Adding 110W Aux Lights

[jimg]

When I reloaded software I screwed up my digital camera downloading. If I get it to work I'll see if I can post pictures.

Here are the lights.

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/CLEAR-C-BULLET-DRIVING-LIGHTS-MOTORCYCLE-STREET-ROD-AL_W0QQcmdZViewItemQQcategoryZ6755QQitemZ4608910217QQrdZ1QQsspagenameZWDVW

This ebay item comes with wires and a switch, mine came with just the lights.

A brief description:

My 550 has a bar across the front of the frame about where the top of the motor is. The bar has two holes with 8mm or 10mm nuts (don't remember) welded on the back. I bought a 3/8" x 3' steel bar at Home Depot and cut it to about 18 1/2" long and drilled two holes that matched the one's in the frame. I then sanded the snot out of it and painted it with black enamel. At the end (actualy in about 3/8" from the end) I drilled the holes for the lights.

As far as wiring, I probably did a little more than necessary. I used a relay that is wired to come on with the lights. I used the relay so I could add a switch in the future if I needed.

What I did was found a lead on the fuse box that comes on with the ignition switch. Took the fuse box loose and soldered a wire on the back side to that same lead and ran it out to under the seat. Probably 24" will be plenty to begin with. This lead will be connected to one side of the relay coil.

I then connected a wire to the negative screw of the auxillary connector. I used about an 18" piece of wire. This lead will be connected to the other side of the relay coil.

I then found a good place to wire tie the relay under the seat, ran the two wires to the relay, and trimmed them. Leave enough wire so you can remove the relay if you ever need to. Add the proper spade connector (or simply solder the wires) and put on the relay.

I then ran a wire from the positive side of the auxillary connector to one of the contacts on the relay.

I then added a second wire to the negative auxillary connector and connected a wire to the other contact on the relay. At the nearest point I could to the relay, I began to tape them together and ran the pair up below the tank close to the front of the frame. Probably about 24" - 30". At this point I put on two, two terminal connectors, one for each light. (One of the trailer type with with one terminal down inside the rubber and one exposed.) This lets me remove one light at a time. Make sure you wire the positive wire to the terminal that is down inside the rubber so you won't short it out on the frame if you remove a light for some reason.

I might explain that the lights are not grounded to the case, so you need both a negative wire and positive wire.

I then made up wires from the lights. The lights have round plugin terminal connectors. You can either get matching connectors or clip them off and solder the wires together and cover them with heat shrink tubing. (Don't forget to put the heat shrink tubing on before you solder and move it up away from the heat!) I soldered mine. I cut them about 24" long and taped them together.

Then route them behind the light bar and cable tie them a couple of time between the light and the frame. Cut them to the right length. Put the matching two terminal connector on the wires from each light and plug them into the connectors from the relay.

Does this sound too complicated. It sounds worse than it was to actually do.

[prism4]

Heck yeah now thats what I'm talking about. Straight and simple solutions. I am going to order a set and see what I can come up with. I am probably going to wire them directly to the battery and add the switch so that I can decide when and where to use them. Thanks

[Clone]

As was stated, there is not enough output from the stator to keep the charge up on the battery. I haven't added any lights to the GW, but my brother added two 35W driving lights to his CBK, If he runs them for a long time and shuts the bike down, he needs a boost. Usually, he ends up shutting them off and driving for a while to boost the battery's charge then shuts her off.

[jimg]

"As was stated, there is not enough output from the stator to keep the charge up on the battery. I haven't added any lights to the GW, but my brother added two 35W driving lights to his CBK, If he runs them for a long time and shuts the bike down, he needs a boost. Usually, he ends up shutting them off and driving for a while to boost the battery's charge then shuts her off."

From the calculations above - two 35 watt bulbs would be 70 watts / 12 volts = 6 amps.

This would use up the remainder of what was left over from everything else and would probably result in the battery discharging. If everything was perfect you might, just might get away with it. However, as you say it doesn't look like the CBK will quite handle the extra load.

[tfb]

It's a shame, isn't it, that putting extra electrical goodies on a GS machine can't realistically be done. The maths doesn't lie. As I said in an earlier post, the best way forward to getting sufficient light is
(i) use the brightest bulb you can find for the standard wattage, and
(ii) make sure the reflective surface of your headlight is in top condition, because they do tarnish/ deteriorate with age.

Until someone comes up with an aftermarket rotor+stator setup which can churn out more electrical 'oomph' (now there's a technical word!), we just have to make do the best we can.

Mike.

[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.