Lights to make a Jap MX'er enduro ready?

[Bob Brooks]

Do any of you have experience mounting headlights on a Japanese motocross bike, specifically a 250cc two-stroke? I mostly run hare scrambles events, which don’t require lights, obviously, but I’m considering doing some enduros in the future, which do. I currently ride a KTM MXC which has a lighting coil and would be a slam dunk to mount up a headlight, but I’ve always liked Yamahas and am considering going to a YZ250 for my next motorcycle and I’m just curious if any of you have had luck making a Jap MX 250 enduro ready and what is involved on the electrical side and the expense. Thanks in advance for any help and suggestions.

 

[Senior KX Rider]

Should be able to get a few numbers here Bob http://www.elineaccessories.com/

 

[KDXfile]

Also try www.bajadesigns.com and www.steahlyoffroad.com
Both sell lighting coils for the yamaha.

 

[Rich Rohrich]

Bob - I've used the e-line kit and it's really well made but it's pretty bulky and it adds a fairly substantial amount of flywheel weight.

The Electrex setup is a much cleaner approach in my opinion. http://www.electrexusa.com/ . Ricky Stator is another option along the same lines.

 

[Rcannon]

Rich, do you have any idea how much weight this adds?

I have the 10oz F-wheel weight on my YZ (97) now. Would the lighting kits you talk about keep this weight about the same if I chose to add one? I dont so much care about the exact weight, but I love the feel of my bike with the 10oz. I would not want to add or subtract much from this.

 

[Rich Rohrich]

Originally posted by Rcannon
Rich, do you have any idea how much weight this adds?

The kit for the YZ400F added 19 ounces.

 

[Rcannon]

Thanks...I think I will Duct tape a mag light to the bars!

 

[Lissa]

E Line coil

I have the E line kit on my 02 YZ 250 and 1 on Lissa' 03 KX 250. I Believe it adds about 10 or 11 oz to it. I hardly notice it. It is also super reliable but expensive.

Rob.

 

[Lissa]

Oops! I meant to post this under the Jap mxer lights thread. Sorry.

 

[tbrooks]

Hey Rich do you happen to know how much weight a 99 yz250 system adds? Pretty curious because of Maplesville 24hr race. Raced it the first time and needed 100w system for HID lights and who might have this setup, Tom.

 

[Rich Rohrich]

I've only weighed the YZF version, sorry.

 

[Bob Brooks]

Thanks everyone for the replies and info. At this point, I’m just thinking about it and trying to determine what will be involved if I swap my orange KTM for a Yamaha. I’ve been riding the KTM for three seasons now, and it’s my first European dirt bike, other than my old Rotax-powered dirt track racebike from years ago. I like a lot of things about it, but there are things I don’t like either…such as fork seals that seem to constantly leak, finicky jetting, odd suspension characteristics and lazy handling. That’s why I’ll probably go back to a Jap bike next time. But I do really appreciate how the orange bikes are so off-road ready right out of the box with the lighting coils, heavy flywheels and big fuel tanks. It’s a definite tradeoff.

 

[dirt bike dave]

I have the eline on my CR and it is great for trail/enduro terrain.  FWIW, I rode an '01 CR250 with an 11 oz. flywheel weight and it felt like it had a heavier flywheel than my bike. 

 

[Nevada Sixx]

how can a light kit add flywheel weight? isnt it just a head light and a new stator coil? I've heard that light kits add the "effect" of a 10 oz flywheel weight but it doesnt store energy for coming out of corners like a real weight.... Can someone tell me why it slows a bike down??

 

[dirt bike dave]

Originally posted by Nevada Sixx
how can a light kit add flywheel weight? isnt it just a head light and a new stator coil? I've heard that light kits add the "effect" of a 10 oz flywheel weight but it doesnt store energy for coming out of corners like a real weight.... Can someone tell me why it slows a bike down??

The eline has a magnet that bolts to the end of the stock flywheel.  I haven't weighed the magnet on mine.  The coils are mounted to the inside of the cover.  It has been explained to me that the flywheel magnet passing over the coils further smooths power over a normal flywheel weight, but I've got no way of knowing if that is true.   

I've never ridden my bike without the eline, but I can tell you it really hooks up.

Here's a pic.

http://www.elineaccessories.com/lightingcoils.html

 

[Timr]

I'm not going to be able to explain this very well either, but here it goes.

Do you know that force that you feel when you try to push two same polar ends of a magnet together?  What happens?  there's a resistance there, that you can't overcome.  Well, that's the magnetic effect that you get when you add magnets to generate electrical power from a spinning mass.  Of course, the engine is powerful enough to overcome the force created by the magnets.  But, the constant resistant force has the similar effect of adding weight to the flywheel.

I hope that's somewhat clear.  If someone can explain it better, go right ahead.

Rich, does that sound right?

 

[Rich Rohrich]

On the e-line kit, the news part added 19 ounces of real weight. The added weight was near the center of the OEM ignition rotor so the "flywheel effect" isn't as great as 19 ounces would be farther away from the crank centerline (like the Zip Ty or Steahly add on flywheel weights), but it was still substantial.

As for the flywheel effect from the magnetic poles that Tim explained, I played around with that and I couldn't feel any seat of the pants effect with or without it powering the coils. Keep in mind I tested this on a freakishly torquey YZF444 with a ton of compression. On a smaller engine this effect would likely be much more noticeable.

 

[Timr]

When the e-line kits first hit the market, Kevin was riding his latest creation, the CRE 150.  Basically, it was a CR125 punched out to just under 150cc loaded with E-line accessories.  One of the guys in my club purchased one and raced it for 2 seasons.

Anyway, the "magnetic effect" that I tried to explain was stated by Kevin when one of the magazines tested a hole slew of E-Line bikes.  Kevin stated that he liked the effect of the magnet better than just plain weight added to the flywheel.  Of course, I can't explain it as well as he can.  He did all the testing on the product(s).

(I'm sure the effect on a YZ 444 would not be as noticable as on a 125 or 250 2-stroke.)

 

[Lissa]

tb a rider, 10 to 11 oz on the E Line kit for the 99 YZ 250. I am using one on my 02 YZ 250. I had to change to a 99 - 01 flywheel, they are different from the 02.
Rob

 

[Rich Rohrich]

Originally posted by Timr
Anyway, the "magnetic effect" that I tried to explain was stated by Kevin when one of the magazines tested a hole slew of E-Line bikes.  Kevin stated that he liked the effect of the magnet better than just plain weight added to the flywheel.  Of course, I can't explain it as well as he can.  He did all the testing on the product(s).

Tim - I thought your explanation was very good. I'm convinced that Kevin is right about the magnet effect being a good way to smooth things out. I originally bought an e-line coil to test this out specifically. I think the power pulses on a two-stroke, especially a smaller one would be a much better place to test this out.

 

[dirt bike dave]

Wanted to add that I weighed the eline magnet for my '99 CR250.  The scale says 12.3 ounces.  With the larger nut/spacer and spring washer, the total weight was 14.8 ounces.

As Rich mentioned, the eline magnet is uniform in thickness (about 0.7" or about 18mm for mine), so the effect is less than if all the weight were added near the outer edge.   FWIW, my bike seemed to have a 'lighter' flywheel effect than an '01 CR250 I rode with an 11 oz. weight.

 

[FlyinRyan]

Hey Bob,

I ran KX's and YZ's for years before switching to KTM's, almost went back to Yamaha this year but really liked the new KTM's. Anyway I ran two 9 volt batteries for years and passed lots of tech inspection all around the midwest and at Nationals Enduros. I even had a brake light setup that worked pretty good. I could help you out if you need it, it's not that hard. The batteries never lasted long though, so I always wired in a switch and never turned them on unless I had too.

Let me know and I can provide some direction for you. Plus we could then ride on the same minute at the enduros. Looks like we may have 3 closed course enduros next year, like the one that was ran at Buffalo Pit.