adding driving lights problems?

[mike042]

hey all I just got a set of walmart driving light (18 bucks ) going to put them on the 83 . there are no other accessaries at all strickly stock bike. im thinking of just hooking them up just wires and switch that they came with complety seperate from anything else and get power from acess. fuse top of fuse block. lighted switch going through panel next to left storage box , and just turn em on when i want. anyone see any problems with this? i am planing to add more lighting to side and rear later on but im sure those will be led,s ..

[pmelah]

whats the amperage pull for these lights that may make a difference not sure but someone else will chime in about that. i was thinking of doing the same thing so i will be following this thread

[MiCarl]

I believe the accessory fuse is 10A. That's marginal for a pair of 55W lights.

 

I'd wire them directly to the battery with the rating fuse the instructions specify (probably 15 or 20A).

[djh3]

Add a relay in your circuit. There are plenty of threads on how and why. If you add a relay into the circuit, you can power one side of the relay with a "key on power" and then the lights cant accidently be left on or someone in a parking lot mess with it and kill the battery. Oh and yea I would guess 55w would be pusing it.

[cabreco]

hey all I just got a set of walmart driving light (18 bucks ) going to put them on the 83 . there are no other accessaries at all strickly stock bike. im thinking of just hooking them up just wires and switch that they came with complety seperate from anything else and get power from acess. fuse top of fuse block. lighted switch going through panel next to left storage box , and just turn em on when i want. anyone see any problems with this? i am planing to add more lighting to side and rear later on but im sure those will be led,s ..

 

Mike which ones did you get the round chrome 55w bullet ones? If so you may have a drain issue. I have those installed on my bike. I wired them directly to the accessory terminals with an inline fuse & a micro switch from Radio Shack. They work GREAT but they do tax my charging system.

 

 

I just bought a set of 20w bulbs for them at Home Depot. At quick check the 40w total vs 110w total seems to helped. I really won't know for sure until I take her out for a ride tomorrow.

 

[reddevilmedic]

they are a drain on a stock stator. i had these already. opted to spend some serious cash and got lights that actually functioned and drew less power. of course, ive upgraded the stator....i did say serious cash.....in the end, headaches along the way, it was worth it. good luck!

[mike042]

yes andy same ones as in your pic. im still going to try them but think ill pick up those 20w bulbs first. id love to hear from you if there is a big change in briteness. cause i want these to just light up side of road a little more for the tight turns where you turn the bike but headlight still straight ya know??

[cabreco]

yes andy same ones as in your pic. im still going to try them but think ill pick up those 20w bulbs first. id love to hear from you if there is a big change in briteness. cause i want these to just light up side of road a little more for the tight turns where you turn the bike but headlight still straight ya know??

In the gararge, the lighting difference was minimal.

My main concern was 2 fold. Primarily I want to make a light triangle to the front to be seen better by cars. Secondly I want to use them as cornering lights.

I think the 20w will do both jobs well. I will LYK.

 

BTW the 3 pack 20w lights at Home Depot cost me just under $10. Make sure when you replace the light ring on the bullets that they are tightly seated. They will fall off with the bikes vibration if not.

Edited September 8, 2012 by cabreco

[Snaggletooth]

I used those for a while on my '84. I did the seperate harness with a fuse and a relay to protect the circuit.

 

They do offer those replacement bulbs in 20, 35 and 55 watts. The 55's are bright but draining. The 20's would be fine for daylight visabilty but not all that great for night riding. The 35's are not all that bad for night time comparing them to the 55's with a lot less drain.

 

I ended up changing mine out to 35watt, 4.5" sealed bulb headlights in chrome housings that work nicely.

 

With the 35wt bulbs I'm only showing a drop of about .10 of a volt on the meter when I kick them on.

 

I do have the upgrade stator and R/R on the bike but on a stock system that is working correctly you should be fine at .10 of a volt.

 

Watch the prices on those replacement bulbs. I found them at a Menards store for under $3.00 each but other places have been up to $7.00 bucks.

 

Mike

[cabreco]

yes andy same ones as in your pic.

 

Mike ,

 

I took it out today to see what drain was caused by the new 20w bulbs.

I have a plug in voltage tester that check battery condition when off as well as charging (see pix below)

 

When the bike is running.

 

My 84 has the stock stator. I have powered on:

1. 10 #168 running light bulbs for my marker lights

2. The stock headlight is 55/60 watts

3. A small amp for my MP3 player - minimal draw

4 The stock tail light

5. the 2 20w Walmart lights.

 

At 2000 rpm (which is below what I usually drive at) my charging system was putting out 13.68 volts. at no time did it drop below 13.5 volts while at this rpm. So I can definitely say that the 20 watt bulbs will do the trick.

 

Now what you may want to do is pick up 35w units & see how the work for you since you have now accessory running lights or amp on your rig. Worse case scenario, if you open the package carefully, you can exchange them for 20 watt bulbs. BTW Home Depot also carries the 35watt bulbs.

[sebringjim]

hey all I just got a set of walmart driving light (18 bucks ) going to put them on the 83 . there are no other accessaries at all strickly stock bike. im thinking of just hooking them up just wires and switch that they came with complety seperate from anything else and get power from acess. fuse top of fuse block. lighted switch going through panel next to left storage box , and just turn em on when i want. anyone see any problems with this? i am planing to add more lighting to side and rear later on but im sure those will be led,s ..

 

I recently put on a new set of driving lights. I use them only for night riding, i work 2nd shift so i ride home in the dark. my 84 royal had a set of KC's on it but they were toast so i got new ones. Whoever wired them up shouldn't have. I wired them to the power side of my high beam so that they only work when high beam is on. that way i didn't have to keep turning them off when on-coming traffic approached. I aimed the lights so they fill in the area between the range of the high beam and the front of the bike. THe lights are wired to a separate switch so i don't have to have them on all the time if I'm using the high beams. It has worked very will and there is not particular high drain on the battery or charging system. All the wiring is done through the headlight and the wiring from the lights is run through the right side compartment with the radiator bottle.

 

I hope this helps, I sure can see much better with them.

 

If I were to add any rear lights I would run them through the rear light circuit and separate

switch as well.

 

Sebring Jim

[reddevilmedic]

i swear i dont work for Rigid Industries, but, if you need serious lighting like me (deer country, dark roads) then look into them. i did a write-up on them, i believe a couple other members are also now using them. these work so well, i intend on purchasing another set for my truck and replace the stock fog lamps. they are available in amber, flood or spot patterns too.