[Exiled2earth]

Hello,
Yes another headlight mod Question..Yes I have Gen 1, v650. Quite disgusted how pain in the you know where to get to headlights. Much more difficult then any bike Ive ever ridden...That said.

I've read numerous sources that state that when one changes the stock halogen bulbs to LED it fools the system into drawing more power then needed.

Is there any truth to this? And if so other then possibly installing a ballast what does one do to change this?
I've seen lots of threads here that state allot of things. Anyways.

I've done the change on other bikes, like my BMW Airhead, and it didn't require anything special. Just plug-in in and lighter 'up.

Lots of fancy dealios these days for h7 lightbobs

Allot lot cheaper then they were 5 years ago, when I did led conversions on my 2 other bikes....


I know there are rather clever folks on here so Have at it. Thanks!

also saw some of the halo light mods some of you folkshave done. but I dont think the mods will work on these "stacked Lights"

 

[Exiled2earth]

Anybody done anything with making the whole bike led? And did you change anything about your electronics?

Thanks! Cheers!

 

[Fly-Sig]

I put in an LED headlight in my 2015 gen 3 without problems. Plug and play, and it didn't have a big heatsink on the back so it fit just fine. The trunk box also has red LED strips for visibility. The front turn signals are LED and quite a bit brighter than OEM.

The front turn signals needed load resistors so that the flash rate remains the same. The resistors waste power in order to keep the current draw the same. One can skip the resistors by installing a different flasher, but the resistors were cheaper and easier.

As a rule of thumb, LED will draw about 1/10th the power of the incandescent. Because the alternator on our bikes is stupid, it runs at 100% output all the time. Any unneeded power gets wasted as heat within the alternator, which reduces the life of the alternator. The alternator is happiest when we are utilizing the full rated power.

Thus there is a tightrope to walk when converting to LED, especially if you've added other accessories like heated grips or additional lighting. You can't go over the max capability of the alternator, but whenever you reduce usage you are stressing the alternator, so you don't want to go too low on power usage. You may want to keep the regular headlight with the incandescent and swap the high beam to LED.

Short version of all that is you can convert to all LED easily but you should be aware of consequences.

 

[jaaklucas]

Because the alternator on our bikes is stupid, it runs at 100% output all the time

Good reason to change to a series regulator and give our stators a break!

 

[Exiled2earth]

I've got a 40 year old motorcycle. It's electrical systems are 40 years old {it puts out like 30 more watts then the stock system requires} . Yes there are newer fancier systems to install and make a more robust and powerful charging system (euro moto electric in Denver). That said. I converted alot of my bulbs to led.
When I did the headlights (after a while) I noticed there started to be issues on cold starts (acting like it was dead on full charge).. Unless I turned off the headlight {Yes my bmw airhead has an off switch for lighting} the machine had a bit of a more difficulty turning over. Even with the 660cca giant battery the darn regulator and diode board was always struggling on starting.{with led h4 equivalent headlamp}
I went through the trouble of testing every relay and fused linkage and putting all the plugs cleaned and gooped (technical term) back together.
I was having issues with the load being too great according to the readout on my computers {test wires} attached to the stupid box (technical term for diode board) and I then figured out that after swapping back to halogen h4 headlight it decided it would run normally.
So these days. I just run normal halogen bulbs in it and the regulator is happy.
I guess if it ain broke.... Ish

The total output of my 40 year old bike is approx 250 to 330 watts pending exact model alternator. Compared to our bikes are practically double that. Heck my r1150gs has a 1200 watt charger.
I digress....

My worry is with all this high falutin and cypherins these Japanese bike fellars might have it figured out. Guess not. Neither do the Germans either.
Guess any system made by one man can be just as broke as another man making one.

You all have yourselfs a good time kickin around out yonder. I'll be over this way scootin around back and forth as always.

Thanks alot and take care. Fly safe and keep looking up!

 

[onewizard]

Anybody done anything with making the whole bike led? And did you change anything about your electronics?

Thanks! Cheers!

my 2015 is 100% LED and yes, I have been running series regulators from 2009. I have Denali trioptic 2.0 on all the time.

 

[Exiled2earth]

my 2015 is 100% LED and yes, I have been running series regulators from 2009. I have Denali trioptic 2.0 on all the time.

when you say series regulator, are these oem or something else?
just curious.

 

[Enhinyero]

My 2016 has hybrid lighting. Except for the low beams (kept as H7 halogens) the rest had been converted to LEDs. Main advantage is that the highest load on normal running is still there but I get the advantages of LED's for the flashers and high beam (so nice to get 100% instantaneous output when flashing). That said, if I can get my hands on a plug and play series regulator shipped or local, I will also convert the low beams to LED. Just the peace of mind of not burning out is worth it for me.

 

[jaaklucas]

Anybody done anything with making the whole bike led? And did you change anything about your electronics?

Yea Im like Onewizard. 15 650 all Led lighting. Added 18 watt auxiliary running spot lights, turn-signal amber running lights, amber side running lights and added rear red running and brake light. Also a Polaris series regulator and a Sparkbrite voltage meter light for good measure. Works good.

 

[fasteddiecopeman]

when you say series regulator, are these oem or something else?
just curious.

The OEM regulators are NOT series - they are SHUNT. They run at 100% ALL the time, so they die early. A 'series' R/R will vary how many amps it produces, thus lasting longer.

 

[Fly-Sig]

when you say series regulator, are these oem or something else?
just curious.

There are several threads and one jumbo thread all about how to do this. You need to buy a new regulator which is not made for the Kawasaki, and then mod your wiring harness to get it to work. Imho, not a necessary mod if you monitor voltage (one of those in-panel little meters is fine) and don't put on huge miles. Failure is due to heat in the stator over time. Keep a reasonable load on the system (e.g. do not go to all LED lighting). If you, like most people, ride well less than 10k miles per year you likely won't have a problem.

 

[Exiled2earth]

right so I've seen some of the posts about the change, it seems like allot of work....is there a "plug and play" option? I'm running a gen1 2009....And what part are you all using?

this is one of those stormy afternoon kind of projects, so I doubt Ill be doing anything crazy. Just riding...crazy.ish..
dont ride excessively, kind of goes against the norm for me. Im either jotting through multiple tanks of fuel. Or I am just riding to work etc.
Like you guys, I really enjoy this forum.
Honestly I dont feel like Im being crapped on like over on ADVrider. So thanks for the help! Cheers!

Ride safe, Have fun!

 

[fasteddiecopeman]

Had the stator die on my '09 on 18 Jan '17, even tho' I'd replaced the regulator a couple of weeks earlier, so the damage had ALREADY happened!

P1310437 by Ed Copeman, on Flickr

 

[Exiled2earth]

Had the stator die on my '09 on 18 Jan '17, even tho' I'd replaced the regulator a couple of weeks earlier, so the damage had ALREADY happened!

P1310437 by Ed Copeman, on Flickr

dangole man, regulatins and such. aint thems the things what tells thems lectrisitees to be where and how much they is? I bets some fellars whats know where and how to puts thems lectrissitees better then my ole lady. I tell ya, shes always tellins me to not let them tricictees out when i wents to unplugs the wall sockets. she was a skeered dems tricitees was gonna run out all over the floor likes. always be sumptins with them wimmensfolks.
well spose it be the sames with dem motersickles as such too. goins to werks on mai sickles and the tricitees been'a runnin anywheres they warnts to. now cant tell waresdem tricitees been off too. needs some regulatins. likes dem cereals regulatins.
maybe dems cappin crunchies cereals regulatins. dats da tickut.
dangole

 

[fasteddiecopeman]

I agree w/ your post Exiled2earth! Whenever I get up during the night, then do a little 'walk-around' - I try VERY HARD to remember to put my slippers ON in case I step into a puddle of 110 v on the floor!

Steppin' in one could make you pee yourself.

 

[Exiled2earth]

Modify your lighting system at your own peril. I will probably keep what's factory for now.

Well thank you all for your help in understanding the silly electrical system we share.

Ride safe, and have fun! Cheers!




Hope this makes sense to you all.

 

[fasteddiecopeman]

It SORTA did once I realized that there's a guy in a greenish helmet AHEAD of the cow-holder guy.