Hi guys,
Bike is used mainly for commuting to work and back. Which each way is about 18 miles= about 30-40 minutes in time depending on traffic. So it should get a good charge after starting.
I was running the 100W blue bulbs that have been mentioned on here. Have been running them for a good 3-4 weeks with no problems. But with the heated grips and the fogs it seems ther is too much beiubg drwan out of the system and not enough being put back in.
I have down graded the headlight back to the stock 55W bulb. And i just wondered what bulbs are in the PIAA lamps to see if they draw less than the one in the Hella fogs( will have to have a look to see what size they are as i didnt notice when i put then in.)
If it comes to it i would rather trade cold hands against not being seen, but it would be nice to have my cake and eat it......
Mark

No point having the cake if you can't eat it, I reckon that the lights will be 55watts each :sunny:

Hi Rick,
have just been in the garage to have a look, and yes they are 55W each in the Hella fogs, If people have been running PIAA lamps for ages with no probs, do they have a lower rated bulb in them?
Need help as i have got my bike to where i want it (apart from single can) but it is no good if i kill something by loading the electric system up too much. I hear what you say about topping the battery up at night. But that means that the generator would have been working all the time i was riding the bike and STILL was not able to keep up with the current being used. Surely that is not an ideal situation is it?
Mark

These figures are not going to be totally accurate but might help you work out what you want to do.

From elsewhere on the forum we're looking at 200-215W roughly for the standard bike without the cooling fan running (260-275W ish with it running but we'll ignore that as you won't need th cooling fan much in winter!)

Uprating the main bulb to 100W will require 45W extra.
Heated grips, 3A roughly so that s 14V * 3A = 42W
2 fog lights is 2 * 55W whic his 110 W
Total extra is 197W
On top of the standard you are asking for 400-420W roughly with the alternator providing about 300W. Assuming the lower end of that (100W over what is given) you'll drain the battery completly in about 60 minutes in ideal conditions.

The 100W bulb and grips should just about be ok. Incidentaly thats what I run so far without incident but I've not needed to run the grips at full whack at the same time as having the 100W bulb yet (only gone up to 70% so far). so one option is not use the extra lights or limiting their use.

If you ran the extra lights with the standard 55W bulb and no heated grips my guess is you're still going to be 40-60W over the total output, meaning you can run it for 2 hours or so like that in ideal conditions. If you're running the lights occasionaly that should be sufficient.

I've been running a blue uprated (55W) bulb for a while and combined with a high vis and bright helmet have found the Ten's presense to be excellent. The change in colour of the bulb makes a huge difference to standing out (it was quite notacable when I changed it). I'd be tempted to have a 100W blue dip bulb with a 55W main bulb. That way you can run grips and the standard 100W bulb or you run the 55W full beam with the fogs for extra light output (but not the grips) for a while.


We still need to get some more accurate figures to confirm the Tenere's power usage in standard form, ie total current draw but it seems there is only about 70W to spare.

Thank you for the detailed reply. Roughly are you saying that there is 70W spare over and above what is generated against what is used to run the bike? I have already down graded the dip bulb from 100W down to the standard 55W ( will try to get a blue one at the same rating).
So if i got 2 35W bulbs and put them in the fogs i should be ok as long as i dont run them all the time? I could alternate between dark parts of the route then turn them off again once i got into town and it is more brightely lit.
I just wondered what people have been running electrically, for how long and in what combination.
Just seems such a ball ache after running a BMW 1150GS i had a couple og years ago with what seemed like everthing fitted and running at the same time.
Mark

Mark, For visability purposes, have you considered the BikVis LED bullet light product, at around a Tenner (there is a link somewhere on the site) they use next to no power, are very bright and can be mounted easily - you could even ditch the side lights, and run extension cables to the bullet lights from there ??? You would save a bit of power from the sidelights, and gain some extra 'presence' from the LEDs (depending on where you placed them). It would save you keeping the fogs on.

Another way to improve your presence is to vary your road possition, moving to the left when car approach, to the left wat before junctions and out to the centre whilst passing junctions, normal possition should be close to the centre with no oncoming traffic. The human eye is very good at seing things moving in a lateral plane and crap at seeing things staying on a fixed line.

Using all of the road (both sides!) lets you see much more of what is hapening ahead and the movement of the bike draws attention. Another tip, when you come up behind someone you intend to pass, a sweep into the inside then smoothly to the centre in anticipation will put the bike in all 3 mirrors, increasing your chances of being seen.

Riding in this style does get you noticed, and traffic does take note. It's all in the IAM and Roadcraft books.

:041::041:


Riding style works for me - and I'm a courier!
I just use my aux driving lights for night time high beam use so they're not on all the time. LED's are definately the way to go for extra visibility.

[quote=RickM;109478]:041::041:


- and I'm a courier!
quote]


err.......late start today!

The bottom lights on the side on my signature are Bikviz leds just tapped a wire into my sidelite

WE GET A DISCOUNT, they don't look much but they a are effective


http://www.bikevis.com/discount-xt660.html

I was thinking of replacing the H3 bulbs with H3 leds

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/Xtec-H3-12v-Hi...926d62ff886976

:3chat: