Headlight options?

[cajun66]

What voltage is the lighting system on my 185 and 200? The 200 headlight is bright but it has no tail light. The 185 headlight is dim but has a working tail light. I do a good bit of riding at night and would like to upgrade the headlights.
Any ideas?

[Gearheadtom]

The 185 I'm not sure. If the 200 has a battery, the light should be 12 volt.

[cajun66]

Neither wheeler came with a battery. They are an '83 ATC185S and an '83 ATC200. Not the Big Red with electric start.

[Brad200X]

Check out bike bandit or babbitts. It should give you the voltage and wattage in the part description of the bulb. For example bike bandit has the bulb for an '83 185S listed as a 12V45/45W.

[cajun66]

Oh yea. Duh. I just checked the microfiche on cyclepartswarehouse.com and both bulbs are listed as 12v. That will make things more simple.

Thanks.

[wellys88]

what did you end up doing with teh headlight, I have the same problem on a 83 185s

[YamaBoss]

In all honesty on a machine like that without a battery I don't even know if it's worth all the work. Definitely try a new bulb and see if that helps things but they won't ever be the same as a machine with a battery could be.

[n8r]

The next simplest thing would be to install a higher power lighting coil. http://www.rickystator.com/product/stators/honda/honda-atc185-75-watt-lighting-coil-all-years

You will have to do that regardless. Even if you just intend to convert to DC and a battery, the stock lighting coil is not going to be enough to run any decent lights and charge the battery.



ATC King, what about keeping the stock 185s electrical system and just running 12v AC LED lights? Would this work? I read that the ac electrical system uses the natural resistance of the halogen bulb to keep the ac voltage below 14v ac and with an LED it can go up to over 40v ac with high rpms. So would some sort of shunt or ac voltage ac regulator be necessary? I don't want a battery on my trike, I just want to run 45 watts worth of AC LED's. Or would 45 Watts of LED's have the same resistance as the 45 watt halogen so no shunt/regulator needed?

[jb2wheels]

You can run LEDs on the AC system. Be sure to add a VR/shunt - basic 2-wire dirt bike regulator.

I also like the LED trailer marker lights for tail lights.

[n8r]

Cool, thanks for the info. I see a 2 wire regulator on ebay from an xl250. Any specific way to wire it into the system? Does it matter which light wire is used for in and out or are they inter changeable like on 110AC? There's no + and - wires correct?

[jb2wheels]

I agree with the theory, but in actual application I've run LEDs on 5 different ATVs with AC lighting with no issues other than flicker at idle.
I did not think it would or should work but tried it after seeing a few AC ATVs running LEDs without issue.

I will admit I only get about 6 good long-weekend rides in a year so it's possible the LEDs have a shorter life on AC.

My favorite was the 72W light bar on my T3. The lighting coil's only supposed to put out 65W max. The LED seemed perfectly happy.

I'd be tempted to try something like 3 of the 18W LEDs or a 36W flood and 2 18W spots on the 185s.
Or maybe a pair of the 27W round or square lights.

[DohcBikes]

that's what happens when you live life through Google.

[n8r]

Makes sense and I think you're right about just sticking with a halogen bulb with the stock system, which is what I'll do for ease and reliability, at least for now. As far as LED's go, there are good, inexpensive LED's available. Cree 10 watt single mode flashlight modules are super efficient, good quality, and inexpensive at $5-7 each. Even though they're sold as 10watt they actually draw 5 watts each according to my multimeter. I made a light bar with 14 of these flashlight modules for my 4x4 SUV and they are much brighter, project further, and have a better light spectrum than my stock halogen headlights. Total cost was $70.

My stock Suzuki Sidekick headlights are 65W each so total power consumption is 130 watts for the halogens vs 70 Watts for my DIY LED light bar, and the light bars kills the stock headlights with brights on in every aspect.

http://www.ebay.com/itm/4Pcs-1000Lm-CREE-XM-L-T6-1Mode-LED-Drop-in-Repair-Parts-Torch-Replacement-Bulb-/161850327801?hash=item25af0802f9:g:ndcAAOSw4HVWFKK A

[n8r]

Now that I think about it more, what I might do is just make a switch that swaps between the stock headlight and a DIY 45 watt CREE LED lightbar with 9 flashlight modules with a voltage regulator. That way I can keep the reliability of the stock headlight and if the LED's blow I can just switch back to the halogen. Even if the life of the LED's are shortened and only last me for a year, I'm fine with that, even though I think they would last a lot longer. $50 a year to replace the lights is no big deal.

[n8r]

227886 my DIY lightbar integrated into roof rack

[n8r]

ATC King, I appreciate the info and links you provided. To explain my thoughts a little better.......my reason to stay with the AC system and not convert to DC is not to cheap out, and has nothing to do with money. Money isn't an issue for me. I want to keep my trike reliable in stock form, and I don't want the extra weight of a battery, nor a battery dependent vehicle in order to run. I like the simplicity of the AC setup. If it's a decision between converting to DC with battery to run LED or not run LED, I'll take the no LED option.

But if I can get decent life out of Cree LED's ( which are top of the line and what Rigid Industries uses) on an AC system with a voltage regulator without compromising the stock electrical system, that's worth doing for my purposes.

As long as the Voltage regulator can keep the voltage below 14V, I see no reason the LED's won't last much longer than 1 year, and I would think they would last many, many years. I just used 1 year as a loose number that even if that's all I got out of them, it would be worth it to me just so I can stay AC and not have a battery. People spend way more on tires, gas, and other operating expenses a year to ride their trikes. To me, $50 a year is nothing considering the value added its providing, if that was only how long they lasted, which i think won't be the case. I'm willing to be the guinea pig and try this out long term. If they flicker a little at idle, I'm ok with that.

I do think the "living life through google" comment made by the other guy was rather rude, and the fact you took the time to offer info and help us learn more about how this AC electrical system works is appreciated.

[DohcBikes]

Learn to swim.

[DohcBikes]

I feel I'm starting to loose track of whatever point I was trying to makeYou were telling us how LEDS don't work on DC.

[DohcBikes]

There is no such of a thing as a AC powered LED.
Can anybody translate this to english?

Thanks in advance.

[El Camexican]

Can anybody translate this to english?

Thanks in advance.

He says you're a douche

[bkm]

that's what happens when you live life through Google.

Wait wait wait.............. of all the people you could call out for living their life through Google, you choose this guy? Hahahahaha, good one.

[El Camexican]

I tried learning to swim with Google, but my laptop sunk.:(

[bkm]

You wanna see a real struggle? Give back the edit button and take away the Google button. Now that struggle is real!