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klr electrical questions

Posted: Mon Oct 25, 2004 8:23 pm
by frankster44370
Will the electrical system on the KLR handle an electric vest load without killing anything? Also, what about heated grips? Are there grips available for the KLR? Will the electrical system handle grips AND a vest?? Thanks for the help FrankF

dual exhaust for klr

Posted: Mon Oct 25, 2004 9:45 pm
by clutz003
--- In DSN_klr650@yahoogroups.com, "Mark Sampson" wrote:
> > > is it possible? i saw the xt660r and it had 2 tail pipes, looks
cool,
> canwe mod the klr to have em too? > should be better breathing for it? > clint >
I don't think I could deal with twin tweeties. Craig A18

klr electrical questions

Posted: Mon Oct 25, 2004 9:49 pm
by Eric L. Green
On Mon, 25 Oct 2004, frankster44370 wrote:
> Will the electrical system on the KLR handle an electric vest load > without killing anything?
The stock system appears to have about 75w-100w of "headroom" for accessories. If you've upgraded your headlight from the stock 65w unit to a 100w unit, subtract 35w from that "headroom". Replace the stock tail light with an LED taillight and add 4w to that headroom. So figure you can easily power a Gerbing vest (45w or so of power), and are marginal for a high-power heated jacket (77w for a Gerbing), especially if you've upgraded your headlight bulb.
> Also, what about heated grips? Are there grips available for the KLR? > Will the electrical system handle grips AND a vest??
Yes, but you'll need to be careful. A 45w vest and a 35w grip set will pretty much use up your headroom. If you've upgraded to a 100w headlight, go back to the stock 55/65w (or upgrade to the "superbright" 55/65w bulb, which, alas, is only a little bit brighter than the stocker and will seem puny compared to the 100w bulb but you do what ya gotta do), and you may wish to go ahead and convert the tail light and instrument panel bulbs to LED's too in order to clear up headroom. You'll also want to have a battery monitor on your electrical system so that you can monitor battery voltage and turn off the heated gear if the battery is running down. One alternative to the grip set is heated gloves. This puts the heat where you need it -- next to your hands -- and typically uses less power than heated grips, but is a bit less convenient since you need to run wires up your jacket to the heated vest (assuming you're using the Gerbing system). Still, it may be worth investigating if you're going to be doing a lot of winter riding. _E