converted the system to 6V?
I do have Photos of the schematics , but I am not able to attach photos into this message.



Anyone who can help me understand these differences?

BR
Barthol

Yes 6V and 12V used the same stator, for some years.

Nobody converts 12V to 6V, unless they’re mad.

Compare your wiring and electrical components with the 6V and 12V wiring diagrams in the manual.

Thanks, I would also stick with the 12 V,

However right now it is 6 v with out the Zener.

question is really how is the voltage controlled in the 6 V system ( there is no zener and no Charging relay?)

Also is the ability to run without battery turning the switch to emergency only a 6V system thing?

The 12 V set up uses a Zener Diode, much simpler wiring
The 6 V set up switches the alternator coils, and the switch has an Emergency setting for starting with a flat battery, this has a lot more wiring to the switch. it does not really regulate, just changes output to max with the lights on, its not great and will boil a battery if a lamp bulb fails since the lamps loads are needed to balance the demand/ output.

Yes, EMG switch position is 6V only.

Thanks a lot guys, that cleared it :-)

I guess that the winter project is to put it back to 12 V then

if you go to 12 V, and wish to run with Electronic ignition the 6Volt coils can remain, EI works better on twins with two 6 volt coils.