Unofficial Royal Enfield Community Forum
Royal Enfield Motorcycles => Bullet Iron Barrel => Topic started by: Ofcalipka on November 03, 2007, 10:33:40 am
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I was thinking about adding extra driving lights onto Matilda. Has anyone done this before? Can the alternator keep up with the extra power draw what kind of lights have you used? I didn't see anything in the CMW store as far as these type of lights go. Does anyone know if Royal Enfield makes a auxiliary driving light specific for the Bullets? If so where do I get one?
I saw these two possible lights on ebay:
Item #: 230188159476 and 290177436299
I thought of either mounting them to the crash bars or fabricate a bracket for it to mount with the front turn signals.
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Those are nice looking lights. I don't think the stock charging system would keep up with a pair of 55watt lights though. Definately not for full-time useage. If you only wanted something to turn on for the occasional foggy area or known deer crossing they may do the job. My brother is doing that with his old gold wing.... it won't keep up with a pair of 55watt lights on the stock system. I think I would look for some less powerful lights, mabye 30watt or so. Or possibly only use 1 of the 55watt lights.
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I've seen pictures of lots of guys in India with extra lights, they usually mount them to the crash bars. Just call or email the guys at RE USA, they will be able to tell you for sure......Dew.
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I have also seen a lot of pictures of indian RE with aux. lights on youtube. It must be feasible.
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A lot of accessories on Indian bikes don't work.. they are there for show. But I have seen a few with working lights so it must be possible, but not on my '99 - no spare juice at all.
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I found this photo on Flickr.com.
http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1429/1327593039_e2e8d84d9b.jpg?v=0
It shows an RE with driving lights mounted. Looks kinda good. What do you all think of this arrangement?
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That is an interesting way of mounting them - looks good.
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That is an interesting way of mounting them - looks dreadful IMHO. :o
We have a chap with an Army Bullet over here that has his indicators mounted at that point. Much better!!!!
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Being unhappy about the Dim lights for night riding; I installed the halogen replacement for the standard headlaight. That was ok till I moved to the country and realized that I'd better get a better light if I didn't want to take a deer out of season....
I mounted this driving light under the headlamp and wired it thru the Bright circuit; disableing the bright cause it wouldn't aim correctly any way. This throws a good WHITE beam that is plenty of light. My Bullet is an es so I do have the stronger alternator. If you were to use a pair of them; with the headlamp on as well; I don't think the alt. would provide enough juice. It could prob. work if the extra lights were wired directly to the battery and NOT used all the time.
- Mike
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That is an ingenious idea Mike, I will look into that one with my new bike.
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That is a clever idea baird4444. Say I wonder if one could find some kind of LED light that would work. They don't use much juice and can be pretty darn bright.
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I would like to figure out a way to attach my LED security light to the bike's battery - it will illuminate a building at 500 yards.
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Well I went ahead and tried mounting a set of fog lights on Matilda. I think it turned out pretty well.
Check it out here:
http://www.enfieldmotorcycles.com/forum/index.php?action=gallery;sa=view;id=445
http://www.enfieldmotorcycles.com/forum/index.php?action=gallery;sa=view;id=444
These are the 55 watt halogen lights which I installed by wiring them directly to the battery with its own fuse and relay for operation. After firing it up and checking the charging system I found it to handle the load pretty well. The voltage only dropped .02 volts when I turned them on with the engine running slightly above idle.
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Well I went ahead and tried mounting a set of fog lights on Matilda. I think it turned out pretty well. These are the 55 watt halogen lights which I installed by wiring them directly to the battery with its own fuse and relay for operation. After firing it up and checking the charging system I found it to handle the load pretty well. The voltage only dropped .02 volts when I turned them on with the engine running slightly above idle.
They look GOOD... If you splash some O.D. on them they wouldn't even be noticed!
Do they illuminate the road like you wanted?? I considered a similar install but didn't want to mess with the xtra wiring to the crashbars and switch. I tend to take my bars off and on with changing moods making relocating the lights a chore.
Don't be fooled by your reading of the alternator.. that reading is what is going IN the battery. I may be wrong but I'm betting that the lights will be drawing more than the alt. is making at the time. I am sure that you will be alright and not completely drain the battery so long as you don't run the new lights continuously.
- Mike
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I thought about painting them OD but I like how the chrome matches the bullet turn signals. As far as the wiring I too pull the crash bars off for maintenance quite a bit so I put a quick disconnect plug right under the tank where the wiring harness goes in to deal with this. The extra light on the road is excellent and helps a lot for the night driving. Since I wired it directly to the battery it draws its power directly from the battery and as long as the charging system still charges the battery it should be good. Unlike the factory headlight which seems to draw its power directly from the charging system and not off the battery which is why it looks so dim at idle most of the time. The ampmeter is still showing quite strong and since I don't use them continuously I still think it will be alright.