PMA Kit- How close is this to what we would need?

[Vroom4]

I know this subject has been brought up in various threads, but I feel it deserves one more...

To be clear, the idea is a Permanent Magnet Alternator(PMA) to be able to run the bike with no battery at all(or a very very small battery).

I found this kit on MikesXS:
http://www.mikesxs.net/product/24-2669.html
It is for an xs650, but could it be modified to fit the 400?
1) Is the rotor the same size?
2) Would it fit in the 400 with a custom bracket?
3) Would this same wiring and regulator be all you need to do the same on the 400 (assuming the rotor would fit)?
4) How far off is this kit from what we need to do the same on the 400?

The idea of never worrying about a dead battery, imo, was always the romance of having a kick-start... too awesome for us to pass up a potential good solution

 

[Liamthedevastator]

Well, the 650 is a 2 cylinder as well so I doubt that there would be any glaring differences in the specs. On that note I have no idea, but the prospect of being able to almost completely eliminate the batter seems like a great idea!

 

[Scorpio1963]

When the price goes down or i get richer which ever comes first I would like to try it.

 

[xschris]

Somewhere I did see a guy rig some sort of pma in a xs400 but I don't remember how well it worked. The mikesxs one is for a xs650 and for those you have to mod the area it goes in to make it fit which is a much larger area than a xs400 has. The xs650's alt. area is also oil free where the xs400 is not.

 

[Vroom4]

Yea, I had seen a very vague write-up somewhere, but have not been able to track it down since. It would be nice to have some idea of what the dimensions are so we can maybe start to piece something together. I really just have no clue on what wiring would be needed though.

At first I though the price was fairly steep too, but then considering the cost of a good battery, it doesn't seem so bad...

 

[frwinks]

here's a good start:
http://www.xs400.com/forum/showthread.php?t=4648

if you follow the cookie trail to other boards, ie
http://xs650temp.proboards.com/index.cgi?action=display&board=Charging&thread=3369&page=2

you should have enough info to dive in and get'er dun

 

[XSLeo]

A lot of the bikes with a PMA often run in oil. The XS650 is oil free because it uses brushes to carry current to the feild coil in the rotor. On the xs400 the feild coil doesn't use brushes, it is hard wired to the regulator so it can run in oil. This helps keep the alternator from overheating.
And yes, I have read on here were some one used a banshee type PMA set up on the XS400. The link that frwinks posted is the thread I remember reading.
Wiring the conversion is easy Just run the three wires from the stator to the reg/rec, the red to the battery or cap, the black to ground.
Leo