Long time gone, but back on the 220r

[Feanor]

It's good to be back!

I have to admit that I went over to the dark side for a few years and was riding on the street on a Ninja ZX6 (never want to leave Kawasaki :) ) I loved it so much that I became an MSF instructor which I LOVE (Though I've been off for a while there)

I have to say that it's all true what they say about dirt experience being invaluable to riding street bikes, even sportbikes.

I'm now on a 08 ZX-10, but I miss the trails FAR too much and am so glad I resisted selling my 220 :)

But enough about that! I don't get a chance to ride off road much until the late afternoon and early evening and the weekends are too crazy and so I am looking to upgrade my 35w OEM headlight for something with alot more candlepower.

Does anyone have any good suggestions for a 35W HID kit? I don't want to modify or replace the stator and I'm having a hard time searching and finding an HID kit that is rated to work with the stock KDX-220... It's an 04 by the way.

Thanks in advance! and just as a little enthusiast tidbit... The KDX had been sitting for literally YEARS in the garage, and though I would kick it over every other month or so just to keep things from gumming up, this latest time (after I decided I wanted to ride it again) it had been sitting for almost 6 months...

I rolled it into the street... Fuel on, shook it a little, choke on, one kick and RINGGGGGGGGDINGDINGDINGDING DING DING BAP! RRRRrrrrRRrrrrRRrrrRRR.... It ran PERFECTLY! EVEN with ancient premix and a little stabil...

:) I love this thing!

 

[Dirtdame]

The stock headlight is a 30 watt bulb and the electrical system is just a single phase AC set up with hardly any windings at all. The stator is probably maxed out with stock bulbs. Steahly Offroad offers a 65 watt lighting coil for the KDX220. I don't know if that is more output than the stock one or not.

 

[Joburble]

You could just mount a small sealed 12v gel battery behind the front plate somewhere and run a 50w halogen off it as well as keeping the original light, then just charge it up every couple of days. I used a system like that on my mountain bike and it worked well. Just a thought.

 

[Dirtdame]

That's exactly what I use on my old KDX200 that's plated for the street. I have a little 1.2 amp hr battery that runs my turn signals and horn and it is strapped into the fender pack. I got it at Freys. :cool:

 

[julien_d]

The stock coil is 35w as far as I know. Inda over at KDXRider offers a high power stator as well.

 

[reepicheep]

A HID will draw a BOATLOAD of current at startup, but once running, will consume less power then a normal headlight. HID's also don't like being quickly cycled on and off, so you probably want some kind of delay to make sure the bike really started before it tries to boot the HID. Finding the place to locate the ballast and ignitor might get a little fussy as well...

 

[mudpack]

You could just mount a small sealed 12v gel battery behind the front plate somewhere and run a 50w halogen off it as well as keeping the original light, then just charge it up every couple of days.

Best idea I've heard in a LONG time.

 

[reepicheep]

For what it's worth, a 50 watt bulb will draw 3.8 amps. Batteries are rated by "amp hours", so you divide the number of watts the voltage to get the number of amps (50W / 13V), then divide the "amp hours" by the number of amps to get how many hours it will last (best case).

So if you find a 7 amp hour cell (which will probably be about 7" x 3" x 2" and weigh a couple of pounds) it should run a 50 watt bulb for 1.8 hours.

 

[Feanor]

Thanks everyone for the replies!

Even though I was trying to avoid replacing my lighting coil/stator, I think I'm eve more hesitant to add a battery to the bike :) just more connectors/wires and other things to go wrong :)

I suppose adding HID would represent the same hassles...

I think I'm just going to go the upgraded lighting coil route and run a higher wattage bulb a 50 or 55.