Electrical mods - confirmed working

[darrell3001]

Hello all,

I thought i would share some mods ive made on 83 11E. I will also share some pix as well. I will be sharing links in Amazon. Most of these modes were low cost, but there was some trial and error involved. Some may find this of value to know what has been tested and known good.

1) updated my R/R with an OEM mosfet R/R. This was just one that i found on Amazon. First of, dont be deceived by the pix; the heat sync is HUGE. It wont fit on the side panel where the factory R/R goes. If you are running pods, you will have plenty of room to mount it where the air box would have gone, just over the top of the battery. I tie wrapped mine to the frame, just under the seat. I will attach a pix on a FUP reply to this thread.

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0...?ie=UTF8&psc=1

2) Added a volt/ammeter to the console. This is a nice addition as i can monitor battery voltage and charging amps coming directly off the R/R. It has a ring that you put around the wire such that you can monitor load (ie amps). I ended up routing this back under the seat and put the ring on the red wire coming directly off the R/R from above. I will post pix in a FUP reply to this thread.

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0...?ie=UTF8&psc=1

3) upgraded headlight to HID led. Its a plug replacement for the incandescent bulb. Connector is short and does not extend too
far into housing. It also has a cooling fan which is a plus. Note, you will also need to add some dummy load resistor to both legs (high and low beam) of the circuit. Technically, you would want to add enough dummy load to match what the incandescent bulbs were drawing. This should be about 50w for each circuit. Note, that my calculation this was specifically about 40w, however, Amazon did not sell 40w dummy load resistors; they only had 10w and 50w. I tried both and what i found was that 1) the 50w resistors generated TONS of heat. I mean TONs. It was so hot it would burn your hand if you touched it. 2) the 50w resisters put excess load on the circuit, so much so that the R/R was having to work extra hard to charge the battery. Bottom line, i didnt like the 50w option. In the end, i found that i could use simple 10w load resistors instead. This was enough load to turn off the dash indicator for the headlight. I routed the heat sinks on the resistors on the outside of the headlight housing such that it would not generate a lot of heat in the housing thus baking the wiring harness and making them more brittle than they already are.

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0...0?ie=UTF8&th=1
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0...1?ie=UTF8&th=1

4) replaced brake/tail light with LED that has a blink feature when you press/pull the brake. Basically it flashes about 3 times, then stays on full. Ive seen this on several bikes and its a great safety feature. Note, you will need to add another (i actually used 2 wired in series) 10w load resistor.

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0...0?ie=UTF8&th=1
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0...?ie=UTF8&psc=1

5) Replaced license plate light with clear white LED. Note, you will need to add another 10w load resistor.

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0...0?ie=UTF8&th=1
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0...?ie=UTF8&psc=1

The blinkers swap out for LED's is another story. Bottom line, i left these as incandescent bulbs because 1) they are working just fine, 2) they are bright enough and 3) my turn signal auto cancel is working just fine and i want to keep it that way. The turn signal LED topic is well documented on the forums.

Please feel free to reply/PM me if you have any questions about these mods.

Best Regards,

[darrell3001]

LED headlight bulb replacement. Note, original halogen is on top.

LED headlight.jpg

[darrell3001]

LED headlight 2.jpg


Picture 2. Original on top, new LED bulb on bottom.

[darrell3001]

Headlight.jpg



Picture of headlight

[darrell3001]

Ammeter Pickup pix Home


Ammeter Pickup.jpg

[darrell3001]

Ammeter pickup Pix 2Ammeter Pickup 2.jpg

[darrell3001]

Regulator/Rectifier picture Home


R:R.jpg

[darrell3001]

Video of brakelight functionality.

https://www.youtube.com/shorts/zK7R1fg2eVU

[darrell3001]

Volt/Ammeter mounted on dashVolt:Ammeter dash.jpg

[Suzukian]

I didn't go for the LED headlight because the elements are not placed properly, and the pattern you see is inferior to the pattern that the stock bulb gives. There are many videos on this. If you could match the headlight itself with a matching LED, that would be different. I was considering grabbing a unit off of a newer car, and incorporating that into the headlight opening, but I see well enough at night with the stock set up, and I don't have to rewire anything. It might be interesting to mount one of the really small LED units under the main headlight to really brighten up the road.

[darrell3001]

I was considering grabbing a unit off of a newer car, and incorporating that into the headlight opening, but I see well enough at night with the stock set up, and I don't have to rewire anything.

Interesting idea. Yes, for sure the coverage is not ideal with the LED, but intensity is vastly improved. I ended up doing the swap for better visibility for other drivers. I have nothing scientific to back it up, but the LED bulbs white hue seem to be much more visible during the day than the yellow of the incandescent bulbs. That could be an optical illusion. Regardless, it makes me feel a bit safer when approaching a guy at an intersection about to pull into my lane of travel.

Suzukian did you upgrade your brake lights to LED's? I really like the strobe feature on the ones that i used.

Regards,

Darrell

[Suzukian]

No, I have left everything incandescent. I purchased the motorcycle in 1983, new, in the crate, and it still has the original tail light bulb, and signal light bulbs. Crazy, eh?

[darrell3001]

No, I have left everything incandescent. I purchased the motorcycle in 1983, new, in the crate, and it still has the original tail light bulb, and signal light bulbs. Crazy, eh?

Yes. Amazing and very impressive. Good on you for holding on to it all these years. Is it an 11e? Blue or Red?

[Suzukian]

It's a Silver/Blue '83 GS750ES

[Who Dat?]

I have a few questions/comments, They will be inserted in a shortened quote of your post.

1) updated my R/R with an OEM mosfet R/R. Whose "OEM" did you use? Suzuki never had a MOSFET R/R, and any MOSFET unit is merely an update, not an actual upGRADE.

I will attach a pix on a FUP reply to this thread. What is a "FUP" reply?

2) Added a volt/ammeter to the console. ... and put the ring on the red wire coming directly off the R/R from above. Nice meter, have not see a combo unit like that. Note that your choice of sensor location will show LOT of amps, virtually all the time the bike is running. It will include whatever the bike is using, along with what is actually going to the battery. If you move it to the wire that attaches to the MAIN fuse, it will show only what is charging the battery. Years ago, I played with an ammeter and a voltmeter in my vehicles, decided to ditch the ammeter and keep the voltmeter. MUCH more informative.

3) upgraded headlight to HID led. Which did you do, HID or LED? They are mutually exclusive terms for different types of bulbs. Looking at your link, it was an LED. Although it is a decent brand, it might not be the best replacement available. Please be sure to check the beam pattern on a wall AND on the road in front of you at night. Too many of the "lesser-quality" lights put light where it should not be.

Note, you will also need to add some dummy load resistor to both legs (high and low beam) of the circuit. Technically, you would want to add enough dummy load to match what the incandescent bulbs were drawing. This should be about 50w for each circuit. Note, that my calculation this was specifically about 40w, however, Amazon did not sell 40w dummy load resistors; they only had 10w and 50w. Why would you possibly want to add resistors to your headlight circuit? (OK, saw you had an 1100E with the monitor panel. Only your 1100E and the similar 750E have that panel, so would be the only ones to "need" a resistor.) Next, were the resistors 10 and 50 WATTS or 10 and 50 OHMS? If they were rated in watts, what were their ohms? Again, mutually exclusive terms. Personally, I would have tried to modify the sensor for the dash monitor and leave full power to the light.

4) replaced brake/tail light with LED that has a blink feature when you press/pull the brake. Basically it flashes about 3 times, then stays on full. Ive seen this on several bikes and its a great safety feature. Note, you will need to add another (i actually used 2 wired in series) 10w load resistor. Why do you need a load resistor here? The light is made to work with a 12-volt system, let it do its thing.

5) Replaced license plate light with clear white LED. Note, you will need to add another 10w load resistor. Why do you need a load resistor here? The light is made to work with a 12-volt system, let it do its thing.

The blinkers swap out for LED's is another story. Bottom line, i left these as incandescent bulbs because 1) they are working just fine, 2) they are bright enough and 3) my turn signal auto cancel is working just fine and i want to keep it that way. The turn signal LED topic is well documented on the forums. Probably the best thing, considering what you have done to the other circuits. Yes, it's possible to change to LEDs, but it does take some precise modifying.

Please feel free to reply/PM me if you have any questions about these mods.