Back in Black

[Geek]

So I was almost done putting the bike back together. I was putting the left safari tank on and couldn't get the top (main) bolt to start. I pulled the bolt out to have a look and promptly lost it into the bowels of the bike.



45 minutes alter after removing both fuel tanks, the glovebox, and the radiator I found it wedged between the front cylinder & the oil tank.

You ever have one of those days?

The good news is the 4 inches of snow and ice we got this morning (and is still coming down at our campsite) is supposed to stop falling by 10am tomorrow.. which is good because we are leaving at noon on our ride.

If I can't get traction on the ice on the pavement I'll ride in the ditch along side

I've done it before. The last time was when I bought this bike!

Feb 7th last year I was riding the 950 home from Atlanta when I got trapped in an ice storm in Amarillo Texas. After two days couped up in a hotel room I headed north. When the road got icy I rode in the ditch.

It was -4 degrees F (-20 celcius).



The thing that makes me laugh about that photo is the masking tape on the glove box. The bike was immaculate.. didn't have a scratch on it and I was worried my electric vest cord was going to scuff the glove box door so I protected it. I like the bike sooo much more now; it has character and I don't give a poop about scratches

[jay71]

Originally Posted by Geek

Woot! Brown truck dropped by my office.
Now I can get the bike finished late tonight or tomorrow morning

Ed,

I've been thinking about doing this mod myself. It's unclear as to whether or not the light comes with the bulbs- or you have to order them separately. It's tough to get the guys at KTM Twins to answer the phone. Did you have to order the bulbs in addition to the light and the switch? I think the picture above shows 2 bulbs boxed separately. Thanks- and be careful this weekend.

[Geek]

Bulbs are installed in the light from the factory (i.e. included). Even if they weren't though, you can grab H3 and H7 bulbs cheap at any autoparts store btw..

In the photo is the light unit, the euro switch, a uni filter, a stock filter and 2 HF oil filters.

[Nature]

Geek, can we just order the lights and install them ourselves into the light housing with the aid of ballast for generating its potential light energy? Or, must we purchase the entire housing, which you have done, for the kit to work properly. Also, does your kit use ballast's for the lighting of these bulbs?

[Geek]

That's a good question I don't know the answer to.

As you know, with the Euro light the H3 and H7 bulbs are NOT HID. They are regular bulbs so they do not require any type of ballasts. An HID light uses a ballast as it's "ignition" (sometimes 10,000+ volts) to trigger the inert gasses in the bulb into glowing (there is no filament like a traditional bulb).

You can plug and play the euro light in place of the US light (I did so this evening) - takes 2 minutes. Took longer to screw the housing into it's mount than it did to plug the light in.

That said... one of the reasons I picked up the euro light is that I'm planning on replacing the stock H7 halogen with an HID in the near future. You can't do this with the US light because the low beam is the highbeam as well (most cars with HID actually take the HID and pivot it on a servo to change from high to low beam to avoid ignition lag)

I use an HID low beam in my Husky and it is awesome. Draws less power and puts out tons of light.

Like with my Husky, I don't think I'll put an HID in the high beam. I think I'll put in a higher watt halogen. When riding in the canyons around here it is nice to be able to instantly flick the high beam off and on without waiting for the HID to "fire" (they take a few seconds to ignite).

Also: I personally like having lights of different "color" on high beam and low beam. I find that two lights of different spectrum helps me offroad (at speed at night) be able to see shadows and differentiate whoops/holes/rocks/etc better. I find when running two HIDs (or say two lights at 6000K or higher) that there is "too much" blue light and I can't see the shadows and features I need to see.

My Husky's light riding the four mile of Buena Vista at night (er.. the night I hit a deer and didn't fall down actually )






Hope this helps

[Nature]

You said well indeed Geek... I understand. Thank you for replying to my question. I will continue to follow your work closely with the other inmates while eating popcorn. :)

This next question is off topic so here goes:

-Have you ever ran over a rattle snake while riding in the bush? If so.. were you nervous about it poking a hole in one of your tires in its defensive strike? Just had to ask you... In Oregon out East there are plenty on snakes during the warmer months. I see them occasionally basking on warm forest roads during the evening hours to name just one avenue they congregate. I have alway's questioned this subject with bikers and your the first one that I pose this question?
Besides the rogue deer () were you ever conscious of this act?

Thank you Geek

[mookymoo]

Originally Posted by Geek

Like with my Husky, I don't think I'll put an HID in the high beam. I think I'll put in a higher watt halogen. When riding in the canyons around here it is nice to be able to instantly flick the high beam off and on without waiting for the HID to "fire" (they take a few seconds to ignite).

I think that delay depends on the HID.
The HID X2 I have on the 525 does take some time to fire up, every time its flipped to high beam.
On my 950, the Hella HID takes some time to warm up when its first turned on - but thereafter, its almost instantaneous. (the delay is 2-400 millis).
Im pretty sure the HID50 bulbs/ballasts behave like this (after theyre warm, they turn on instantly)

[FINNDIAN]

I have a H4-3 HID so the high and low are combined in one bulb in the stock housing. slow to start but instant switch to high and low. I also have a 50W halogen high beam im the top portion but it seems dim compared to the hid but probably helps with contrast and shadows as geek suggests.

[StmbtDave]

The stock US headlight housing uses an incandescent H4 bulb which is a dual filament bulb. I replaced my H4 incandescent bulb with an H4 HID unit. As Geek pointed out, an HID has no filament but operates much like a florescent bulb. The bulb contains a gas that glows when excited by a high voltage and like a florescent, it takes a second or three for the gas to get hot enough to start glowing. The H4 HID handles low/high beam function by moving a small shutter which covers a portion of the bulb or exposes the entire bulb to the headlight housing reflector. The switch from low to high is immediate. I have these H4 HIDs installed in 3 dirt bikes and have had no problems.

Dave

[Nature]

Thanks Dave, Finndian, Mookymoo & Geek for this answer. Fantastic reading(s); this allows me to fine tune this future application when the time comes for such a mount. Two more months when this will be achieved. All I can do now is wait for the new models to arrive on U.S. soil to begin its application. Cheers!
:)

[AdvRat]

Unless I missed something in one of the previous posts to this thread one of the biggest differences between the standard H4 headlight unit to the euro one that uses the H3/H7 bulbs is that the euro unit has a higher quality reflector. It's just a much nicer unit.

[xdbx]

Originally Posted by Geek

I think poping the blades out with a dental pick took me a total of 5 seconds.



Do you have a recent photo of your bike Daniel?
You went with the Safari's too eh?

Here are some:

Last week:


Last Year:








FYI: This is roughly 4 US gallons in mine.



I've had mine for just over a season now.

I can currently fit 14.7 US Gallons in mine to the edge of the filler caps and ride pavement only without leaking anything out the front vents. I've looped mine up similar to Kamanya's suggestions (thanks mate! ). When my fuel reserve sensor reaches air and begins to flicker the light, I drained out 2.1 US gallons of useable fuel. Another ~0.3 of unreachable fuel. I've plumbed my pump to the 2 front petcocks and left the rear plugged with an aftermarket plate and viton seal from CJRacer... guy has a solution for everything!

They're crash rated IMO. Haven't bothered to put bars on, and I've crashed mine HARD. I enjoy the freedom I get from them. Curious to read how you like yours.

[kamanya]

When/if I get the 990R I am putting these big tanks on it too.

What I am going to do is put a filter between the right tank and the left one. That way as I normally only put fuel into the right tank and then let it equalize I should save the pump filters some work.

[Geek]

It took 5 weeks but some cool stuff showed up today...

[bikyto]

where did you get that?