I am currently outfitting my wife's 06' klx for our Trans-America Trip this summer. It is looking like we are going to have to go pretty early in the season, which will make Colorado pretty cold. My question is, is there a DIY way to hooking up a headlight kill switch, or is there a kit available? I am wanting to be able to run a tourmaster heated vest and some heated grips, and with the headlight off, I believe that should free up enough power to run the electrics without worry of draining the battery. Suggestions?

Jordan

 

You could find the headlight ground wire, cut it, and install a toggle switch. I put one on mine when I changed out the headlight to a Trailtech X2, but the concept is the same on the stock. The wiring diagram is posted several places around here and may help.

 

Since you are planning to use the heated gear on a long-term trip and not just for quick weekend ride on local roads, you should plan this properly and not get caught with problems when middle of nowhere.

Few suggestions.

- Research (generator output) and measure (current draw of a running bike) exactly how much current is available for axillary use. Guess work just causes problems later.

- You are going to be low on available current. Firstgear makes heated liners with two different power ratings, 90W and 65W. Get the 65W one to save current.
That's what I've got for my SO since she uses it also when riding her DR200 (90W would have been fine on our BMW).

- Give ElectroSport a call (electrosport.com) and ask if they have, or can make, a higher output stator for the KLX. They make them for lot of bikes but also do custom work. Basically they rewind the stator for higher current output.

- Install some sort of simple & rugged volt meter to monitor the battery voltage. If voltage starts to drop below 13V while engine is running it's time turn of the heated gear.



--
Mikko

 

IDRIDR,

Thanks. That sounds easy enough.

FlyingFinn,

Thanks for your input. Her heated vest has 3 power level settings, and on max I believe it only pulls 58 watts, and i think the grips may be 35 or so. I do plan on installing a digital voltmeter like i put on my vstrom to monitor the situation.



jordan

 

Don't cut the ground wire. You will get current flow through the two filaments of the headlight bulb. Check out Eastern Beaver for various headlight relays, switches, and kits. Good guy, makes high quality gear, reasonably priced, fast shipping from Japan.

 

leftlane - good to know, but what are the risks with cutting the ground wire? Is it simply loosing a few amps that could otherwise be saved with the correct relay, or are we risking damage to the bulbs or circuits by simply switching the ground? How about switches on the positive line, such as a three position toggle with off/low/high (which would just negate having the stock low/high switch)?

 

I've run a 55w tourmaster vest the last two winters and never had charging difficulties. I've wanted to add grips but held off because I think that would be pushing it a bit.

At some point, I believe I had the part number of a 35 W bulb that would fit the KLX. That would free up 20 watts and keep you legal for road riding. This might be an option for people that only ride during daylight hours. I passed on a HID system because I didn't want to deal with wiring the ballast.

edit: I think this might be it, it's a 35w bulb for scooters, has the same H4 base as the KLX bulb.

http://www.scooterdomain.com/Light_B...p/lb302406.htm

 

You aren't going to damage anything, but the H4 bulb won't be completely off either. Relays are better than switches for high current applications, more reliable. I'm pretty sure Jim Davis (Eastern Beaver guy) has a headlight cutout relay/switch kit. He's a got a whole section on H4 headlights, more info than most anybody needs. Good reading.

 

Cool - that makes sense. Actually changed from stock to a TrailTech X2 Halogen, but I suppose the concept is the same.

 

Thanks for the responses. I will check with Eastern Beaver. I have gotten some stuff from him in the past for my v-strom. I will post up how everything turns out once it is complete so that maybe this thread can be helpful to someone else in the future.

jordan