Adding 110W Aux Lights

[earlfor]

The brightest headlight bulb I have found that has the same power consumption as the stock bulb is the Sylvania silverstar 60/55. For the same draw, the light output is about triple. Also, if you can find an 8 inch headlight assembly, as used on 83-86 1100/1150's, the larger reflector will increase that by about 40%.
The end result is you can have about 4 times more light than stock without increasing electrical consumption. My headlight lights a path about 50 feet wide and 600 feet long, with a 60/55 silverstar.

Earl

 

[2Fast4U]

You guys could run HID lights and not worry about the draw on the system. The lights suck less power but throw out way more light than normal lights. This is what I have on my quad http://www.hidstore.com/athidthireye.html and this is what I going to run on the GS http://www.acrolights.com/x968.htm when I'm done upgrading

 

[prism4]

I check out those lights you were talking about but they still draw 3.3 amps each. No diferrent the all other 35 watt lights. Am I missing something here?? The lights look good though. I could use them!!

 

[2Fast4U]

I check out those lights you were talking about but they still draw 3.3 amps each. No diferrent the all other 35 watt lights. Am I missing something here?? The lights look good though. I could use them!!

They draw the same power but throw out more light then a 100 watt light. So you can get away with running fewer lights but getting more light output. And there are smaller ones also http://www.weekendconcepts.com/hid.html.
I know for a fact that the 2.25" 25 watt HID are super bright, my friend has two on his quad and I made the mistake of looking at them when we were riding and I saw spots for about 5 minutes.

 

[2Fast4U]

http://www.weekendconcepts.com/q-and-a.html#difference
Q. What’s the difference between Halogen and HID? How does HID work?

A: A lot! Halogen is a filament based lamp, which means the electricity passing through the filament excites it to create light, and HEAT. Halogen was a big step forward for incandescent lamps and is very affordable but it’s basically just the newer, smaller version of what Thomas Edison invented over 100 years ago. HID (High-Intensity Discharge) on the other hand uses an arc of electricity passing between 2 points to create light very similar to a spark plug or welding arc and can be quite expensive. It takes 5000 volts to get the arc to jump and 90 to keep it there; however it uses far less power to produce the light. Typically a metal-halide type HID is 2.5 times brighter than a halogen and double the wattage. Example: Our old 50 watt HID was 2.5 times brighter than our 100 watt halogen or the equivalent of a 250 watt halogen! So our new 25w HID is 2.5 times brighter than our 50 watt halogen or the equivalent or 125 watts of halogen light. Our HID is Metal-Halide vs. Xenon found in many passenger cars. Our lamps are more like warehouse lighting you’d find hanging from the ceiling at Home Depot than what’s in your neighbors BMW. Fortunately Metal-Halide is about 20% more efficient than Xenon. The life expectancy of the lamps is about the same for Halogen and HID, about 1500 hours. If you got to have the brightest and baddest lights in the desert then HID is for you.

 

[2Fast4U]

This place has even smaller wattage lights http://www.trailtech.net/ and they have a giant 8 inch light I might get now.

 

[dig dug mx6]

My 700 has a 310 watt alternator and I've run 110 watt high beams with no trouble, not an additional 110 watts though. You might be pushing your luck. With the 8" headlight and a good 110 watt bulb the light is blinding.

Is this true on all 700's

 

[Boondocks]

The brightest headlight bulb I have found that has the same power consumption as the stock bulb is the Sylvania silverstar 60/55. For the same draw, the light output is about triple. Also, if you can find an 8 inch headlight assembly, as used on 83-86 1100/1150's, the larger reflector will increase that by about 40%.
The end result is you can have about 4 times more light than stock without increasing electrical consumption. My headlight lights a path about 50 feet wide and 600 feet long, with a 60/55 silverstar.

Earl

Earl, the Sylvania Silverstar is a good bulb, but not the brightest stock 60/55 H4 bulb. In fact, it is not brighter than Sylvania's own less expensive Xtravision bulb. On the other hand, the Osram Silverstar is a superior bulb.

See Sylvania Silverstar (Blue) vs. Osram Silverstar (Clear) for an explanation.

Also see H4 Bulb Comparisons for technical data and scientific tests.***EDIT***The preceding link contains another link to "Auto Express H4 Bulb Tests", which is no longer a valid link. This link has been replaced by Auto Express H7 +50 Bulb Tests. The H4 bulb is not as common as single filament types such as the H7, but the test results by manufacturing technology are the same for both types of bulbs.

mixongw, before you add extra lights, try a high output bulb such as the Osram Silverstar powered by a relay. The relay alone can add substantial brightness to the headlight by preventing voltage drop through small wires and the headlight switch. A headlight relay connected directly to the battery with its own fuse will allow full battery voltage to be used by the bulb. The increase in brightness will be immediately noticeable.

 

[mixongw]

Lets do some quick figuring:

1 coil @ 3 ohms & 12 volts = 4 amps x 2 coils = 8 amps
65W headlight @ 12 volts = 5+ amps
taillight @ 1 amp

240 watt generator @ 12 volts = 20 amps

8 + 5 + 1 = 14 amps

That would leave 5 to 6 amps for charging and accessories.

Two 20 watt driving lights is about 3 amps which leaves 2 to 3 for charging.

Two 50 watt driving lights is about 8 amps. Not enough capacity for this!

I am using two 20 watt projector lamps in a driving light housing. You can them off ebay for about 25 dollars. They come with 50 watt bulbs but Home Depot has 20 watt bulbs in either 35 degree (BAB type) or 15 degree (ESF) beam widths. Not a lot of light at night, but since the bulbs are in plain view they are bright enough to be seen very well during the day which is why I bought them.

I'm afraid that I have to take issue with your calculations. The ignition doesn't pull anywhere near 8 amps. Your math is correct but the width of the ignition pulse from the ignitor is relatively short. This results in an average current of about 1.6 amps.

 

[jimg]

I'm afraid that I have to take issue with your calculations. The ignition doesn't pull anywhere near 8 amps. Your math is correct but the width of the ignition pulse from the ignitor is relatively short. This results in an average current of about 1.6 amps.

BANG! You may have got me on this one. I am an old fart and my calculations are more appropriate for points type ignition systems.

However, your figure of 1.6 amps sounds low for both the current through both coils and the power consumed by the ignitor (CDI) itself. In the early 70's of the last century, as a student, I helped a professor with some development on a CDI. While one could reduce the current through the coil and still get good spark, the CDI itself consumed quite a bit of power. That's why many of the earlier ones had such massive heatsinks. I will admit most of our work consisted on the points side with pulse trigger shaping. The rpm also made a big difference in the total current used. The higher rpm you ran the more you had to spike the current to achieve adequate spark.

I don't know about the CDI's used on the earlier 80's bikes. Do you know what power is consumed by the ignitor itself? I'll bet it's not small. Is the 1.6 amps for both coils or just one? Is it at idle or at cruising rpm?

Lastly, as you can see from the posts, a lot of folks have experimented with additional lights and their experience validates that there isn't a lot of power left over for accessories. It appears that somewhere between 50 and 80 watts (4 to 7 amps) is about it. If you try two additional 50 watt lamps you are asking for trouble.

If the total ignition draw is 1.6 amps you should be able to run two 50 watt lights (about 8 amps) without much problem since you would have a reserve of about 12 amps. The 4 amps left over should charge a bike very well.

 

[highmileage]

I put in a 100/90w headlight.
Toasted the electrical system, well at least the fuse block.

After my "learning" experience, I wouldn't do it.
Unless you find a way to improve the r/r and stator.

Try a better headlight, I use a H4 65/55 works very well.
The 100/90 was great while it worked, but again it created problems.

This will happen on any bike, did this once on a Honda before I learned my lesson.

You need to run the power for the more powerful lights directly off the battery, use the original wire to switch a relay.

 

[jimg]

sounds like an idea!! Can you post a wiring diagram and perhaps a pic or two of the pic? thanks

Finally, figured out how to get the camera uploads to work again.

Here are a couple of pictures.

 

[Billy Ricks]

Is this true on all 700's

Yes, and most likely on the '83 750E models.

 

[mixongw]

After all is said and done....

After all is said and done....

I have made the following mods:

Changed R/R to one that came from a Honda Goldwing (slightly larger).

Removed the light switch loop from the stator wiring.

Wired the headlight and the aux lights through relays.

Changed to LED front turn signal lamps with relays to make single circuit lamps work as running lights.

Added aux lights after doing testing. They are 55W H3 in each. The voltage at the battery at 4K RPM is 14.1V with high beam and aux lights. It's 14.3V without the aux lights on.

I have about 1K miles on it setup like this. All is OK so far.