Yeah, the 3 brush 6 volt system worked great. An adjustable 3rd 
brush that regulates current. The flaw in the system was the way 
the 3rd brush was mounted to the bracket that was held by the 
generator. It was riveted to a ring with a piece of phenolic as 
an insulator. The rivet would get loose from vibration and cause 
an intermittant connection of the brush to the commutator since the 
brush holder would be loose.
 Another flaw was the relay (regulator) bracket mount. The mount 
was so close to the bottom of the relay that vibration would cause 
the relay to short to the bracket.
 A bolt replacing the 3rd brush rivet & grinding the relay bracket 
in the right spot eliminated all the problems.

 2 brush 12 volt systems are pretty solid. Vibration kills the 
mechanical regulators. Sometimes the ground strap on the regulator 
breaks. I prefer Accel voltpacs to eliminate the vibration problems. 
You do need to add a third mount to the generator if it doesn't 
already have that end strap in place holding up the end away from
the cam cover.

 The problem with almost all charging systems is the battery. Just 
let the acid not cover a set of plates ... fried voltpac. When 
the voltpac or regulator goes ... generator usually goes with it. 
Its too bad that most Harleys don't have a charging indicator that 
shows actual volts being put into the battery. It would save some 
generators & alternators and voltpacs. Hmmmmmmmmmm Maybe thats 
why Harley doesn't incorporate a charging gauge. Maybe they make 
a ton of money on batterys & other electrical parts.

 Another charging system killer is not polarizing the generator 
EVERY time the battery is disconnected. Everytime! Most people 
don't do it because 9 times out of 10 the charging system works 
ok. Its that one time that you pull the battery ... and when 
you reinstall it - polarity changes. The bike runs but the charging 
system is reversed & kills the voltpac, then the generator.

 Fuckin' batterys. Harleys lean so much on the kickstand that the 
acid tends to shift to the left & the right most plates get less 
acid until the plates eventually get uncovered. Then the voltpac 
has to work overtime trying to maintain the 13 volts. The voltpac 
starts putting 15 volts in the battery, the battery starts to cook. 
The acid starts coming out the over flow tube. The voltpac starts 
putting even more volts into the battery that now has its plates 
not covered by acid since it has cooked out. The voltpac will put 
out its max and thereby frying itself. Now it lets the generator 
put out its max ... dead battery, voltpac & generator.

 Then theres the problem with over filling the battery. An over-
filled battery will cause the acid to reach the hole of the overflow 
tube once the acid heats up & expands. Then when the acid starts 
flowing out ... it becomes like a siphon effect. It just keeps on 
coming out.

 God I love magnetos ... then the generator only needs a voltpac 
and no battery for lights. No battery. Love it. 

 Kirks Pan-Shovel has never had the generator or voltpac replaced 
in the last 10 years. It runs a Joe Hunt magneto for ignition. 
It has no battery.

 My XR1000 & softtail have gone thru MANY MANY voltpacs, batterys 
and one alternator. Both have batterys. Hmmmmmmmmmmmmm

 My suggestion for your generator is to have someone qualified 
rewind the armature. Its cheaper than a new one. There is a shop 
out here called Jays Electrical Service in Stanton. I know Jay, 
he bought out JC Armature and does a great job. He goes to all 
the swap meets and buys all the dead armatures for generators 
and starters. He rewinds them himself.
 Harley has a particular way they do armatures. The wire is heavier 
than cars and Jay says the way it is wound is different too.
Call information & check him out.

 Later. Fast Eddie