Powering a halogen light from an endurance bike

[bryan1]

Hi,
I'm asking a question for a mate. He owns a honda cr 600 endurance bike that doesn't carry a battery and the lights are powered by the stator, he wants to put halogen lights but the stator won't put out the required powerbut he asked the pro's and on but his inquires he would have to spend $1,000's .
Have any of U blokes had any prior knowledge of circuits to upgrade an endurance bike to halogen lights and if so can you please reply to this thread

I will find out this week the voltage and current coming out of the stator.

Cheers Bryan1

 

[Nigel Goodwin]

Hi,
I'm asking a question for a mate. He owns a honda cr 600 endurance bike that doesn't carry a battery and the lights are powered by the stator, he wants to put halogen lights but the stator won't put out the required powerbut he asked the pro's and on but his inquires he would have to spend $1,000's .
Have any of U blokes had any prior knowledge of circuits to upgrade an endurance bike to halogen lights and if so can you please reply to this thread

I will find out this week the voltage and current coming out of the stator.

Cheers Bryan1

Having had a couple of trail bikes where the headlights work directly off the alternator, I'm well aware of the problem.

The existing (very crude) alternator is designed specifically to power the headlight installed on the bike, in order to power anything larger you would have to replace the alternator with a higher power one. I don't see any other way of doing it, the existing alternator won't supply any more power.

And I totally agree that the lights are completely crap!.

 

[bryan1]

Hi nigel,
One way I'm thinking of solving the problem is using a laptop battey. I have a heap of so called stuffed laptop batteries where only 1 or 2 cells have died, I worked out a way to get the case apart and replace the defunct cells and restore the battery to full potiential. Now here's the question if I made up a simple charger of the the stator to charge the battery and a simple circuit to power the lights ( a 110 watt 4" spotlight), would this work ?????


Cheers Bryan1

 

[tansis]

As ideas go it's not that bad, some care would have to be taken with the charging circuit as output from the magneto is somewhat ragged at best.
Making the whole assembly removable or having a jack socket for external charging might be worth thinking about.

Incidently for any readers looking for a project, the electrical system of a motorcycle is one worth exploring. Even today some new production models still use mechanical relays as voltage regulators!

 

[Nigel Goodwin]

Hi nigel,
One way I'm thinking of solving the problem is using a laptop battey. I have a heap of so called stuffed laptop batteries where only 1 or 2 cells have died, I worked out a way to get the case apart and replace the defunct cells and restore the battery to full potiential. Now here's the question if I made up a simple charger of the the stator to charge the battery and a simple circuit to power the lights ( a 110 watt 4" spotlight), would this work ?????

Only for a short time, the alternator won't provide enough capacity for the light, so while the light is on the battery will be losing power all the time. A 110W spotlight is well over the top, requiring almost 10A - I can't remember what the headlight bulb in my trail bike was, what wattage is fitted in yours?.

 

[bryan1]

Only for a short time, the alternator won't provide enough capacity for the light, so while the light is on the battery will be losing power all the time. A 110W spotlight is well over the top, requiring almost 10A - I can't remember what the headlight bulb in my trail bike was, what wattage is fitted in yours?.

Hi Nigel,
the headlight bulb in the bike is 35/40 and when I tried a 50/55 quartz halogen the light was a dull yellow. The idea of the 110 watt spotty was only an idea as I have a few onhand. the bloke at the bike shop reckons he could rewind the stator to give a larger output but at a cost of $700+ just seems over the top. Next time I'm over my mates farm I'll check the output and have a good look at the electrics on the bike, oh and the bike is a '94 XR600R not a cr600.

cheers Bryan1

 

[Nigel Goodwin]

the headlight bulb in the bike is 35/40 and when I tried a 50/55 quartz halogen the light was a dull yellow.

As you've already found out, the maximum output of the alternator is only 40W - so you've no chance with a 110W bulb.

From what I've seen of these types of alternators they seem self regulating, there's no electronics involved - they reach their maximum output at fairly low revs, then get no higher.

The idea of the 110 watt spotty was only an idea as I have a few onhand. the bloke at the bike shop reckons he could rewind the stator to give a larger output but at a cost of $700+ just seems over the top.

I'm quite impressed he offered to rewind it! - I imagine it's fairly complicated and labour intensive - but as you say, it's a LOT of money.

Next time I'm over my mates farm I'll check the output and have a good look at the electrics on the bike, oh and the bike is a '94 XR600R not a cr600.

Mine was a Yamaha DT400, I forget the year now, but it was probably about 1975!.

If they use a similar engine in a full road bike, presumably it has better lighting? - could you perhaps source an alternator and electrics off a road version?.