Thinking of adding driving lights to my XJ1100

[crazy steve]

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...

If you're planning on using heated clothing, you better count watts carefully...

[LCS249]

The voltmeter I installed is digital with LEDs.

Looks something like this (but only has LED lights from red to green):
http://www.motorsportmonster.com/esh..._VOLTMETER.htm

I watch it carefully and turn off the jacket if the meter drops to yellow.

"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 like that suggestion.

[Larrym]

Option Cost???

LCS249,

Nice "Eye Candy".

I s'pose it will let you know when/if the overall system voltage is dragged down. But it'll do that only after the alternator has lost the battle to keep up with the additional load.

Do you carry the auxiliary kickstarter mounted below/aft of the battery compartment? Once those "ampere-hours" have left the battery (Yellow Reading???) starting the bike for that "get-home" trip might not be as easy as just pushing the starter button.

[LCS249]

"Do you carry the auxiliary kickstarter mounted below/aft of the battery compartment? Once those "ampere-hours" have left the battery (Yellow Reading???) starting the bike for that "get-home" trip might not be as easy as just pushing the starter button."

Uh ... are you pulling my leg, or does such a thing exist?

[Larrym]

No Shenanigans!

Uh ... are you pulling my leg, or does such a thing exist?

LCS249,

Uh...Yes! It does exist. I've got one on my 79 Special. (Courtesy of member Andreas Weiss)

Not an included option on the XJ I believe.

[LCS249]

Hmmm ... left side or right side?

[Larrym]

Right?

LCS249,

It's not on the right or left side. It's just an "emergency" kickstart lever which is installed/used when the electric start fails. Normal position is stowed in the place I mentioned previously.

When needed the kickstart lever is attached to the shaft/splines coming out the right side of the bike.

Sorry, but this is the best pic I have at the moment:



Kinda hard to see but if you look above the footpeg just behind the clutch cover you'll see the shaft it attaches to. On the XJ's I believe there's just a rubber plug in that location.

[LCS249]

Yes, there is a rubber plug and I always figured it was a vestigial kick-start location. Assumed they kept everything the same after moving to an electric starter motor and used a rubber plug.

Thanks for following up on this.

L.

[Larrym]

Do or Do Not?

LCS249,

S'cool.

You aren't the only one trying to lay down a BEAM which turns night into day. I just wish that there were better choices/options for the folks that explore this feature.

For those that do go with "additional" electrical loads I'm waitin' for somebody to actually install an Alternator warning light and report back what it does with the make/model/wattage of the lights they install..

[LCS249]

Here's a photo that shows the rubber plug.

http://s1108.photobucket.com/albums/...el249/XJ1100J/


You can click on the photo to enlarge it, twice.

[fredintoon]

- - - Here's a photo that shows the rubber plug.- - -

Hi Leon,
the plug on my XS11SG has a teasing "kickstarter" legend cast around it. Note that late model XS11s can have the missing kickstarter innards from an earlier model grafted in with some wrench work.
Dunno if that'll work on XJs though.
One time when my battery was too flat the crank the bike over there was still enough Voltage to work the ignition so the bike fired up OK on a push start. Luckily I had a downgrade to help with that though.

[justme1100]

!!!

I have an XJ and added 2 55w driving lites with no problems. I do have led tail lights and rear directionals and I also use a 55w/100w headlight and again will state I have had no problems keeping the batt. charged and no dimming either.

[LCS249]

That's interesting ... Can you tell me more? What else do you have, if anything? Did you ever use the accessory 12-V plug?

[TopCatGr58]

Hey LCS,

As Everyready stated, the XJ puts out 26 amps vs. the XS's 20, rating by the watts divided by 14 volts method. You stated you've had the headlight bucket open, but Steve was referring to the INSIDE of the glass lens housing, and the reflector surface, as well as the FRESNEL patterned Front lens spreads the light pattern out quite a bit vs. letting it shine down the road.

Pilot brand sells clear lens replacement housings for the XJ and Special's 7" round lights. I don't want to start up another HID conversion legality discussion. You can get true HID bulbs, ballasts, with either moving bulb/filament design or dual bulb to provide a "similar" hi/lo pattern. The position and style of light source from the HID bulbs are different than Halogen, and so they don't provide the same.."proper" light pattern, but they provide 2-3 times the amount of actual light. Some folks have done the actual HID replacement mod, and are happy with the amount of visibility, others say the light shown to oncoming traffic is more spread out and glaring to oncoming traffic.



http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/Headl...mZ270792733828

Item # 270792733828 if above link doesn't work. Above may not be PILOT brand, but you get the idea.

They have HID kits for a variety of bulb styles, not just 9004 but also the smaller H-3 style bulbs that are commonly used in Aux Lights, the 55 W Halogen style. SO...you could acquire a pair of INEXPENSIVE H-3/55 W Halogen Aux lights, and then put in a pair of HID H-3 Single stage/filament bulbs into them, so you could get the lesser power drain of the HID ballast system....ie. 35 watts, and get the 55 to 70 or more watts brightness from the HID bulbs...and since they are in the AUX lights, you can retain your OEM headlight and Halogen bulb...for inspections and city driving. YMMV. Just some thoughts/alternatives that won't drain your budget like the pretty LEDS Nate suggested !

Here's an interesting AUX lights kit...uses H3 Halogen bulbs, but has the HID style focusing lens and a deep enough housing where the HID style H3 bulbs should be able to fit inside, and probably would focus the HID beam better than a regular Halogen Aux light housing!?

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/H3-12...mZ260760813932

Again, item # 260760813932

Here's an example of the HID conversion kits, this is for the H3 single beam only style for the AUX lights, vs. the BiXenon/Hi/Lo style for the OEM headlight. The bulb colors are shown in the add, 3k=yellow/halogen, 5K white, 6-10k shades of blue/violet...YUCK!

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/HID-C...mZ350325851908

Item# 350325851908


T.C.

[TopCatGr58]

Forgot to mention....

Prior to my Min-ALT conversion, I also ran a pair fo 55 watt halogens AUX lights, had the full LED brake/tail/turn signal conversion, and was able to drive it at night on highway and also didn't have a charging problem...on my 81XS, not an XJ.
T.C.