I haven't ridden at dark yet but while riding around just as the sun is setting it seems to me that the headlight on the KLX is fairly spot oriented. I'm going to be on the road at 3:30 am and the deer can be pretty close to the road on my way to work and I'm afraid I won't see them with the headlight setup on the bike. Has anyone added any lights to the bike for better night riding? If so what kind? Advance Auto and Walmart both have some cheap 12 v auto driving lights that are fairly small but I haven't looked at the amp draw or wattage to know if they would be compatible with the bike. Anyone have any insight into this or am I just paranoid?

 

You are thinking correctly.

However, I do not think the electrical system on the KLX is a real powerhouse.

About the only thing that might work, and I stress the word might as I have not looked into the charging system on the KLX, is something like this.

I know that BMWHD had a set of these on his KLR650 and the lighting was nothing short of spectacular. If the charging system on the KLX would handle this much additional load, this would be what you could get.

 

I just picked up a set of APC driving lights, they are 2 55 watt halogens for $35, I'm going to hook them up to a 12 volt power supply and see how they look. Yeah I wonder on the charging capabilities of the KLX, I would imagine it should handle 2 more lights. I may just take them back anyway as I don't think they will be very water resistant unless I go through them with silicone.

 

No way is the KLX charging system going to support 2 55w driving lights for sustained periods. If they have H3 bulbs, get some 35w versions and you might be OK on the highway.

This bike screams for HID lights. The trailtech units Marty posted are ideal as is an H4 Bi-Xenon High/Low HID conversion kit. Neither are cheap, however.

 

bryantjt,

Well, let me say this about that . . . .

On my KLR650, there is about 70 watts of power to spare. You can add a pair of 35 watt driving lights and if nothing else is added, your battery may stay charged.

At one time, I had the 35 watt driving lights and a pair of 15 watt con****uity lights on the bike. I had to take one or the other off as I was draining my battery on a regular basis. I removed the 35 watt driving lights. My reasoning for that is simple; I upgraded my wiring harness so that instead of switching the current via the thin wire used in the bike, I ran some relays, then switched the relays on for headlight low beam and high beam. Works great - put a full shot of battery voltage at the headlight instead of the resistance dropped voltage that was there. Then I added a Phillips V+50 headlamp. It is now like day time 24 hours day out there.

That's what I have found on my KLR. I think the KLX has even less "spare" current floating around!


Of course, that is simply an opinion.

 

I'm going to take them back tomorrow I believe. I hooked them up to my 12 volt 20 amp powersupply and as soon as I flipped the switch it kicked the fan on so they are pulling some serious power. I did find a few things over on Dennis Kirk and the descriptions are a bit confusing to me. The part numbers are below could someone clarify what they mean by XX watts of power out of only YY watts, example: 65 watts from only 30.

Dennis Kirk Part #: 211011

Dennis Kirk Part #: 211010

 

Well according to my crappy Kawasaki shop manual, the alternator's output is 14.5 Amps @ 14 volts. A quick calculation would work out to a maximum output of 203 watts. The headlight is 60Watts, the brake light 21 Watts, & the turn signal 21 Watts. That's 102 Watts right there just for the essential lighting. Yeah so like bmwhd said, there is no way it will be able to keep juicin' those two 55 watters. That 203 watt output from the alternator is at 14volts, meaning cruising speeds. At idle, there is no way the alternator is putting out 203 watts.

 

Ah, never thought of looking in my shop manual, although I only have the one that covers up to 1996, not the addendum for the KLX specifically. It sounds like I should swap the tail light out for an LED cluster to gain some brightness and save some wattage to get about 110 watts to play with minus whatever the ignition system pulls. I'd guess, like others have said, that 30-40 watts is all there is to spare. Maybe I should just get two of those bicycle light setups that run off a generator and slap em on the front tire.

 

The Trail-Tech HID light only draws 13 watts. That's 1 amp per light.

The amount of lighting that they give is quite significant.

I think this is the way to go if you intend to up the output of lighting on the KLX250S.

 

I will be doing an HID conversion of the headlight soon just as I did with my KLR650. A Bi-Xenon Hi/Low HID H4 system can be had for under $225 now and will pull only 35w. It has both high and low beam by means of a servo that moves the HID capsule into the proper position when you flick the switch. Puts out 3 times the light of ANY halogen bulb and gives you back 20w for other goodies.