[gremlin]

I have an 01 250 recon. I want to add an extra light for night driving but really don't understand how much the stator puts out. I have the shop manual but don't understand. Everything is stock on my bike. I got a 6 x 3w led that is 1.42 amps @ 12v. Can it handle that without overloading the electrical? I had wondered about heated grips to but one thing at a time.
Cheers

 

[gremlin]

Here's the specs in the manual.

 

[YukonXL04]

It puts put 130 watts at 5000 rpm... I think your stock headlights are 35w each so there's 70 watts...

I added a rigid led light to my handlebars, about identical to what your wanting to add. I have no issues. Also added a tiny amp and speakers. So far all is good.

 

[gremlin]

Ok. So I checked and have 2 x 25w and 5w for the taillight so 55w. I'd be adding 18w then for the led. Bring me to 73 watts. I want sure if it had to do with the wattage or the amperage. Going to put a 2 amp inline fise just to be safe. Did you direct connect to battery or wire into the harness? Find it all a little confusing. Lol
Thanks a bunch for the reply!

 

[YukonXL04]

For the light, I just tied right into the high beam wires. No relay or harness. For the amp I ran wires straight to the battery.

 

[gremlin]

Ok. Did you put a seperate switch in? Was thinking of havin a switch so i want annoying anyone if I was riding behind at night.

 

[gremlin]

My highbeams suck anyway. Lol

 

[YukonXL04]

No extra switch. I kept the low beams as is... And added the led pod to the high beam wires, so the stock highs and the led come on. But if you switch to low beam only the stock lows.

Here is a picture of mine mounted to the handle bars. The plastic alone is kinda flimsy, so I made a bracket that attaches to the actual handle bar mount, and comes up the backside of the plastic. And the light mounts through the plastic and the metal. It's very solid now.

 

[Goober]

Try to use Ohms Law E=IxR and P=IxE
P (Power)= I (current) x E (volts)
Watts/Volts = Amps
18/12 = 1.5A each 18W light
12/1.5 = 8 ohm resistance each

The stock headlamp on mine is rated at 60/55W 5A

Keep in mind the current draw on the same wire would be additive! Most accessory circuits are rated at 15A, the wiring/fusing has to be rated for all the goodies you have on the circuit.

 

[gremlin]

That looks great. I have a fairing but had thought i should reinforce it. Thanks for all the help. Appreciate it! One last question. When you tied in did you ground onto the frame or just tied into the ground?

 

[gremlin]

Ok...I think. Lol
Would that imply it should be run on a different wire.

 

[YukonXL04]

Ok...I think. Lol
Would that imply it should be run on a different wire.

For just a single led pod like mine, you can just tie right into the headlight wiring. That max 1.5 amp extra current isn't going to hurt anything.

No don't ground to the frame, use the headlight ground wire.

 

[Goober]

My light kit arrived came with a 40A harness and integrated waterproof switch with stick-on adhesive backing. This harness has two circuits a low amp control circuit and a high amp lighting circuit.
The controls circuit is powered by the accessory plug so when the key is switched off the "off" light is illuminated; it’s grounded thru that plug. the 40A circuit is energized by the controls circuit "on" switch and connected directly to battery. That way you’re not overloading the accessory circuit with a high draw accessory—same way you wire a winch.
The one problem I had is that the my older TRX battery is placed well behind the seat so the battery lead was too short.
The on switch came with adhesive backing so stuck it on the back of the headlight bucket

 

[retro]

A couple more tips in case you didn't know...
Don't ever use crimp connectors to splice in to the wiring harness. Use matching plugs, solder all wiring additions/alterations and use heat shrink tubing to weatherproof them.

Ideally you'll want to make up a harness of your own when adding electrical accessories, that way you won't be hacking into your harness wires and permanently destroying it. Then you just plug your new accessory into the existing harness plugs... and when/if that accessory ever fails, or you decide to upgrade to something else or put it back to stock, the harness will still be useable and in good condition.

Using crimp connectors of any kind is a temporary (very dumb) hack that will allow corrosion of the copper wiring in your harnesses in very short order, which destroys them such that they cannot ever be repaired by soldering.

Have fun with it...

 

[gremlin]

Thanks guys. Picked up wiring supplies today and am going at it soon. Appreciate your time and advice!