Let there be lights.

One thing that is a real sore point on the Vstrom is the electirical generating capacity of the bike. It is something like 380 watts of which there is only about 100 watts left in reserve for rider use. That is good enough for running a Gerbing jacket but nothing else - and I usually unplug one of the headlights on my stock 2002 Vstrom if I'm using my Gerbing. Otherwise I use a Widder vest with chaps that is more like 60watts.

That means on those cold nights I had a choice - see the deer and freeze, or don't see as much and be warmer. I had equipped the bike with Phillips HID third generation lights which are absolutely awesome and only draw 70 watts for two. That helped out until I needed some real warmth for me, so the real drawback was the drain from the 55/60 H4's that are standard on the Vstrom and added nothing to my vision once the PHID's were ignited. That had to change...

My solution would be expensive but I felt it would work. The Vstrom has terrific headlight reflectors and H4 bulbs. This is the similar to the FJR and Dale Wilson, aka Warchild over on the FJR and Blackbird communities had pioneered an HID replacement for the OEM bulbs in these bikes. Information for this system and directions for modification can be found here:

http://www.fjrtech.com/getdbitem.cfm?item=49

Of course the PHID's had been absolutely destroyed in the crash so I started with repurchasing that nice little $600 item. Then I got into the self administered group buy from the FJRTech site, for the Low Beam HID replacements for the bikes original reflectors. This was the best $200 I've spent in a long time. I decided that the combination of the PHID's and the low beams would be excellent as opposed to the more comples Hi/Low beam HID bulbs (Rube Golberg comes to mind) option that is available on the FJR site. the FJR tech article above describes in great detail about that installation and the difficulty in wiring.

I had the ballasts for the PHID's in the rear of the motorcycle before, and that was where they were going again. The igniter for the PHID's is attached to the light itself (see the blue box on the back of the light in the close up below) so the ballasts can be placed anywhere on the bike. I had previously extended that harness and used it again to wire the PHID's and place the ballasts in the rear as shown here.

The Headlight HID's presented a totally different problem. The kit from McCulloch included a pre made wiring harness from ballast to igniter to bulb. The distances were very short on the order of 12 to 18 inches which meant I had to locate the ballasts and igniters in the front end of the motorcycle. While the Vstrom is very roomy under the side panesl there is NOTHING to attach too. I decided to make my own bracket that would follow the inside contour of the side panesl and allow structure for me. I made it from 2 inch wide predrilled 1/8 metal strips. I attached the rear of the bracket to the bolts that hold the gas tank forward mounts and used some insulated clamps to attach the front end of the brackets to the cowling frame. This turned out to be a pretty sweet farkle to the bike (one of my best innovations). You can see the two ballasts were attached to the right frame and each igniter was attached at the forward end of the bracket on their respective sides.

As Warchild said in his tech article their is a problem with the wiring of the Low Beam HID's when using the OEM high beam switch to light off the PHID's. That was the configuration I wanted, and to solve the issue (low beam power feeding back to the high beam circuit leaving the PHID's lit at all times) he suggests using a one way Diode in the circuit. My solution, since I had purchased high amp switches, and was going to use them to power the bike lights without a relay, was to use a rectifer instead of a Diode which could handle the higher loads easily. The circuit looks like this:

I used the left light socket and first ran the high beam line through the rectifier and a pigtail back to the relay for the PHID's so that when the high beam was energized it would activate the PHID's. On the exit side of the rectifier I conntected the high and low beam wires together and then ran it to the two separate switches in series so I could control the left and right beams separately. In addition the Vstrom powers up the lights when the key is turned on. Once the starter is deployed all energy is sucked down by the starter and if the HID's are not warmed up enough they will be doused by the starvation of electricity and will not start up without the switches being cycled - a serious problem. The separate switches allow me to turn the lights off when starting the bike and use all energy for the start-up process and after the electrical system has recovered I can energize the lights. It also lets me select both or either of the lights to employ and further save 35 watts from one light being out for use on heated gear. You can see the two switches in the picture above. Even better, they have a red light on each switch so I can tell if they are on or off. Please notice the Datel volt meter forward of the switches. This reads volts (in 10ths) on the system and is run on a direct circuit from the battery.

All the aux lights I have seen on Vstroms are located outside the silhouette of the motorcycle mounted either on a rail sticking out of the front, or are located on crash bars intended to protect the plastic of the bike. That means if the bike is dropped the first thing that will hit is the $600 PHID's! Now, I hate to admit it but I DROP MY MOTORCYCLE ON A REGULAR BASIS. I accept this as fact. Part of rallying and adventure riding is that you will be on uneven soft surfaces in difficult conditions (It is a rallymasters duty to do so). This bike, even lowered is still tall (still, as tall as received from the factory due to the Wilbers Shock and the fork rebuild) and that makes it a handful when rallying. That is a solution just not acceptable. On the prior design I mounted the lights on a special designed bracket that I designed to be held by the windscreen bolt which then layed flush on the front cowling of the bike and was then stuck there with automobile trim tape (Damn Tuff Stuff). Yes my lights were destroyed in the accident but the whole front end of the motorcycle was destroyed as it cartwheeled off the road - no design could have protected those lights in that incident. I will also say that when I found parts of the cowling the bracket I designed had been flattened BUT IT WAS STILL STUCK TO THE COWLING.

That was exactly what I decided to do again and you can see the result in these pictures. The only problem was that the new Windstrom windshiled covered that cowling. I needed to mount the lights (in the same manner) but directly to the Windstrom. To do this I made new brackets and mounted the lights up above the OEM Headlights. This solution keeps the lights inside the silhouette of the motorcycle when it is dropped on either side and better yet provides an awe inspiring amount of light because of the higher mounting. One thing is for sure, these lights cannot be used with oncoming traffic.

I have already had the opportunity to test theis system in about 9,000 miles of riding and rallying and it works like a charm. The Low Beam HIDs are awesome and the PHID's are really only needed as a high beam flash. To do that I usually rin with only the right low beam energized and the PHID's. lit. That way they are warmed up and I can douse them to oncoming traffic or for traffic I'm overtaking and the single Low Beam HID still provides plenty of light. With that configuration I have been able to run a Gerbing Jacket, Gloves (or heated grips) and I am only marginal when running the leg chaps. If I need those (high 20's and low 30's for extended periods) then I can run without the PHID's and use both low beams if I choose. There is a tremendous amount of light with those two low beams but because the PHID's are not warmed up Icannot use them to flash.

The reason for this is because when the PHID's are initially lit they draw a tremendous amount of energy (similar to the starter) for the first 15 to 30 seconds and it may douse the headlights if I am running all the other electrical gear. It is too close to take the chance of dousing my headlights.

This was one of the most sophisticated alterations to the rally bike that I made and is the reason why this post is so long and embellished.