CRF230F Visibility Lighting

[mattandleah]

Hi guys,

I frequently ride with a guy who has a KTM with a factory headlight and tail light.  I really like being able to see him via his tail light when he's in front of me and it's really dusty.  When I'm riding in front and want to check back on him, all it takes is a quick glance and I can see his headlight very easily as well.  I wanted to add something similar to my 230.  I think I found a low budget solution from digging around on eBay and looking at what others have done.  My total cost = $15.94.  Here are a few pics:

These LED marker lights were purchased on Ebay for $7:  http://www.ebay.com/itm/311874534548

They don't focus the light enough to be used as an actual headlight, but they are fairly bright and can be seen from a distance for improved visibility on the trails.  They install via a rubber grommet in a 3/4" hole.  I don't know the exact wattage, but they seem to be pretty low draw. I can't imagine they are over a few watts each.

Tail light was also about $7 shipped:  http://www.ebay.com/itm/162473751271  Again, LED, so low power consumption. I only hooked up the less bright running light, but there's another wire for a brake light if you wanted to add that or run it brighter.  It installs via 3 bolts through the fender and can be positioned to sit below the rear tip of the fender or it could stick out.  I tucked mine under a bit.

Switch was $1.77 shipped: http://www.ebay.com/itm/262925475672  Seems do work as designed and mounts nicely.

Pic under low light conditions.

Also wired in a USB charging port for my cell phone/GPS....this one was $6 when I ordered it (must have been on sale), and was black.  It has an on/off switch so you can turn it off to avoid power draw when not in use.  It seems to work ok.  https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00X4JFY7S

Just wanted to post in case it would be helpful to anyone.

Take care guys!

-Matt

Edited July 17, 2017 by mattandleah

[Chuck.]

I run head lights on two bikes specifically to provide earlier warning to oncoming traffic and help avoid head ons. Years ago I was able to spot an oncoming XR early and get mostly off the trails before his arrival. I didn't have a head light so he didn't have enough warning to move off the trail.  From that experience I decided I would start running a headlight.

[GregWB]

Hi guys,
I frequently ride with a guy who has a KTM with a factory headlight and tail light.  I really like being able to see him via his tail light when he's in front of me and it's really dusty.  When I'm riding in front and want to check back on him, all it takes is a quick glance and I can see his headlight very easily as well.  I wanted to add something similar to my 230.  I think I found a low budget solution from digging around on eBay and looking at what others have done.  My total cost = $15.94.  Here are a few pics:

These LED marker lights were purchased on Ebay for $7:  http://www.ebay.com/itm/311874534548
They don't focus the light enough to be used as an actual headlight, but they are fairly bright and can be seen from a distance for improved visibility on the trails.  They install via a rubber grommet in a 3/4" hole.  I don't know the exact wattage, but they seem to be pretty low draw. I can't imagine they are over a few watts each.

Tail light was also about $7 shipped:  http://www.ebay.com/itm/162473751271  Again, LED, so low power consumption. I only hooked up the less bright running light, but there's another wire for a brake light if you wanted to add that or run it brighter.  It installs via 3 bolts through the fender and can be positioned to sit below the rear tip of the fender or it could stick out.  I tucked mine under a bit.

Switch was $1.77 shipped: http://www.ebay.com/itm/262925475672  Seems do work as designed and mounts nicely.

Pic under low light conditions.

Also wired in a USB charging port for my cell phone/GPS....this one was $6 when I ordered it (must have been on sale), and was black.  It has an on/off switch so you can turn it off to avoid power draw when not in use.  It seems to work ok.  https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00X4JFY7S
Just wanted to post in case it would be helpful to anyone.
Take care guys!
-Matt

Is there a lighting/auxiliary power coil on the stator? I thought only had ignition coil on these models? Cheers

[Confederate]

It has ignition coils and charge coils for the battery.
Notice the empty towers. It's enough to charge battery alone pretty much. For more juice you get one with all the towers wrapped. Like this-

[firsthere]

Nice work with the lighting, the tail light might also help avoid a stop by Mr Ranger. I find looking "streetish" helps one look safe and innocent.

The three empty poles are easy to wind and put out over 35 watts, enough for grip heaters anyways.

[Oil Baron]

1 hour ago, firsthere said:

Nice work with the lighting, the tail light might also help avoid a stop by Mr Ranger. I find looking "streetish" helps one look safe and innocent.

The three empty poles are easy to wind and put out over 35 watts, enough for grip heaters anyways.

I would like to know more about winding more power onto the 230 stator.  My XR250L puts out 200 watts of three phase power with only kick start.

[Chuck.]

Three phase is good but requires coils in multiples of 3. The 230 has 6 lighting coils so 3 phase is possible. Also need a 3 phase reg/rect, and units from other Honda models can be adapted. Honda 3 phase alternators have 3 yellow colored output wires and the reg/rect have 5 or 6 pin receptacles.
The best are the low loss MOSFET reg/rect used on CR600RR and some other Honda models.

[chadzu]

8 hours ago, Baja Rambler said:

I would like to know more about winding more power onto the 230 stator.  My XR250L puts out 200 watts of three phase power with only kick start.

I rewound the stator in my 230 powered 200.  Honda used 300 total wraps on the 3 poles used. To keep the stock voltage characteristics you want to keep 300 total wraps. You now have six poles with 50 wraps. Alternate the winding direction on adjacent poles. You can use bigger wire since there are half as many wraps, I used 18ga.  Now is also a good time to pull both ends out, the trail tech reg/rec wants both ends wired directly to it.  I don't think the stock reg/rec is up to the task.  This will double your output, still only about 70W, but enough to some lights.  There are a few pics of how I did my rewind in my build thread in the 200 section.

[firsthere]

18g coated wire is what's on my 230 and 650r (6 poles). For simplicity the new windings are on a separate A/C circuit with a $20 regulator from Rocky Mountain. Just running grip heaters for now but the 650 has full street legal setup, blinkers, brake, light, plus heaters.

[Tigereyes]

It has ignition coils and charge coils for the battery.
Notice the empty towers. It's enough to charge battery alone pretty much. For more juice you get one with all the towers wrapped. Like this-

There is a neutral wire that comes off that wire harness that clips to a pole down by the peg. I can see that the pole has a spring in it but I can't figure out how to clip that wire back to the pole. I am sure that it is something simple. Can you tell me or show a picture how it clips in? Thanks.

[chadzu]

Thats the neutral safety switch.  Just compress the spring and there is a hole drilled in the copper shaft.  Insert wire end and the spring holds it in place.

[Tigereyes]

Thats the neutral safety switch.  Just compress the spring and there is a hole drilled in the copper shaft.  Insert wire end and the spring holds it in place.

Thanks, everyone is talking about rewiring posts and wire gage and increased watts and all I want is my netural wire reattached. [emoji1]

[Oil Baron]

Another issue I want to address on the 230 is where the stator wires come out of the case.  There's a bit of a clearance problem with a custom heavy duty case saver I would like to build to run a 15 tooth countershaft sprocket.

HD case saver on my xr250:

A15t fits on the 230 but there's not much clearance for the case saver I made out of .100" X 1" steel.

On the xr250 I ground off a couple high spots on the case but the wiring was not a problem like it is on the 230.

 

Edited July 20, 2017 by Baja Rambler

[Daniel627]

On 7/17/2017 at 4:30 PM, Chuck. said:

I run head lights on two bikes specifically to provide earlier warning to oncoming traffic and help avoid head ons. Years ago I was able to spot an oncoming XR early and get mostly off the trails before his arrival. I didn't have a head light so he didn't have enough warning to move off the trail.  From that experience I decided I would start running a headlight.

I hope I don't have that happen. I worry about riding somewhere that has 2 way traffic. So far the only place I've ridden is here near me, and all the trails there are 1 direction.

 I plan on wiring in the headlight from my '85 xr200r onto my '90 eventually. Not sure about a taillight. I hadn't really thought about it like mattandleah mentioned, using it to keep track of the person in front of you in the dust. Night riding is a given for lights, but haven't done any of that

[Chuck.]

51 minutes ago, Daniel627 said:

I hope I don't have that happen. I worry about riding somewhere that has 2 way traffic. So far the only place I've ridden is here near me, and all the trails there are 1 direction.

 I plan on wiring in the headlight from my '85 xr200r onto my '90 eventually. Not sure about a taillight. I hadn't really thought about it like mattandleah mentioned, using it to keep track of the person in front of you in the dust. Night riding is a given for lights, but haven't done any of that

It is all about sight lines,  early warning, and both riders taking evasive action; I did on my last two head on events but the other riders did not. The last one thanked me for getting off the trail.  But I still had a sore foot from his engine cases because he didn't.  I also got off the trail on the first one and was stopped by a tree, the other rider stopped abreast of me on the trail, and we exchanged pleasantries. From my experience there is a real lack of knowledge about the risks of head ons and the skills, or whatever, about taking evasive action.

USFS has a requirement for head light and tail light from dusk to dawn which is why most XRs from day 1 have them, and the alternators depending on year have either one or two output wires for the lights.  Early are 6 volt unregulated AC, later are 12 volt AC w/ a regulator. We use to convert the 6 volt to 12 volt by adding an AC regulator and switching the bulbs to 12 volt.   XRs, and most other dirt bikes, use a 35watt head light, not a lot of light for the street but plenty at the slower deeds in the woods.  I installed a Halogen hi/lo bulb in my X but I'm still running a incandescent 35watt in my XR. As for light output:

Incandescent bulbs produce 16-20 lumens per watt, so 35watts is about 630lumens
Halogen bulbs produce about 28 lumens/watt, so 35watts is about 980lumens
HID about 80 lumens/watt, so 35watts is about 2800lumens
LED 100 lumens/watt (some 130/w),  so 35watts is about 3500lumens
The latter two require DC, the HID a stable DC.

If you want bright go LED. Here is a video test in 2016 on various lights: FrickinJim.com.

And Auxbeam bulbs: https://www.auxbeam.com/headlight-bulbs?gclid=CLXHlIixj88CFQZufgodEX4LVg

 

[Oldie230]

I recon Honda would have part numbers for those higher amp stators you are making as the Australian model comes with a headlight standard. There would also be a stock headlight part number, at least in this country. Although an aftermarket one is probably less expensive.