DR650SE Index Topic # 9 ELECTRICAL/LIGHTING

OK, get out your voltmeters and your wire strippers... I'd like to hear about your successes having to do with things electrical. I recall ProCycle was researching ways to boost the DR's voltage output. I know several of you have converted to HID headlights, and LED signals.
Shock us (sorry) with your use of relays, starter rebuilds, and how you wired in connections for your heated gear and GPS...


-HEADLIGHT UPGRADES
--BULBS
--HID
-TURN SIGNALS
-BRAKE/TAIL
-AUXILIARY LIGHTING
-LED LIGHTING
-IMPROVING STATOR OUTPUT
-IGNITION
-BATTERY
-STARTER
-ACCESSORY OUTLETS/CONNECTIONS
-WIRING
-RELAYS

when i got this 97 dr650, it looked stock & neat but underneath it was a mess of added wiring done by a total amateur.
after pulling out all that crap, it still had excess components & potential failure points.
i eliminated the clutch switch, side stand switch & relay & eventually the tag lamp. rode like this for months.
got some work to do now, i'll post the next 2-3 phases later.

Howdy,

I wanted more light and so I asked on ADV if someone in Sydney ( Australia ) could make me a bracket and Inmate Maggot1300 offered to make me one.

I make a very poor template;



... and received, in the mail, a great bracket;



... that mounted perfectly ( VisionXs not aligned at this stage );



Because the VisionX consume only 780ma @ 12v each I decided to wire the units straight to the high beam line with a switch in circuit ( because here, IMHO, the law says that you have to be able to run the standard headlight without the extra lamps if you are using high beam - not sure about anywhere else so YMMV ). As the total current was 1560ma @ 12v I didn't see the need for a relay and I don't see any dimming of the existing headlight so for now it will do but soon I will run 12v from the battery up to the headlight and relay that.

The difference is outstanding with the gutter side lamp a Euro so that it fills to the left and the center line side the Spot which really adds distance to the light throw.

Tony

I posted this elsewhere - this is in the category of "While You are Procrastinating Your HID Decision".

The best plug & play replacement I have found is a Wagner1210/H4 or "BP1210/H4" "Auxiliary Off-road" Halogen bulb. Got it at one of the big auto parts stores. Not expensive, but a beautiful bulb. It borders on "annoying retina-burner" if your riding pal behind you at night hits your mirrors with it. :eek1

The color is quite WHITE. I replaced both my DR's with them several years ago and they just keep on lighting up the world.
Poking around a few sites, they are running about $12.

Note that this bulb apparently got packaged at least three different ways but the number designation '1210/H4' seems common. Also I note that some websites refer to this as a "miniature". I have no idea where that moniker came from - its a full size H4 virtually indistinguishable from the stocker...until you turn on.

I have not put a meter on the bike to see what the current draw is but I imagine this is not a good solution for colder clime where you need grip heaters and other ancillary electricals.

Hey! Did you steal my bike? Hmm, nope it's still there with all it's mess of totally amateur wiring.... Yet, somehow, it all keeps working.....

phase 2 of my electrical romance.
for me, one of the allures of riding a street-dirt bike is simplicity.
i dont like having a locked gas cap nor keeping up with a key.
lose it or snap it on the trail = no fun.
so i eliminated the key functions. the stock ignition switch is a hefty little booger, lost maybe 2 lbs. its well-documented on the web, add a couple jumpers, 100 ohm resistor & rocker switch. for security, just conceal it & leave the stock keyed ignition switch for appearance. i intend to add a 2nd switch for a little insurance the next time i find myself in another mess of wires.

i use a wiring harness which makes a HUGE difference getting all the power from the battery to the bulb. this should be one of your first lighting upgrades.
http://www.easternbeaver.com/Main/Products/H4_Kits/h4_kits.html

a higher watt bulb puts out more light
but ofter fail faster because of heat & vibration.
i like this rouhg service bulb w/ a harness on the dr
http://store.candlepower.com/rose12v60h4h.html
daniel stern recomended it!

jeff @ procycle has some nice inexpensive brackets for optional driving lights http://www.procycle.us/bikepages/dr650.html#electrical

deka (eastern penn, a us company) makes aweseome sealed agm batterys.
this place sells it for less
http://www.etx9.com/
bike doesn't drag when startign w/ this battery and agm technology is robust.
tpi does sell upgraded battery cables for a cure to slugish cranking, but they are pricey and this battery takes care of it anyway.

"You can safely draw an additional 50-60 watts. I highly recommend installing a good voltmeter to help prevent stranding yourself with a dead battery." -procycle

"I installed a headlight on/off switch so I can switch off the light when cruising fire roads or just starting, etc. I wired it so I can always switch the high beam on with my thumb if needed." -barko1

"A heat troller will reduce the draw. I try to shut everything off a few minutes or so before I get ready to shut the bike off. Install a voltmeter, or if your using a gps, some show voltage. My garmin 276 does. Heat is nice..." -Bgunn

"Depends how much the Gerbing gear you bought draws. I've heard the latest stuff draws fewer Watts than earlier gear. A good thing! A Heat Troller of some sort is essential.*
Far more efficient.
My older Gerbing jacket liner draws 77 Watts at 100%. I'm guessing your gloves draw maybe 25 to 40 watts? I put a headlight switch on my DR. Headlight off saves 55 watts.*
With headlight off, I can run all day with jacket at 100%, heated grips on HIGH (24 watts). Heat Troller really helps here. Even at 100% its more efficient than plugging directly in.*
Pro Cycle is correct ... you have roughly 60 watts before you go into discharge. Switching off headlight buys you a few more Watts. Short trips won't discharge batt. much and with Suzuki EXCELLENT charging system it will re-charge very quickly. (20 minutes of riding) Long trips drawing too much batt. will go dead in 3 to 4 hours. Will re-charge in about half hour riding if in good nick and accessories off.
HID headlight is up next for me. Brighter light, 20 Watts less draw. Win Win." -Adv Grifter

"My wife got me a new Gerbing jacket, gloves and dual heat controller for my birthday (March 2010). They're the new "micro wire" design.
I did a 3,300 mile trip on my '08 DR650SE in September this year from Anchorage Alaska (where I live) to Prudhoe Bay, then to Tok, Haines, Prince Rupert BC and Calgary Canada.
It rained and was cold most days, high 30's to upper 40's F. I ran my Gerbing jacket and gloves 90% of the time. Also had Dual Star heated grips on the DR. I found that running everything with the grips on was too much draw. You could tell that the heat output was down on everything.
The best heat / draw combo was to run the jacket at around 60% and the gloves at 100% with the grips off. Ran like this day after day with no problems. A few times I didn't need the big gloves so I ran regular riding gloves with the jacket on and the heated grips on low. This also worked fine.
I would suggest getting the dual heat controller so you can control your jacket and gloves separately.
http://gerbing.com/Products/tempControls.html..." -AKiffroader

"How long depends on too many factors to even estimate. The solution would be adding a heat troller to minimize power consumption and monitoring battery voltage with an accurate voltmeter. Don't shut the bile off unless the battery is reading at least 12.6 volts.

If you ride where a headlight is not required to be on in the daytime you can wire a switch to shut it off. That doesn't help at night. You could convert your headlight to HID which will free up another 20 watts or so. Swapping out the taillight bulb for an LED unit will give back another 5 watts." -procycle

I chose a Koso volt meter easy to install, lightweight, reads easy. I fabricated a bracket with sheet aluminum and pop rivets, wired it to 2 switches one is momentary the other on/off

the latest upgrade on the 97:
cant see at night, took someones advice to soak the headlamp shell in dishsoap & water overnight. the lens & reflector had oxidation? build-up & reduces candlepower. then direct-wired the headlight with relays & 16g wire. decent difference for minimal bucks. i made my own, but i'd guess similar to the plug & play mentioned. this is the current electrical state of my tractor.

My electrical doo dads include a SAE "Battery Tender" cord and a cord for my jacket liner connected directly to the battery. Symtec motorcycle grips from California Sport Touring, presently priced at $36.98 wired to the handy power under the head light plastic.

If I remember correctly the brown wire is positive and the black wire with the white stripe is negative. My hand held GPS uses the same power. The grips heat up nice and hot on high so, the low setting is used most of the time. I have not needed high yet but, I am in the South. So, my heated grips and GPS are on switched power and when I stop the heated jacket liner gets unpluged when I get off the bike and pull the plug... some times in an automatic method.

I added a head light kill switch and use it when I run my jacket liner on high which pulls 76 watts on high so, I didn't want to try it with the head light burning. I use the jacket on a max of medium at night. Its so hot on high I don't even need it unless its 10 degrees or so. I run it on low down to the high 30's, but I do wear a thermal shirt under the jacket when I'm out all day or a regular long sleeve T-shirt on short rides. The thing heats up my arms too much if I wear a short sleeve under it. I wear a Killi 4.0 over the whole get up and I don't quite look like the Michelin man.

I'd like to share a bizarre problem I had with my 2003 DR650SE.

When I turned the bars all the way to the left the engine would die. It would crank over but not start, lights and everything else worked too.

After confirming that it wasn't the choke or throttle cables, I began checking all the electrical connectors. All the connectors seemed fine so I started messing with the harness and found that when I wiggled the harness the engine would die regardless of what position the bars were in. I checked all the connectors over and over to no avail, so I unwrapped the harness from the speedo to the air box. I found NO damaged wires at all, none. I would start the bike and if I wiggled the wires it would die, very frustrating to say the least. I then separated all the non-essential wires, i.e. lights, horn, etc from the critical wires. I was at my wits end and about to set the bike on fire when it dawned on me that I should check the wires for continuity. So I used the sharp probe tips of my ammeter to check the resistance in the wires and found one wire that would lose continuity if shaken. It was orange w/black stripe, critical for the ignition. The wire had no visible damage at all. I soldered in a replacement and haven't had a problem since.

Cliff notes:
Had intermittent electrical problem causing bike to die.
Toned out wires inside harness and found a bad wire. Orange w/blk
Soldered in replacement.

Advice:
Check the tension of the harness when bars are at full left.
If it's too tight, free it up a little.

man that would drive me CRAZY. congrats on tracking it down!

Thanks. It did drive me crazy, for three days.

I just couldn't imagine a wire going bad on the inside, specially a stranded wire.

amen. i've fixed mine to have zero tug on the harness at full turn

I dont know how to do a link, if some one can find the thread about do'n the DR650 stator rewire it mite be a good trick to know and keep.

I cant recall the posters name but he found a way to rewire his stator and get quite a bit more juice from it, seemed to be some very helpfull info.

I believe you're talking about procycle's stator modification.

http://www.procycle.us/info/articles/dr650/wye-to-delta-stator.html




LED TURNSIGNAL CONVERSION PROBLEM QUICK FIX:

"Pull the turn signal indicator bulb on the dash and the everything will be ok assuming you installed the correct relay.

To fix the problem and have an indicator light, go here:

http://www.denniskirk.com/jsp/produc...fCatId=&mmyId="
-HiJincs

That is well done my friend.

For a time, the Buell headlight conversion was a popular mod. Used to be a reasonably priced swap, IIRC, but the demise of Buell may have changed things, if you can even find the parts. Here's an old ThumperTalk thread on the subject:
http://www.thumpertalk.com/forum/showthread.php?t=300858

Can we get a merge on all these threads?