I just found out that since I have added the sidecar I needed to loose my fog light/ harley triple head lights . The 2 out side headlights cause such a draw with all the lights from the sidecar that my bike has to be revving at 4000 to charge the battery. If I turn off the 2 outside headlights it charges at 1000 RPM. I had to have the outside headlights rigged to come on with the high beams only so that I don't kill the battery over time. I noticed that my new battery kept getting weaker and weaker over time until I recently had to boost it. It's only a couple months old!. I took it to the shop today and low and behold we found out the draw was too great for the bike with the current setup.
3 head lights on the front of the bike
2 larger signals on the front of the bike
1 High intensity headlight on the sidecar
2 tail signals and stop on the bike rear
1 tail light/stop on the sidecar and one marker light
1 power port inside the side car( not in use )
11 bulb lights and one power port ( no LED's )
for me all this adds up to a dead battery over time! 🙁
?????? I'm running the same number of lights your are and I'm not having a problem. Is your alternator up to snuff?
Coyote
The stator is working fine but we are looking into the alternator connection after hearing from Ted. It looks like I am going to have the honda repair kit for the connection done. That may help. I think the wattage is a problem. Too many high wattage lights. My rear aftermarket tail lights are wired with hard ( telephone ) style wires. I bought the bike with that already in place. That might be causing part of the draw as well. We are still fishing out the problem.
rmoriss2 - 6/16/2010 9:58 AM
The stator is working fine but we are looking into the alternator connection after hearing from Ted. It looks like I am going to have the honda repair kit for the connection done. That may help. I think the wattage is a problem. Too many high wattage lights. My rear aftermarket tail lights are wired with hard ( telephone ) style wires. I bought the bike with that already in place. That might be causing part of the draw as well. We are still fishing out the problem.
I wonder what sort of motorcycle you have? If it is a 4 cylinder Honda Goldwing, they were noted for a weak alternator. Even the 1500 suffered from relatively low output. My Harley doesn't have enough out put to add many lights.
Please tell us the model of your Honda.......
I have a 1997 1100 Honda Shadow Ace. The good thing about your Harley is that you can buy a bigger one and have it installed. I think it would be more challenging for me as I would probably have to go to an after market part ...If there is one
rmoriss2 - 6/17/2010 7:24 PM
I have a 1997 1100 Honda Shadow Ace. The good thing about your Harley is that you can buy a bigger one and have it installed. I think it would be more challenging for me as I would probably have to go to an after market part ...If there is one
I've got the 45 amp three phase alternator. I think the later HD"s have 50 amps. Even that isn't enough if you add a bunch of lights.
Now if I had a late model Goldwing, they have a really big alternator. I used to have a 1994 Goldwing that had 45 amps originally, I changed that to a 90 amp Compufire alternator that was built from a new car alternator. That was some power!
Perhaps you could convert to LED lighting in some of your lights. They draw much less current.
WE have shut down the fog lights and will give them and independent switch. When everything is on there is 10 amp draw and the normal output from the stator on my bike is 9 amps. That left me with a one amp draw all the time bringing down the battery. Everything and the highbeam supposedly draws almost 20 amps!. If ll this sounds a little off it could be because that's the double talk I am being told by myshop. I can only go with that for now because I don't know any better.
rmoriss2 - 6/18/2010 4:31 AM
We have shut down the fog lights and will give them and independent switch. When everything is on there is 10 amp draw and the normal output from the stator on my bike is 9 amps. That left me with a one amp draw all the time bringing down the battery. Everything and the highbeam supposedly draws almost 20 amps!. If ll this sounds a little off it could be because that's the double talk I am being told by myshop. I can only go with that for now because I don't know any better.
Well, you can calculate that yourself by simply adding the listed wattages on each light unit. For example, I'm only guessing, but the headlight bulb might be 90 watts on high and the tail light bulb might be 30 watts. 90 plus 30 = 120. Divide that by your charging voltage when under way, say 13.5 VDC, and you get 8.8 amps for the headlight and taillght bulbs alone.
The amperage for the ignition is usually negligible. I once road home 500 miles on a Harley Shovelhead with a bad alternator and no charge.
One thing you could do if the lights are only used intermittently would be to carry another 12 Volt battery. The extra lights could be triggered from the bike's electrical system with a relay which also has negligible current requirements. It would be a pain charging a separate battery but if you are pulling 20+ amps with all of the lights, you are shoveling electrons against the tide, to modify a metaphor.
So, as you can see, anything more than the headlight and taillight bulb is going to tax your system. Sounds like you need a new Goldwing! LOL.
If I could afford it it would already be done!
Ditch the telephone wire for stranded automotive wiring first, second, replace your regular headlight and high beam lights with HIDs they will only draw 35W each during running and put out the equivalant of a 55W or more, depending on your K rating you choose , only for a second or two do they draw a full 55W to enable the triggering of the ballast. Obviously, as you are doing, check out your charging system for any issues but to reduce the draw, that is the most efficient way to do it.
