HID Lighting System
(By: Ron Dernoski)
 When
the ATVriders.com Team decided to race the 6 Hours of ATV
America and 12 Hours of ATV America race, we knew that several
hours of each race would be held after dark, which presented
us with a problem. The stock lights on the Z400 may be suitable
for trail riding at night, but with only 30 watt bulbs they
were not adequate for racing through the trees at high speed.
We decided to remove the stock lighting system and replace
it with the Trail Tech HID (High Intensity Discharge) lights.
Trail Tech recommended we use their HID lights for our Z400
application. The HID lights consume 13 watts each and 26
watts as a pair, but they provide an equivalent of a 76
watt halogen bulb, which is over 2.5 times the lighting.
The stock stator on a Z400 provides around
60 watts of power, so Trail Tech recommended that we run install
two sets of their 26 watt pairs for a total output of 52 watts.
One pair was mounted on the handlebars to provide directional
lighting when turning the handlebars and the other pair was
mounted on each side of the frame at the front of the machine.
For additional lighting, we utilized an extra set of Helmet
HID lights with a battery pack that attached to our chest
protector. These are small compact lights measuring 1 ¾
inches in diameter and 3 ¼ inches in length were attached
to the helmet with Velcro.
Installation of the Trail Tech lighting system
was very simple. The Frame mounted lights were wired directly
into the stock headlight switch on the High Beam setting.
The handlebar mounted lights were installed independently
and wired directly in the key switch and grounded to the frame.
Trail Tech provided a small waterproof light switch for these
lights that we installed on the handlebar pad for easy access.
 Mounting
the lights was fairly easy. The lower lights came with clamps
which worked by placing the back half of the clamp and the
using screws provided to tighten them to the frame. We did
experience a problem with one of the clamps stripping out
when tighten it up so the light would be secure to the frame.
We taped the hole with a coarse thread screw and didn’t
have a problem with tightening it down. The upper lights were
mounted using a plate that goes between the bar clamp and
the steering stem. This allowed you to mount the lights into
the plate right in front of the handlebars.
The helmet lights were even easier to set-up.
Power is supplied in one of 2 ways, they can either be powered
from the battery pack which is separate from the kit or you
can tie right into the battery. The helmet lights use a Velcro
mounting system. You find the position which gives you the
most light and peel the backing off the Velcro and stick it
to your helmet. This isn’t your typical Velcro, instead
it is a thicker style capable of holding these lights very
securely even during the roughest conditions.
 Another
bonus was the battery pack set-up for the helmet lights. The
battery pack set-up allowed us to see even if the battery
on the quad went bad. The battery pack works for 1 hr using
both lights and then one light remains for another ½
hour. This timing is based on the smaller of the 2 battery
packs that Trail Tech offers. The other battery is stated
to last twice as long.
The Trail Tech system definitely worked well.
Even with just the lower frame lights they provided enough
light during dusk that the handlebar lights weren’t
needed till after dark. When we switched on the handlebar
mounted lights with the lower frame lights it lit the way
extremely well. When all 3 pairs of lights were fired up it
lit up the whole area providing lighting in all directions.
Having the helmet lights was a huge advantage over the competition.
The helmet lights gave us the ability to see where we were
looking in the dark, whether it is seeing the lip of a jump
or the rough terrain you were turning into.
 The
lighting system worked great initially at the 6 Hour event,
but it also completely drained our battery because the stock
stator couldn’t charge it quick enough. Trail Tech wanted
to provide us the most light possible and the stator powering
the lights alone would have worked fine, but we didn’t
consider the cooling fan would be running the majority of
the race to keep it from overheating which overloaded the
capacity of the stock stator, which forced us to swap out
the battery several times during the race. For the 12 Hour
event, we went to an aftermarket stator with enough output
to handle the fan running and everything worked flawlessly
for the race.
The durability of this system was excellent.
The lights were powered up for 2 hrs during the 6 hr race
and over 5 hrs during the 12 hr race and we had no problems
with them at all. After the abuse of being on an ATV for the
entire 6 and 12 hours events the units still are in excellent
condition. The fit and finish of these units is first class
with a chrome outer shell and solid connectors.
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