Putting a light on my 89

[julien_d]

So we got a light on my buddies KTM200, now I'm wanting to get one working on my 89 KDX. PO stripped most the light wiring, and the 89 had no VR stock. I grabbed a VR from a 94 on ebay, and one of these lights....

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=370445885525+&viewitem=


The light has two 35w bulbs. I'm sure my stock lighting coil might have some issues with this, we will see. I figure on just putting a three position switch behind the cowl and using it as hi/low/off. I thought I'd try it on the stock lighting coil, and if not, try to find a higher output coil, or rewind mine.

 

[dirt bike dave]

Your stock coil will be barely enough to power one of the 35w bulbs, and that's with no tail light or a low wattage LED tail light. I think the stock headlight bulb was 30w.

FWIW, I dual sported a '90 and had a battery installed. The charging system could not keep up, and running a DOT legal 55w headlight would drain the battery fast anytime the light was on.

If you try to power two x 35w bulbs with your stock lighting coil, you won't even get a dim glow.

FWIW, on the '89 without the voltage regulator, the tail light bulb was what usually blew.

 

[julien_d]

Stock headlight bulb according to my manual was 30 watts I think. Stock tail light was 10. I am not running a tail light at all, and won't be. Lighting coil is good for 40 only. I only figure on powering one light at a time. I was also looking into getting some LED bulbs to replace the 35 watt bulbs. Using one for a high beam and one for a low beam. I don't really need much for lights. I hardly ever have cause to ride after dark. Doing this because I got the parts cheap, and it might help if we're late getting out of the woods one night!

 

[dirt bike dave]

Sounds like you will be able to make it work.

In my experience, 35w is not much light on a dark night, especially if the trail is bumpy and the light is bouncing around.

If you are at all serious about night riding (I never was) you are going to want more power.

FWIW, to suplement the headlight, some guys use a fanny pack mounted cam corder battery powering a light attached to their helmet. At least you can see what you are looking at, which is not always the case with a 35w headlight.

 

[julien_d]

Thanks for the tips, Dave. The stuff i got coming is really just a starting point. I'm sure i'll end up tweaking on it just like i do everything else. I would really like to pick up a 100w coil if I could. You can't really find them for the KDX anymore, so I'll probably end up rewinding mine. I think I can get some superbright LED's to fit this light though, which may work better on the stock coil. It's just something else to play around with :). I'm certainly not serious about night riding. More of an "in case of emergency" kind of deal.

 

[SS109]

Juilen_d, mine is set up running a 35 watt headlight and two 1157 LED taillight "bulbs" and the stock stator handles it just fine. It dims at idle a bit but not bad. You should be fine running only one bulb.

BTW, I'll be running that MMX I bought with either a 45 or 60 watt build and doing a stator up just like Nick did. That is 70+ watts which should give off some decent lighting for getting home after dark. :cool:

 

[julien_d]

Cool :). I'm a bit lazy to go rewinding the stator, but I will if I have to. I would just as soon pick up a moose 100w coil if I could find one.

 

[sr5bidder]

those lights are using the mr16 type bulb. let me know if you want a certain wattage or beam spread Jason

I can look it up and order under the radar at work they come in 10 degrees alll the way up to 60 degrees bveam spread and 20 watts to 75w

 

[julien_d]

Hey, good to know, thanks man!