EC300 trail lighting and other electrical fun.

[Neil E.]

That's right. That's a reasonable draw for how much light output you get.

[VxZeroKnots]

It gives enough light to race enduro at night imo

Gotta love led technology

[VxZeroKnots]

Ran the bike 2 hours tonight with the light on and put about an hour of night riding in. If the battery drained, it wasn't enough to keep the starter from working.

Light output is good, ADVmonster advertises a 30* beam spread but ideally something like 50* or 60* would be available. As far as through and color goes for tightish woods riding it is more than adequate. A helmet light would be ideal for the tight turns but overall I'm super pleased.

For less than $200 all in with the ADVmonster light, Cyclops Reg/Rec and a piece of scrap alloy and some waterproof quick disconnects you can have a very worthy setup.

This is all on a stock 2k3 stator with minimal DIY wiring. When I get a second BD Squadron for my rally bike I'll wire it with the same connector and swap it onto the GG for a side by side. Initial impressions are that the BD is is higher quality/technology, and the ADVMonster is more cost effective. They put out about the same amount of usable light for similar draw.



Sorry about the crappy picture but I was just using my phone. It was about 8:45 at night in this shot so not pitch black but without light you couldn't see the trail at all.

[Dirk D]

Hate to bring up an old thread, but it has some very useful information.

Neil, you seem to be the man on the subject, do you have an rectifier and capacitor you would recommend instead of buying the cyclops setup?

[Neil E.]

I'm no expert on this stuff, I have the ADV monster lights and like how they work. I have two of the Model 30 flood lamps (3 LEDs/lamp, no longer available). I suggest the Model 44 flood lamps (4 LEDs/lamp) or for more output, the Model 60 (4 LEDs/lamp).

http://stores.advmonster.com/led-lights/

For trail riding, a flood pattern is best, but there is a huge variation in beam angles from different manufacturers. The ADV flood is 30* and works well for me. This is for riding single track (2nd and 3rd gear) and forest roads (6th gear). I rarely exceed 45 mph so I don't need a long range pattern. You should see the beam pattern in person to be sure it will suit your needs; don't trust that a manufacturer's definition of flood (or spot) matches what you expect.

Light bars are another good way to go, but the beam pattern is more critical because you don't have the positioning adjustment of individual LED lamps. A light bar needs to be mounted high to avoid fender shadow. Fender shadow means you lose close-in trail details.

Higher draw usually means brighter lights. I use a Skene Design dimmer (DC only) and have my lights at about 40% output during the day which reduces the power needed. At full brightness the battery will run down after an hour or so.

As to wiring I suggest using a Lithium ion type battery (slightly-smaller-than-stock Ballistic 8 cell or the even smaller Shorai). You still have lights if you stall the engine. Use a fullwave rectifier connected to the stator white wire and chassis ground for the input. The output must be floating (non grounded). I don't see any value in using a capacitor for electrical storage.

Some LED units may be able to run on AC current; you would need to confirm this with the manufacturer. In that case you could power them directly from your stator yellow and ground. Engine running = lights on.

[Neil E.]

http://www.trailtech.net/electrical/reg-rec/7004-rr150 or any generic (single phase) full wave rectifier will work. These normally require a battery to make them function correctly.

[Dirk D]

I was just thinking of doing as post #6, run the headlight just straight off the rectifier.

[Neil E.]

http://www.gasgasrider.org/forum/sho...t=21793&page=3

Read this page and you will see that going direct may not work. Forum member F5 mentions using a capacitor, maybe someone knows what size is required?