effects of lighting kit on power

[Nevada Sixx]

hi, i heard adding a lighting kit to a mx bike gives the effect of having a 10oz flywheel weight,, how does that happen?

also, can you run a flywheel weight AND a lighting kit?

 

[Ernie Estes]

The resistace of the coil is like adding wt.
There are many different styles of bth lighting coils and flywheel wts.
I have a yz400 with a zip-ty 10oz. flywheel wt bolted on. My E-line lighting coil is external and bolts onto my flywheel with wt. still attatched.
The lighting coil also adds flywheel wt. along with a small amount of resistance.

 

[Hogwylde]

The "resistance" of the lighting coil is due to the interaction of the magnetic field of the magnets in the flywheel with the lighting coil. AND, it's not like adding a weight, it's like adding a brake!

If you've ever hand cranked a generator or put one of those wheel driven light kits on a bicycle, you know what happens. With the light off, the generator isn't under much load so it spins relatively easily. When you turn on a light, the load, hence the energy needed to turn the generator goes up. As more lights are turned on, the more energy is needed to turn the generator.

So, the addition of the lighting coil (by itself) will not produce a "flywheel" effect that a weight will. It WILL dampen the acceleration of the crank, but it will NOT store and release energy.

(a flywheel stores energy while the engine is accelerating, and releases this energy while decelerating. This is why it revs slower and doesn't stall as easily)

 

[dirt bike dave]

A flywheel weight adds rotating mass. The additional gyroscope effect of the added weight makes the bike more reluctant to change direction. The eline system does not suffer this problem.

I've got an eline on my '99 CR250, and I've ridden an '01 CR250 with an 11 ounce flywheel weight. It's hard to account for jetting and other factors, but the 11 ounce weight '01 seemed to rev slower and feel 'heavier' than the effect of the eline.

I don't think there is enough clearance between the eline and the existing flywheel to add a weight, but I don't think you would want to.