If the v-belt breaks we loose the water pump and the alternator
will stop soon after.  Are we improving anything with an alternate
alternator design? Is removing the stress of the alternator on the
v-belt significant? Is there a way to eliminate the water pump belt
also.
  One of the reasons I liked Harley design was the Ignition modules
built into the alternator. Those hooked up to one set of plugs and a
limp mode injection trigger could be a backup system to the ECU.

Blake

Sure you can gear drive the water pump.

Paul Lamar

ANyone thought of using the NorthStar system for loss of cooling system ?
That is alternate between rotors the ignition and go full rich on the dead
rotor (cooling cycle) to get just under half power to limp home w/o
melt-down...

But you probably want those heavy Fe end plates rather than Al in this
case...
-dave