Thinking of adding driving lights to my XJ1100

[LCS249]

Specifically thinking of PIAA 74220 1100X kit. Either clipped to the forks or on to of the engine guard.

I replaced with halogen headlight bulb with brightest I could find ... but it's still too dim for me ... and my night vision sucks.

Would love to get an HID set, but ... $1,000!?!

Can get the PIAA 74220 1100X light kit for around $140. (Do a Google search and you'll prices from $138-350 for the very same thing.)

What's your experience with adding additional lights?

Thanks,
LS

[LCS249]

The $1,000 ones, by the way, are the PIAA 600 HID Motorcycle Driving Lights 73600.

[crazy steve]

What's your experience with adding additional lights?...

You need to be very careful....

Your charging system only puts out 22 amps, and a pair of these in the 55W versions would consume about 1/2 of that. Go to the 85W ones, now you're up to about 70%. So unless you stick with the smaller wattage and only use them when running at high enough speeds to ensure your charging system is giving full output while keeping other electrical loads to a minimum, don't do it. Some guys have fitted driving lights, and reported having a dead battery when shutting off the bike after a run; the charging system was unable to charge the battery and run everything...

[LCS249]

Ah-ha. Very glad I asked. I have a new gel battery and a volt-meter to make sure everything is up to snuff.

What wattage would you recommend on driving lights? 35W each?

[crazy steve]

Two 35W lights would be about a 6 amp load, so that would be 'safe'; even so, don't use them when riding slow. One of the drawbacks to these bikes is the wimpy charging system...

[LCS249]

Bummer. I would likely only use them when going at speed. Lots of very dark areas in New Mexico ...

Do these look acceptable? I'm not sure how to read the specs:

http://www.amazon.com/73492-Xtreme-W...=pd_sbs_auto_2

Product Features:
Kit includes 2 lamps, wiring harness, relay and switch
Has a black PPS housing, ultra light weight and compact size
Bulb type-H3 70 watt from 35 watt
Xtreme white technology

[fredintoon]

Hi Leon,
like everyone sez, the low power alternator means that any decent wattage extra driving lights will eventually suck your battery flat.
There's no practical way of boosting the alternator's output either and swapping in LEDs to replace the running & signal bulbs to reduce power needs will only go so far.
What you can do is carry a riding mower battery in a saddlebag and use it to run the extra driving lights independently of the bike's electrics.
That should give you a full evening's worth of extra lighting without drawing down the bike's battery and carrying a small mini-charger along will let you recharge the auxiliary battery overnight.

[natemoen]

Could also do LED driving lights.

[crazy steve]

Do these look acceptable? I'm not sure how to read the specs:

http://www.amazon.com/73492-Xtreme-W...=pd_sbs_auto_2

Product Features:
Kit includes 2 lamps, wiring harness, relay and switch
Has a black PPS housing, ultra light weight and compact size
Bulb type-H3 70 watt from 35 watt
Xtreme white technology

Well, it says they're 35 watt, so those should be ok.

You could always do TC's alternator mod (http://www.xs11.com/forum/showthread...tor+mod&page=4), then you could run anything you want...

[natemoen]

Something like this would be awesome. Mount one of these to the fork brace! Less than 2amps power draw!

http://www.4wheelparts.com/Lighting-...55&t_pl=102686

[Eveready1100]

Just curious as to what wattage headlight bulb you've got fitted. My XS (280w)has nearly 80w less output from the alternator than your XJ (364w) and have run twin 55w driving lights with, till recently a 90/70 halogen headlight with no probs at all. Nowaday's, running a 55w HID headlight alleviates any threat of dead batteries completely.
One other thing I've noticed is a lot of people fit high wattage lights that are tiny in size. The bigger the lens, the more light, so don't be afraid to get a pair of bigg'uns if you really want to see better at night.

[LCS249]

Thank you all for the input, especially the link to TC's mod.

My XJ1100J is an 82, so maybe they did provide more juice. I have the shop manual and will get that out.

I replaced the headlight bulb with the same wattage as the original: 55, just a theoretically brighter one. But maybe going for an 85 or even HID mod there would do the trick.

I always run on high beams both for oncoming traffic and for me to be able to see what's ahead on the road ...

[crazy steve]

What kind of shape is your headlight in? The OEM lights have been known to have the silvering on the reflector go bad, which will reduce light output. I'll also note that the optics in the OEM lights isn't the best either; you might think about upgrading the lens/reflector. Take a look at these.... http://www.danielsternlighting.com/p.../products.html Scroll down to the 7" round; this is a bolt-in for your XJ.

[LCS249]

The headlight housing is actually in terrific shape. This bike was well-maintained and sheltered. I've opened the housing a couple of times to run wiring and it's all clean. But I appreciate the link - that sounds like a great source or improved headlight functionality.

I added hook-ups for heated clothing, which is why I added a volt-meter, and which is also why the extra battery for extra lighting sounds logical. If I'm out on a cold, dark night, things could get a lot colder and darker...

[Larrym]

Quest for more CandlePower???

which is why I added a volt-meter, and which is also why the extra battery for extra lighting sounds logical.

LCS249,

<Cringe>
Dunno if the voltmeter you added was analog or digital so I'll assume it's one of those small analog ones suitable for mounting in or under the dash of a cage.

I feel that as an "indicator" it will fall short of giving you the information needed to determine if everything is OK while you speed along in the night with additional electrical loads. The "needle" may be in the GREEN when you glance at it while driving but then it may not tell you if your battery is discharging especially if the discharge rate is only a few amps. Then it's only a matter of time/math until the battery dies.

Might I suggest wiring into the system the equivalent of an "Alternator Warning Light"? The warning light will light up when the alternator output voltage is lower than the battery voltage or the battery voltage is lower than the alternator voltage. (It indicates both conditions equally well.)

I know that "gauges" are sometimes seen as more appealing but in this case I'd say a little red light would provide exactly what you needed to know and with less visual "distraction".