Lousy Headlights

JKBC

New Member
Hey Ray I notice you have to have your licence plate numbers on the front of the bike too in some or all of India.
These guys have it done differently than you with a long white plastic piece for it bolted to the front of the bikes (looks awful on the RC I think)...maybe a different state?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_detailpage&v=a6OKH0Gqkuk
Good road-test with some humour and a top speed test included.
Their RC 390 doesn't have both lights on when they're riding it?
 
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ray

New Member
Hey Ray I notice you have to have your licence plate numbers on the front of the bike too in some or all of India.
These guys have it done differently than you with a long white plastic piece for it bolted to the front of the bikes (looks awful on the RC I think)...maybe a different state?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_detailpage&v=a6OKH0Gqkuk
Good road-test with some humour and a top speed test included.
Their RC 390 doesn't have both lights on when they're riding it?

Hey I am sorry if ive misled you guys. I was referring to the fact that when I put on the high beams (not the flasher) both High and Low stays on. Regarding the license plates, yes we need to have them upfront here in India and stock bikes come with those plates..and that's one among the first things I threw away :D
 

OldVet

New Member
California spec bike here and one headlight at a time. I adjusted the low beam as it was pointing at the stars and now it puts out a lot of light and really lights up the road.

I am interested in both lights working when I flip the high beam switch however as the way I see it the more the better.

I don't know zip about electrical stuff, Ray said to get the appropriate relay, which would that be and what do I do with it after I get one?

Also I am wondering if the alternator/stator can handle running both lights, any thoughts...
 

ray

New Member
@OldVet
The alternator/stator should be able to handle it totally fine since all the RC's in Indian run the same setup. Its probably some kind of law/regulation why its different over there. Let me just check and see what exactly you would need to do change for it to work the way its on mine.
 

Fasteddy

Member
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The running two headlights was discussed in a thread awhile back. I will try and search it out, but
FWIW, the alternator is rated at 296 watts and our North American spec bikes run 55 watt bulbs both high / low, no LED turn signals. The high beam is already controlled by a relay and there is a 'LCU' Lighting Control Unit, that ties into the ECU and is described as controlling low beam current when engine is at low RPM's. What I have noticed that has steered me away from doing any mods is that when I am sitting at a stop, no turn signals, cooling fan on and I pull the switch that flashes the high beam thus running both lights there is a noticeable change in the cooling fan speed. That indicates to me that there is not a lot of extra capacity in the alternator / battery for the additional 55 watts.
 

Bagwell

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Note also that at lower RPM too the alternator isnt charging as high as if the RPM is a lil bit higher. you can see it in voltage typically if you monitor voltage at idle and then rev the motor to say 3000 RPM and notice the voltage rise some. I still dont see any need for any modification to the headlights on the RC390 though, so I am fine with stock configuration.
 

OldVet

New Member
The running two headlights was discussed in a thread awhile back. I will try and search it out, but
FWIW, the alternator is rated at 296 watts and our North American spec bikes run 55 watt bulbs both high / low, no LED turn signals. The high beam is already controlled by a relay and there is a 'LCU' Lighting Control Unit, that ties into the ECU and is described as controlling low beam current when engine is at low RPM's. What I have noticed that has steered me away from doing any mods is that when I am sitting at a stop, no turn signals, cooling fan on and I pull the switch that flashes the high beam thus running both lights there is a noticeable change in the cooling fan speed. That indicates to me that there is not a lot of extra capacity in the alternator / battery for the additional 55 watts.

Bummer so I would assume that running a heated vest is out of the question?
 

OldVet

New Member
@OldVet
The alternator/stator should be able to handle it totally fine since all the RC's in Indian run the same setup. Its probably some kind of law/regulation why its different over there. Let me just check and see what exactly you would need to do change for it to work the way its on mine.

Great, thanks Ray...
 

Fasteddy

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Bummer so I would assume that running a heated vest is out of the question?

Ummm, let me get some real data on what the 'real load' on the system is on N American spec version, I have access to a very accurate clamp on current meter and can check it when I get time. fortunately the battery / electrical distribution is easy to get too even when running. There are two accessory circuits located behind the steering head that come out of the wire harness toward the left side, both are fused at 10 amps, one is hot all the time the other is switched with ignition.

Do you know how many amps the vest takes???
 

OldVet

New Member
Ummm, let me get some real data on what the 'real load' on the system is on N American spec version, I have access to a very accurate clamp on current meter and can check it when I get time. fortunately the battery / electrical distribution is easy to get too even when running. There are two accessory circuits located behind the steering head that come out of the wire harness toward the left side, both are fused at 10 amps, one is hot all the time the other is switched with ignition.

Do you know how many amps the vest takes???

That would be much appreciated. The one I have draws 6.9 amps.
 

Formula390

Supporting Vendor
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The alternative is swap over to 35w HID bulbs. A little more expensive, but then I believe it should easily be able to handle the power of the lights and a heated vest.

I've been kicking around the idea of offering an HID kit with an option to allow high beam to still leave the low beam on. Basically I would either fabricate a relay circuit, or put in a diode from the high beam power over to the low beam side as well. Going with a diode would be an easier and less prone to failure method, and that way when hi was selected it would feed both but low would have the current blocked by the diode from powering up the hi beam... I drafted out a small circuit board, but was having problems finding a through hole jack assembly that would allow the existing wiring to just plug into it and not require anything else be done for a literal plug and play installation. The alternative would be pigtails that could plug into the stock wiring plugs for the lights, which would then run power to the board (which could fit in the battery compartment along with the HID ballasts) and then feed that all back down to the HID bulbs...

This is a similar arrangement for how I have the PIAA lights on my XX Blackbird wired. I can flip the high beam switch off and it'll distinguish the high beam and the PIAA 910's, which are also running HIDs in them. The net effect is like stumbling into a dark room, but at least it's a fast and easy way to quickly go from the oncoming traffic's retna frying daylight of my 4 HID's blazing with just one fast flick of a switch.

The one light at a time issue annoys me ALMOST as much as the instrument panel tracking fuel ONLY in Liters, even when you switch over to MPH from KPH, and STILL no gallons.
 

big_sur

New Member
I thought the stock headlights were pretty good and I don't have headlights anymore on the RC, but I've had really good luck with LED headlight replacement on some of my other bikes. Much brighter, lower power draw, more durable, easier install than HID's by far.
 

Thetonious

New Member
I just got my RC390 last week and am on the night shift this week. My two night rides home this week were dreadful! I too found the beams, whether high or low, were super narrow and tight. I may have to do the adjusting as well but they seemed to be pointed in the right direction. I plan to convert mine to a track bike in a couple of weeks and just thought i'd have fun with it on the street for a bit but I just may have to use it only in the day!
 

Formula390

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I thought the stock headlights were pretty good and I don't have headlights anymore on the RC, but I've had really good luck with LED headlight replacement on some of my other bikes. Much brighter, lower power draw, more durable, easier install than HID's by far.

{eyebrow lift} Really???! I'm curious, but am very skeptical.

I've yet to see any LED headlights which could match a 55w standard bulb, much less the SIGNIFICANTLY more light that HID puts out at only 30-35w. Do you have any links or data to back up the claim that LED replacements provide more light and standard 55w bulbs? While the ballast on a HID system wasn't always the easiest thing to deal with in the past... the ballasts available these days are SMALL!!! I just can't see how a replacement LED bulb could possibly match a 55w bulb, much less come close to touching the candles HID puts out.

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big_sur

New Member
I put this LED Baja Designs Squadron XL on my 350 and it's the brightest headlight I've had on anything, by a huge margin. It draws 7 more watts than stock (42 total) and throws out 4300 lumens, which is just stupid bright and not even close to legal at all. On the xChallenge, I just put a cheapy LED bulb off Amazon in there and while I don't really know quantitatively how bright it is, it was a big improvement from stock. I've been kind of waiting for it to die since I took the rubber boot off and it's got a little fan but it's been going for probably 1,500 miles, which is a lot of hours in the dirt.

2015-09-03%2000.55.30.jpg
 
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Formula390

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I put this LED Baja Designs Squadron XL on my 350 and it's the brightest headlight I've had on anything, by a huge margin. It draws 7 more watts than stock (42 total) and throws out 4300 lumens, which is just stupid bright and not even close to legal at all. On the xChallenge, I just put a cheapy LED bulb off Amazon in there and while I don't really know quantitatively how bright it is, it was a big improvement from stock. I've been kind of waiting for it to die since I took the rubber boot off and it's got a little fan but it's been going for probably 1,500 miles, which is a lot of hours in the dirt.

2015-09-03%2000.55.30.jpg

42w for 4300 lumens sounds about right as efficiency is typically in the 100lumen/watt realms for high intensity LEDs. HIDs tend to put out around 120 lumens per watt, so the 42w LED system would put out more light than the 35w HID system which should put out around 4200 lumens. That's at 7w less, per bulb... so with both going you're only drawing 70w and getting ~8400 lumen. A typical halogen bulb will get in the 25-30 lumens per watt... so to compare that would mean that the stock system with both lights lit should be putting out somewhere around 1650 lumens. Note, that doesn't mean that the HID system would be 5 times "brighter". Illumination (aka candle power) is subject to the inverse square law. So without getting all S / 4 Pi R^2 on the subject, and breaking out the astrophysics books... it's sufficient to say that watt for watt, HID is -=LIKELY=- still going to beat LED lights, and do so at a lower wattage, than the equivalent lighting levels required to achieve the same level of illumination. There are other factors like reflectors and lenses and aim of the light source and and and... but no matter which H11 bulb you drop into the bike, those will pretty much remain the exact same. Considering the intent is to want to be able to run both lights concurrently to get maximum amount of light while riding at night, I'm still going to say "Go with HID" vs LED. The equivalent 35w for an LED light would net you about 3500 lumen (or 7000 for both) so in either case, it's going to be a BIG improvement over stock! I will say this, at least the LED lights don't have any lag between when they are lit and warm up to produce at full brightness. Generally once the HID is lit and it's warmed up, turning them off (for oncoming traffic) and back on again, is pretty much instantaneous... but that first time you turn them on it does take a brief moment to get full honk out of 'em.
 

big_sur

New Member
Yeah, I mean in terms of benefit, with the Baja Designs light, it's about durability since it's an offroad racing light and it's completely sealed, but when I was looking on amazon for a cheapy brighter option on the xchallenge, I think the HID's were about the same light output (35w for 3600 lumens) as the LEDs, at which point I went for ease of installation (take bulb out/put bulb in vs wiring stuff) because I'm lazy. :p
 

HardRacing

Supporting Vendor
Country flag
.

We are working on a LED Bulb upgrade for the RC390, that includes a new PLUG-n-PLAY harness.

Kill 2 birds with one stone.

The Kit will include (2) pure white 6000k LED Head lights, and a wire harness that does Single Low Beam , and DUAL High Beam.

So you get more coverage.



Here's what it looks like on our R3 Project Bike.



The Photo doesn't do it justice.




R3LEDBike1.jpg




.
 
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killer b6393

New Member
.

We are working on a LED Bulb upgrade for the RC390, that includes a new PLUG-n-PLAY harness.

Kill 2 birds with one stone.

The Kit will include (2) pure white 6000k LED Head lights, and a wire harness that does Single Low Beam , and DUAL High Beam.

So you get more coverage.



Here's what it looks like on our R3 Project Bike.



The Photo doesn't do it justice.


When will this be available?
 
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