Looking for good advice on replacing headlght with dual headlight

[Guest]

I have heard not to go to LED to protect the stator but wanted to find out if anyone has been happy with going to a duel setup that I can mount to the forks directly.

I also need it be bright.


Thanks,

2Stroke

[Gorminrider]

You can have led headlights. But the present forum consensus is that if your new leds draw a lot less power than the original incandescents, you should replace the old Shunt-type regulator with a Series type. The immediate symptom of trouble would be that your regulator feels very hot after you run awhile with your new led lamps .

There are other solutions I incline to but the different regulator seems to be the consensus here.

[tkent02]

I never saw any advantage to having a motorcycle up close look like a car far away.

[roeme]

I agree with tkent, IMO the GS look **** with a dual setup. But to each his own.

There are other solutions I incline to but the different regulator seems to be the consensus here.

Consensus? It's the only solution I can imagine that makes sense under these circumstances. The electrical system was designed to shunt away a certain amount of power (and, as we know from experience, even then was pushing it). Increasing the power to be shunted away...what else would one do than to install a modern R/R? Add a radio, heated grips and a microwave to bring power consumption back up?

Ok, maybe using only two of the stator windings...

[tkent02]

Ok, maybe using only two of the stator windings...

Exactly what Suzuki did when you turn the headlight off.

[Gorminrider]

Increasing the power to be shunted away

,

using only two of the stator windings...

...however per "shunt" you wouldn't need a microwave and a heated jacket... a piece of nichrome wire cut to an experimental length or a cigarette lighter etc etc as a heater hanging in the breeze to cool would "use it up". But it's Ugly .
Ideally any generator should provide just the power required and no more...and why (apart from the slip-rings), the car-type regulated-field alternator would have seemed to have been better in the first place (to me)...but then there maybe there are troubles with "saturation" and rpm....(ie: does my car actually speed up its idle to maintain the set voltage?

Indeed, the ol' Suzuki "Dropping a leg at the lightswitch" is another approach I was thinking ... a better variation on this might be to keep the leg but regulate just it alone. Unless you want to watch a voltmeter and run the switch yourself ... that is, the regulation circuit is placed only on one loop . (I think I saw this on one of Trevor's bikes pictures posted when he bought it ....)

Maybe "Coils" are another "hot" one that will go soon...Yet, assuming the bike's demands get smaller, heated vests won't disappear so the bike will be expected to provide increasingly-varied power demands.

[Gorminrider]

I never saw any advantage to having a motorcycle up close look like a car far away.

They don't look like "a car far away" judging from the ones with these lights that I see. But maybe I'm too used to noticing motorcycles.

[Grimly]

I have a pair of 5.75" headlamps tightly side by side on the front of the 79 bike. The quality of the reflectors and lenses on them is good, but the downside was the reluctance of the stator to keep both of them lit and the battery charged in town. I eventually had to disable one unit when not riding on the open road. When both were working they were excellent in light output and pattern. They'll be re-used in a more modern incarnation with twin LEDs. The source of those was a JCB earthmover - they're highway lamps though, not worklamps.
A pair of these but without the turn signals...
head-lamp-assembly-500x500.jpg

[Gorminrider]

2stroke? What is the watt rating of your 2 LED lamps combined? (That is the question I should have asked in the first place- sorry,eh)

[bwringer]

To actually answer the damn question... not my cup of tea, but here's what I would do if I were to do this.

There's a setup out there called the "Dominator" that gives you smallish twin headlights using H4 bulbs. Google around -- the retailer I usually recommend for this sort of thing is now just an eBay store, so I don't know what the best source might be.

You'll also need the brackets to mount this to the forks, and you'll also need to figure out what to do with the rat's nest of wires that are usually stuffed into the headlight bucket.

Then, I would do some more Googling to find the best LED H4 bulbs and use these (it changes -- there are new models coming out all the time). Your total draw will likely be around 40W, close enough to the 55W one halogen bulb draws that it shouldn't cause R/R or stator problems.

Another approach might be to find a twin headlight assembly from a Triumph or a scooter with this setup. Again, pay attention to the total current draw.

Either way, it's likely to cost $150-$200 or more.

[Steve]

Another alternative is to upgrade to a full, PROPER LED light, like the Truck-Lite. Yes, the current draw will be less, so upgrade your R/R as well, and all will be well with the world.

.

[derwood]

dual headlamps? then one should be yellow

[Steve]

dual headlamps? then one should be yellow

Why?

.

[Grimly]

Why?

.

To illuminate the yellow snow.

[derwood]

why not? might draw attention