What do you think of these head lights?

[350ROOST]

I had these sitting around the shop for some time now and I thought I would see how they look on the R.

Came out alright, still not too sure about them.

http://i124.photobucket.com/albums/p3/350ROOST/The%20Quad/IMG_8354.jpg

http://i124.photobucket.com/albums/p3/350ROOST/The%20Quad/IMG_8358.jpg

http://i124.photobucket.com/albums/p3/350ROOST/The%20Quad/IMG_8360.jpg

http://i124.photobucket.com/albums/p3/350ROOST/The%20Quad/IMG_8359-1.jpg

Tell me what you think!!

[TANNER250r]

I like your set up a lot. Where did you get the lights from. Any pics with plastic's.

[RichM1983]

I think they look good. How are you going to power them? I'm wondering because I was thinking about doing something like that.

[CorvetteZ06]

they look different, but nice. how are you powering them? It is def. a hot setup ! :cool:

[350ROOST]

Any pics with plastic's
Check out the last two

Havent figured out the power issues yet. I put the stock stator and ignition back on the motor, so I hooked the lights up to the factory wires. They work, I just dont think they are getting full power.

I think the stock stator puts out 100 watts, which shoul be more than enough to supply plenty of power to the lights. The hella's are 35watts each, so I dont know why they are not more bright.

Is there some sort of resistor in the stock lighting system?
The factory bulb was like a 55 watt'er on high beam, I think.

Right now they are there to see if they would even work.
That was the first step, now I get to figure out the rest.

[86 Quad R]

you'll be fine with the 70watts. if they were 55 watts each i'd say no.

when you say they are dim, are they staying dim after you rev it up?

[350ROOST]

yeah, even when its reved up they dont appear to be at their full potential.

If the stator puts out 100 watts, and the stock bulb was 55watts, then would there be a resistior?

[86 Quad R]

you dont have them hooked up in series do ya? if so hook em up parrallel<sp

[carl250r]

they look great.

that is a nice bike and a very nice garage.

get your self a 200 watt. ricky stator. there only 175 bucks or so.

[86 Quad R]

Originally posted by carl250r
they look great.

that is a nice bike and a very nice garage.

get your self a 200 watt. ricky stator. there only 175 bucks or so.

provided his OEM is up to snuff. he shouldnt need a 200 watter. :cool:

[carl250r]

i read something wrong.

70 watts is fine.

[350ROOST]

They are wired in together and hooked up to the original headlight wire.

Its wierd, my brother has an 80watt bulb in his original light housing and its bright as hell.

I dont get it.

Any ideas? thoughts?

[86 Quad R]

your stator could be weak en tired. see if you can measure the volts it's producing. try hooking up only one light and see.

me cousing has the same hookup as you and his twin 35 watters light up the world.

[350ROOST]

The stator is the original from '86 so you might be right. Ill check and see if I can get a reading with the volt meter I got.

Thanks for the input!

[86 Quad R]

whens the last time ya had the stator cover off? corrosion build up will cause em to operate poorly aswell.

[350ROOST]

The stator is fine, at least not corroded.

I was running a Cr ignition, but put the factory stator back in so I could run the lights.

It is old though, so Im not sure if the thing is producing the correct amount of wattage.

That reminds me, anyone want to buy a cr ignition?
compleat with all the ESR billet parts for proper install!

[strnge]

Did you finish the install of your lights?

Photos with plastics please!

[blasterandy]

Deff. bitc'hn

[wilkin250r]

You know how sometimes you get advice on here, but you're not sure if the person knows what they are talking about?

I know what I'm talking about, I'm an electrical engineer.

Forget the "watts" of the stator. They won't make your lights brighter. Think of the watts like a rev limiter, it's a max. If you hit your rev limit at 9000rpm, getting a big-bore and nitrous will give you more horsepower, but it still won't let you rev past 9000rpm.

I think 86 Quad R might be on the right track. Spend 5 minutes with Google and research the difference between "Parallel" and "Series" wiring. Make sure your lights are connected in parallel.

You might not get a useful measurement with a multi-meter, and I'll explain that later.

What are the exact brand and model of your lights?

[MAD450r]

i always liked duel headlights but with the single light on my 87 r mounted on the handle bars it moves where u turn

[86 Quad R]

Originally posted by MAD450r
i always liked duel headlights but with the single light on my 87 r mounted on the handle bars it moves where u turn

it's best that way. i can out maneuver those that have the dual fixed mounted lights with doubled wattage. :blah:

[Kirt13]

wilkin250r,

I have a question about my light set up. I have the possitive side of each light to the possitive side of the ac regulator and both negatives to the negative side of the ac regulator. Is this parallel??? I am also having trouble with my lights. They get really bright but only when I'm really, really reved out. The lights are 55 watts each (110 total) and my stator is 200w. I was told that the stator is 200w from the guy I got the engine from. Is there a way to see if it is 200w???

[wilkin250r]

Originally posted by Kirt13
wilkin250r,

I have a question about my light set up. I have the possitive side of each light to the possitive side of the ac regulator and both negatives to the negative side of the ac regulator. Is this parallel??? I am also having trouble with my lights. They get really bright but only when I'm really, really reved out. The lights are 55 watts each (110 total) and my stator is 200w. I was told that the stator is 200w from the guy I got the engine from. Is there a way to see if it is 200w???

This is a common problem with high-output stators.

A stator doesn't "push" watts. That's not the way it works. The stator produces "volts", and then it's up the the RESISTANCE of the lights to pull current. The relationship is ohms law I=V/R (I=current). Get a pencil, paper, and calculator. A 55W bulb is about 2.6 ohms resistance, a 35 bulb is about 4 ohms resistance. Use 12 volts, and you can see the lower the resistance, the higher the current. Try it, let me know the numbers you get.

Once you do that, watts equals voltage times current. Try it, you should see the number come back very close to 55W and 35W.

So what does this mean? It means that a 55W bulb pulls more current out of the stator than a 35W bulb. This is really imporant to understand, IT'S THE RESISTANCE (the lightbulb) THAT DETERMINES THE WATTAGE OUTPUT, NOT THE STATOR. The stator doesn't "push" the wattage out. A 200W stator won't make your lights any brighter than a 100W stator.

So why do the stators have a wattage rating? It's all about HEAT. Pulling 110 Watts out of the stator will cause the stator to heat up a lot more than pulling 70 Watts out. If you try to pull 200W out of a stator that is only designed for 100W, you'll cause the stator to overheat, melt the epoxy, and the enamel on the wire, and short it out, and cause the whole thing to burn. Bad bad news.

Ok, so now we know the dangers, but you still haven't explained why my lights are dim.

In order to get the stator to handle more heat, you use larger wire. Larger wire doesn't heat up as much. But the downside is that larger wire doesn't fit as well, so they had to use fewer coils. Fewer coils means less voltage. It's no problem when you're at high revs, because the faster you spin that magnetic field in the flywheel, the higher volts you will get. This is why you need a voltage regulator, or else you would be produce 50 volts and blow all your lightbulbs.

But at idle, those missing coils drop your voltage. The stock stator with more coils produces about 12V at idle, and 50+ volts at high RPM. The 200W stator only produces 5 volts at idle, and 30+ at high RPM.

The high-output stator is able to handle more heat. It doesn't PUSH more power, but it's able to HANDLE more power pulled out. But the downfall is lower voltage at low speeds, especially at idle.

[Kirt13]

Wilkin250r,
So if I get higher watt lights it will take care of my lights being so dim until I rev out the motor?
Thank you very much for the info. This is a big help!!!

[wilkin250r]

Originally posted by Kirt13
Wilkin250r,
So if I get higher watt lights it will take care of my lights being so dim until I rev out the motor?
Thank you very much for the info. This is a big help!!!

I re-wrote it, go back and read it again.

Higher watt lights won't fix the problem. The problem is the design of the high-output stator. It's capable of supplying more power, but at the expense of lower voltage.

There are two solutions. First (and easiest) is to get a stock 100W stator, and limit yourself to two 35W lights. The extra coils will boost your low-speed voltage and give you brighter lights at idle, but it can't handle more than 100W worth of lights. Or you can live with low output at low speeds.

i had the same lights on my R when i bought it, only not as nice (same shape, size and location) i ripped them off, i didnt care for them

[Gregjy]

I have that same setup. well same location and shape of lights. Mine are driving light from Harbor Freight believe it or not. Works and looks great....

[honda1988]

Hey just saw those works shocks on their. what kind are those and are they a big improvement over the originals? I got some Works AT Steelers ( i think) for my 2003 mojave, do you think they would work good on my 88 R.