Britbike forum Forums Thread Like Summary - Useless ammeters, IMHO

Ok, so I’ll expect some flack here, aside from original restorations, why an Ammeter? What does an ammeter do for you when the voltage is the end issue to keep the bike running? I admit I am focused on the Electronic Ignition bikes here, but isn’t the same thing true with the OEM points design? Ammeters are notoriously fragile, require the highest current wire to have the ammeter inserted, and therefore put all the risk inside the congested headlight shell. I dunno, why a voltmeter wasn’t the choice in first designs at the factory. Just tradition would be my first guess. Ammeters help with trouble shooting when there is a problem, kind of like test equipment. Voltmeters on mine give me at a glance status. Just wondering, I’m not building any more……….

Look inside a bike ammeter and look inside a voltmeter. Make a judgment about which cost more in 1930. That’s one reason why old vehicles had ammeters or just a charge warning light. A charge warning light was only convenient to fit when the vehicle had a dynamo (DC generator) and an ignition switch. Most British bikes with dynamos had no switch: the battery was isolated by the cut-out in the regulation system.

A working ammeter is useful. It shows that your charging system is operating normally. A voltmeter is probably better. That’s why voltmeters or “battery condition gauges” were a popular optional extra on cars in the 1960s.

My classic Britbike ammeters all seemed to read the same - a wavering fluctuation of several amps AT ALL TIMES!

Probably 3 or 4 different brands, at least as many slightly different silkscreened scales; and yet, eerily identical...

There are neat colour changing LEDs out there that fit in the idiot light holes. i have one of Paul Goffs , its a very good thing.
Green good, charging, amber borderline, not so good , red bad discharge, higher than 14.5 volts flashes red