wheel prices from ebay last spring:

[revmaaatin]

--- In DSN_KLR650@yahoogroups.com, "Norm Keller" wrote:

> > The PIAA extreme white are a great improvement IMO. Interestingly,

it is the daylight visibility which is most enhanced with the PIAA lights as my KLR is far more visible than others with stock headlights.

> > Night vision is far better than the stock light however I have yet

to check voltage drop to see if the light might benefit from wiring improvement.

> > Maybe tonight.... > > Norm >

Norm, Riding that KLR (in these parts)at night (w or w/o OEM lights plus the enhanced lights) is known as deer-hunting, and (unfortunately) the hunting is excellent right now in South Dakota. I hope you were unsuccessful while you are deer hunting tonight. I found my self deer hunting twice in September, and both experiences where less than pleasant. Two near misses, two different evening. The *share the road* campaign was not meant for the motorcycle and the deer. revmaaatin.

[revmaaatin]

--- In DSN_KLR650@yahoogroups.com, "Norm Keller" wrote:

> > OK, so it was time to look to see what the voltage drops are in the

head light circuit. I'm running a PIAA 80/110 watt H4 headlight bulb. Voltage drops with engine rev'ed up (system voltage 14.2 volts):

> > 1) High beam right hand terminal (battery + to high beam terminal

on headlight socket) = 1.5 volts

> 2) Ground terminal (left hand on head light socket) to cylinder

head = 0.1 volts.

> 3) Low beam (top terminal on head light socket) to battery + = 1.2

volts.

> > Obviously both low & high beam need attention since there is a loss

of 1.5 volts! If this is localized to an area such as the dimmer switch contacts, heating and failure is likely. 100 watts divided by 14 volts = 7 amps. 7 amps times 1.5 volts = 10.5 watts. This will make enough heat to melt dimmer switch contacts and will diminish headlight power supply by 10%. A 10% drop in headlight power supply will drop output noticeably.

> > Now, back to the garage to install a couple of head light relays. > > If anyone doesn't understand voltage drop testing, email and I'll

run you through the (easy) procedure.

> > Norm >

Norm, Is there a known standard for the number of lumens the headlight is supposed to provide with the OEM bulb? Is there a device you own that can measure lumens or other measurement during this experiment? ie. how much more, or many more lumens you have obtained with this upgrade? The percent increase/#lumens increased would be a realistic measure of what can be expected by this upgrade. revmaaatin. 100/80w NAPA bulb installed.

[Norm Keller]

There is a published Lumens output for most bulbs although I don't have a light meter to measure it. We used to have a light meter in a couple of shops but it's not something I felt a need to buy. Photographers often own light meters to check your contacts if you want to measure.. I prefer to use voltage drop to optimize the power supply to the bulb and don't get into comparing makes of bulbs for output. If someone is interested, they will be able to find a reference for output (Lumens) versus voltage applied. HIH Norm

>Norm, >Is there a known standard for the number of >lumens the headlight is >supposed to provide with the OEM bulb? >Is there a device you own that can measure >lumens or other >measurement during this experiment? ie. how >much more, or many more >lumens you have obtained with this upgrade? >The percent increase/#lumens increased would >be a realistic measure >of what can be expected by this upgrade. >revmaaatin. 100/80w NAPA bulb installed.

[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]

[Mike Sturgill]

Couple questions Norm. Where do you get these bulbs and did you modify anything in the housing to keep things from melting? TIA, -Mike Norm Keller wrote:

> I'm running a PIAA 80/110 watt H4 headlight bulb. Voltage drops with > engine rev'ed up (system voltage 14.2 volts): > > > >

[revmaaatin]

--- In DSN_KLR650@yahoogroups.com, "Norm Keller" wrote:

> > There is a published Lumens output for most bulbs although I don't

have a light meter to measure it. We used to have a light meter in a couple of shops but it's not something I felt a need to buy. Photographers often own light meters to check your contacts if you want to measure.. Hi Norm, A classic case of lack-of-recent-experience. A photographers light meter is something I 'knew' but would not have easily remembered as all the cameras now are self-metering. A photographers light-meter would certainly would give a fair representation of before and after. Thanks. revmaaatin.

[Norm Keller]

PIAA bulbs are available from most automotive parts suppliers. The KLR takes an H-4 type bulb. After a couple of years running the stock configuration I recently got around to checking voltage drop and am in the process of making up a "plug and play" relay set-up. So far there have been no problems from the stock set-up although, given the almost 1.5 volt voltage drop in the high beam wiring, I'm concerned that there may be a problem with heating. If the 1.5 volts of voltage drop is located in one switch, such as the dimmer or ignition switch, it would be expected that the switch may fail due to heating. If the Vd is divided among several components, there will likely be no problem. Given the loss in power supply to the headlight, I will "kill two birds..." by adding a relay set-up. If time and interest allow I may try to locate the voltage drop to the specific area. This would be only for interest sake since it is intended to use relays. The set-up will use a new headlight plug connected to two "Bosch type" relays. The relays will be powered from a sealed type ATO fuse off the starter relay (solenoid). I prefer to use a dedicated fuse to reduce the risk of something else blowing the light fuse. I will power high and low beams, each with their own fuse so that a blown fuse will not fail both beams. The relay trigger circuits will plug into the old headlight socket so that the set-up will be "plug and play", which is to say that it can be plugged into the existing wiring rather than having to be hard wired in. In this way a relay failure or such issue can be temporarily repaired by simply unplugging the headlight plug, unplugging the relay wiring from the stock plug, and plugging the stock headlight plug onto the headlight. If anyone needs more details, email and I'll try to help. Wiring a pair of relays is a very simple process as long as one uses connections which are well made. HIH Norm

>Couple questions Norm. Where do you get >these bulbs and did you modify >anything in the housing to keep things from >melting? >TIA, >-Mike

[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]

[kestrelfal]

What about the voltage drop across the fuse? Would a circuit breaker have less voltage drop or any other benefit? http://www.bussauto.com/products/circprot/ Fred

--- In DSN_KLR650@yahoogroups.com, "Norm Keller" wrote: > > PIAA bulbs are available from most automotive parts suppliers. The KLR takes an H-4 type bulb. > > After a couple of years running the stock configuration I recently got around to checking voltage drop and am in the process of making up a "plug and play" relay set-up. So far there have been no problems from the stock set-up although, given the almost 1.5 volt voltage drop in the high beam wiring, I'm concerned that there may be a problem with heating. If the 1.5 volts of voltage drop is located in one switch, such as the dimmer or ignition switch, it would be expected that the switch may fail due to heating. If the Vd is divided among several components, there will likely be no problem. > > Given the loss in power supply to the headlight, I will "kill two birds..." by adding a relay set-up. If time and interest allow I may try to locate the voltage drop to the specific area. This would be only for interest sake since it is intended to use relays. > > The set-up will use a new headlight plug connected to two "Bosch type" relays. The relays will be powered from a sealed type ATO fuse off the starter relay (solenoid). I prefer to use a dedicated fuse to reduce the risk of something else blowing the light fuse. I will power high and low beams, each with their own fuse so that a blown fuse will not fail both beams. > > The relay trigger circuits will plug into the old headlight socket so that the set-up will be "plug and play", which is to say that it can be plugged into the existing wiring rather than having to be hard wired in. In this way a relay failure or such issue can be temporarily repaired by simply unplugging the headlight plug, unplugging the relay wiring from the stock plug, and plugging the stock headlight plug onto the headlight. > > If anyone needs more details, email and I'll try to help. > > Wiring a pair of relays is a very simple process as long as one uses connections which are well made. > > HIH > > Norm > > > >Couple questions Norm. Where do you get >these bulbs and did you modify > >anything in the housing to keep things from >melting? > > >TIA, > >-Mike > > > [Non-text portions of this message have been removed] >

[Norm Keller]

Either fuse or circuit breaker should have virtually zero resistance (voltage drop) because voltage drop (resistance) will create heat which will be detrimental to the life of the component. I routinely measure voltage drop across fuses and circuit breakers and find close to zero unless there is a problem such as corrosion inside a breaker. Another aspect of the fuse/circuit breaker issue is that some circuit breakers will reset automatically at a short interval. This kind of breaker is commonly incorporated in the headlight switch of domestic cages. The advantage, if it works properly, is that the lights will flicker up and down in intensity rather than going out. A fast cycling circuit breaker might be seen as a good option for headlights. I'm going with separate fuses for high and low beam but you've gotten me thinking about perhaps using two circuit breakers........ as this would be an easy retro if some are available which have the features needed. HIH Norm

>What about the voltage drop across the fuse? >Would a circuit breaker have less voltage drop >or >any other benefit?

[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]

[Jeff Saline]

On Fri, 27 Oct 2006 07:09:21 -0700 "Norm Keller" writes:

> Either fuse or circuit breaker should have virtually zero resistance > (voltage drop) because voltage drop (resistance) will create heat > which will be detrimental to the life of the component. I routinely > measure voltage drop across fuses and circuit breakers and find > close to zero unless there is a problem such as corrosion inside a > breaker. > > Another aspect of the fuse/circuit breaker issue is that some > circuit breakers will reset automatically at a short interval. This > kind of breaker is commonly incorporated in the headlight switch of > domestic cages. The advantage, if it works properly, is that the > lights will flicker up and down in intensity rather than going out. > A fast cycling circuit breaker might be seen as a good option for > headlights. I'm going with separate fuses for high and low beam but > you've gotten me thinking about perhaps using two circuit > breakers........ as this would be an easy retro if some are > available which have the features needed. > > HIH > > Norm

<><><><><><><><> <><><><><><><><> Norm, I've installed automatically resetting circuit breakers in a few situations. In my airhead /6 I'm using them instead of a fuse as they are located in the headlight shell and a real pain to check on or replace. Knowing I spent 30 hours just maintaining the wiring harness on that bike gives me peace of mind that I don't/won't have problems. I also installed one in a MotoGuzzi that was owned by a woman. She really didn't have the skills to figure out about blown fuses and the one that kept blowing was buried in the heart of the beast. It only blew maybe once every 2-3 months but then the bike was dead until the fuse was replaced. Using an auto resetting circuit breaker allowed her to just wait maybe 30 seconds and then try again. The load on that circuit was just a bit high sometimes. I wasn't about to spend the time needed to go through that electrical system cleaning connections and checking resistances or voltage drops on her bike. And putting in a higher rated fuse like many folks like to do, is, in my opinion, just wrong. Well, if the wiring is evaluated and the loads checked it might be ok, but most folks don't take the time to really check out the situation. So for those two instances I think the circuit breakers were a fine improvement. One thing I have been told but haven't yet experienced it myself is sometimes the auto resetting circuit breakers don't trip when they're supposed to. Now that's a scary thought. So making sure the wire is large enough for the load and the fuse is small enough to protect the wiring will probably go a long way in making sure each component will be able to do it's job. On the KLR I like ATO type fuses. No moving parts, good waterproof holders, inexpensive and easy to place for convenient access. I have yet to blow a fuse on my KLR using ATO fuses. Best, Jeff Saline ABC # 4412 South Dakota Airmarshal Airheads Beemer Club www.airheads.org The Beautiful Black Hills of South Dakota 75 R90/6, 03 KLR650, 79 R100RT

[Norm Keller]

High beam Vd = 0.12 volts! I used two Bosch type relays wired to a pair of ATO sealed fuse holders which terminate on the starter solenoid stud. The relays were fused separately to attempt to minimize the chance of a headlight failure. Another advantage (now) is that the other lighting is still on the original fuse so a short to the tail light, dash lights, etc. will not affect the head light. The head light bulb's ground (left side terminal) goes to a common ground at the left hand 6 mm fairing support bolt. (Note that the fairing frame must be properly grounded as it does not do so through the original bolts. Very strange but that OEM paint insulates better than I expected.) The relays are operated from a plug which terminates in the original head light plug. I made this plug from an old Tridon HD12 flasher which came out of my truck. The same thing would be accomplished with a pair of spade lug connectors but IMO the one-piece plug is more secure. The fuses are located with the accessory fuse holder in front of the solenoid (starter relay) plastic cover. Wires are run along the spine of the main frame tube on the left side to the relays which fit into the triangular space between the frame tubes above the cylinder head. The relays are grounded to the ignition coil mounting bolt. The nice thing about this installation is that it didn't require cutting into the stock wiring at all. The harness could simply be unplugged and removed. In the event of a relay failure in the field, the harness can simply be unplugged from the head light and original head light plug. The original head light plug can then be plugged onto the headlight and it's back to stock. The relays were sealed with ignition wire sealing spray as with all my wiring plugs. I recommend spraying all your connectors when ever you open the area. I doubt that I will be able to discern a difference in light output but it must be there because the light receives another 10 watts of electrical power. HIH Norm HIH Norm [Non-text portions of this message have been removed]