anybody tried one of these

[cajun31]

With the new led style headlights; has anyone tried one of these to fool the bike into thinking all is well? https://www.ebay.com/itm/H4-9003-Hea...r/113936074970.

[DiverRay]

I have not tried one on the XS, but did need something like that for the BMW. The canbus is a "new vehicle" item, in that the computer senses the voltage to determine the amp draw. on the BMW, I could NOT use 100W low beams because they would not turn on. Too large a draw so the bike thought I had a short. When I changed to HID bulbs, the unit was designed for the canbus and had a circuit to fool the system.
The XS has two problems, low voltage at idle and the RLU thinking the low beam is burned out because of low draw. Bypass the RLU will fix part of the problem, and cleaning ALL the connections should help the low idle voltage.
I would install one of geezers http://www.oregonmotorcycleparts.com/Reg_rec_units.html units in place of the stock Reg/Rec, as they charge at a lower RPM, and you would have a better chance of fixing the problems with that.
JMHO, worth what you paid for it.

[cajun31]

Thanks for the response.

I understand what you are saying and did a little research on the subject. Our vehicles are too old for the CanBus, however what is really needed is a resistor to fool the older technology. I really don't want to bypass anything that is still working on my bike. I found this and wanted your opinion. https://starriderperformance.com/hea...lbs-83-93-all/.

I have one of Geezer's rectifiers and ran it for a while. I am not knocking it because after I installed it I tested it and confirmed that it did indeed increase the voltage output at lower rpms. I scored a NOS original rectifier and it is working fine on my bike. I stared having headlight problems earlier this year and started the process of elimination from one part to the next until I hit on the problem of a bad headlight relay. I now have several of those as well as an extra RLU and a few new diodes. Purest here. With all of that said would love to know if the part I just pasted might work. I realize that there is not a lot of room in the headlight but I am also looking into ways of extending the H4 connection so that something like this can be installed under the tank.

[DiverRay]

All that is doing is putting a resistive load of about 4 to 6 amps on the circuit. You will still be short of power, so I don't see the reason to use one.
If you want to keep the bike close to stock, use the original style H4 bulb, and add LED fog/driving lamps. It would look something like the HD three light systems, but put a lot of light on the road.
To keep the LED headlamp, bypass the RLU. It's pretty much that easy, and just bypassing it with a plug and jumpers it will be easy to put it back to stock.

[SteveO]

My "DayMaker" LED bulb came with a decoder. I tried it both with and without.

Without the decoder the XS11 has a verrry mild flicker at idle; not really significant.

There is no room in the headlight housing for the decoder so I had to install it behind. When installed, the flicker did not go away, but the Headlight Idiot light comes on. There was also one instant where the light "dimmed", but I'm not sure why.

I removed the decoder and had very good results riding for the entire season. For me, it was not necessary. The guys I ride with love how my LED headlamp lights up the road for us at night.

[cajun31]

What exactly is the RLU measuring.

I thought the RLU measured resistance of the low beam. Am I wrong? That is why I thought the second device might help the situation. That is how it is advertised. Granted it is about twice the resistance of the low beam alone. I understand what you are saying about the bypass of the RLU and is probably what I will do. I was trying to research the RLU and everything refers you right back to this site. Interesting.

[DiverRay]

cajun31,
Here is the link to the modification page about the RLU. http://www.xs11.com/forum/showthread.php?t=874
As you can see, you just need to connect two wires together and your done. I still like using a short jumper wire with connectors so it will go back to stock, IF you ever wanted to.

[cajun31]

Thanks for the response Ray

Appreciate your response. Looks like this site is slowly but surely dying.

Getting back to the subject at hand. I understand the RLU bypass and will do that with a wire with connectors. I don't want to butcher anything permanently. I am still really interested in the resistor. Fortunately the cost to see whether it will make a difference or not is simply 20 something bucks. I am already the owner of a JW Speaker Adaptive 2 headlight that I got off of fleabay for my 2002 Harley. It works great by the way and is quite a difference in cornering when it lights up the direction you are leaning into. Anyway, I ordered the resistor connector and can experiment with that and the JW Speaker led headlight to see what is up. I will update this post with my findings. I would really like to keep my RLU functional and the Chinese are starting to make some pretty good LED assemblies.

[cajun31]

update on findings

I received the resistor and was able to test it. My findings. It works to alleviate all idiot lights. The headlight assembly I used in my test is a JW Speaker 8690 adaptive 2 led assembly. When I hooked the resistor assembly in line with the headlight I got no errors from the RLU. I revved the engine to 3000 rpm and set it that for about 45 seconds and held the resistor box in my hand to see how hot it gets. Bottom line is it gets too hot to hold. Mounting it is going to be the problem. It won't fit in the headlight assembly and I wouldn't want it there anyway. The RLU is measuring the resistance of the low beam and this particular assembly has two 6 ohm resistors on both the low and high beam. Only the low beam resistor is needed for the purpose of fooling the RLU. Didn't have time to test that theory. I will update when I do. I am thinking that a single 6 ohm resistor hooked up on the low beam wire and neutral will do the job and only produce half the heat. They can be purchased at Wally world and any auto parts store. I actually bought two of these https://www.superbrightleds.com/more...SABEgL4hvD_BwE with the idea I could dissect one if needed and keep the other intact. Two of these cost as much as one of these https://starriderperformance.com/hea...lbs-83-93-all/. I am going to eliminate the hi beam resistor in the housing and just run straight wire.

The resistor had no effect on the performance of the headlight. I tried it with and without and noticed no difference in the intensity of the output of the light. Without the resistor on initial startup of the bike the warning light lit up then immediately went out. I watched to see if the RLU switched over to the high beam and it did not. The low beam was all that stayed lit until I turned on the bright lights. Did this several times and did the same thing every time.

[DiverRay]

You are "burning" about 2.2A through the resistor. That is 2.2A that could be used for other lights from the 20A you have. Yes, the bike will produce about 28A, but you need 10A to run the engine. If you put in LED's for the tail/brake, and the dash lights, you can save quite a bit for heated gear, etc.
This is why I would bypass the RLU and save the 2.2A, but that's me...

[cajun31]

what size

Size and source of wire connectors to build jumper cable to bypass RLU?

[DiverRay]

Any auto parts store will have the connectors needed. I'm going from memory, so keep that in mind. a short bit of 14AWG wire and two(I think) male 1/4" spade connectors should be all you need.
1. connect the 2 spade connectors with a 2" bit of wire. this is your jumper.
2. unplug the connector from the RLU
3. connect the jumper to the Blue/Black and Blue/Yellow wire connectors.
Done

[cajun31]

Thanks Ray

I appreciate the quick response. I saw a post utilizing the female spade connectors and was thinking that direction. I was lucky to score and old RLU off of Ebay for $2.50 with free shipping. I am either going to just hack that and connect the two wires I need or simply remove the connectors in question and redo them with 2" of 14 gauge wire. Either way, I can then just plug it in. I am just playing with ideas right now. I also found some 50w 3ohm resistors that I am going to play with. Found a 14" H4 male to H4 female extension cable that I can put the resistor or resistors on to plug in and still be able to run the end of the wire back up to the headlight bucket.
More then likely though, I will just go the bypass route to save voltage and space and also avoid the excessive heat these resistors generate.

I just wanted to thank you for all your input. I see you got out of Californication and moved to Idaho. I lived in Mountain Home for two years back in the mid to late 70s. Was in the Air Force. Loved it. Beautiful country. Just keep the liberal vibes out of there and you will be fine. There were great folks living there back in the day.

[cajun31]

bought a

JW Speaker 555011 headlight. After a minor mod to the headlight mounting system...Needed longer screws.... I got it installed on the bike. This is the adaptive 2 technology with a black bezel. The black looks good on my Midnight. Interesting thing is that once I got it installed and started the bike I didn't get any errors with the RLU. Go figure. Stopped and started the bike several times and revved it up a few times to ensure power fluctuation and simply no error. Not complaining but it really doesn't make any sense. Everything seems to be working right. Headlight doesn't come on until bike is cranked and the bright does not come on and no idiot light in the dash. I had purchased a used RLU off of Ebay to use so that I could build my bypass and now I don't know if I will need it. Time will tell I guess.
Not advertising for them but this is the headlight I bought https://www.jwspeaker.com/adaptive-2...cle-headlight/.

I didn't pay full price... got it off Ebay for way less.