Stator Rewind

[Moredesert]

I just rewound my stator and turned out fine but, I didn't get the full 200+ watts I expected. I followed the direction I found on a web site for XR650 stator rewinding and was very good. They called for 18 gauge wire and I managed to get about 55 winds per coil. When I went to splice the existing lighting coils and I found they were 20 gauge wire. So I removed all the stock wireing and counted 75 turns each. By the time I was done winding all the posts with 18 gauge wire I had 550 turns instead of the stock 300 turns. This works out to be almost 2 times the stock out put at about ~150w +/-. If I were to do it again I would go with 20 gauge wire @ 75 turns each and have two out puts like Baja Designs. The lighting coil is working fine with a 85 watt Piaa and is bright at idle but it didn't work out like I'd hoped. I have to admit it only cost me $10 and took about an hour so I'm not complaining. I would like to run the Tecate set up that BD sells when I can come up with an extra $450.

[needsprayer]

Moredesert,

Congrats on a successful job. Were you looking to install 150Ws of dual headlights within a crash frame?

I did the mod according to the web site. I am running a 100W H3 bulb (BD sells a replacement glass headlight assembly for $35). Very, very bright at idle. Great for night rides.

[qadsan]

...If I were to do it again I would go with 20 gauge wire @ 75 turns each and have two out puts like Baja Designs...

It looks as if you're onto a brighter future , but if you do it again, you may want to consider using 16 gauge wire instead and splitting the output as you suggested if you want more power from a single output. 20 guage wire will have a higher coil resistance, which is something you don't want if you're looking for more lighting power. Another interesting option to consider is winding two seperate circuits as you suggested, but then join the halves in parallel for an even lower resistance ?. The danger in doing this is that it would almost certainly smoke the stock regulator if you did this with 16 gauge wire and possibly even with 18 gauge wire. The regulator has to dissapate the energy that the lights don't, so be careful not to over tax the regulator or find one that can handle the job. Then again, winding for two seperate outputs with two seperate regulators might just be the best option.

Have you seen the Tecate HID setup from BD? It looks pretty kool, but for the price I'll stick with my rewound stator and H3 bulb since I only ride off road and don't ride too often anymore.

http://www.bajadesigns.com/Merchant2/merchant.mv?Screen=CTGY&Store_Code=BD-Bike-Store&Category_Code=HID

If you rewind again, let us know how it works out and what you did. I'm thinking about doing this again myself. I'm going to rewind my kids XR80, XR100 and XR200 to add lights to their bikes sometime later this year, so once I get that project started I might just re-do my XR650R again, but probably with 2 seperate outputs of 18 gauge and two seperate regulators, one AC regulator for the headlight and one DC regulator/rectifier for the LED tail light/brake and GPS.

[Moredesert]

I've seen and rode with the Tecate lights on the Black's race bike before the Baja 1000. The race bike had the 2 HID set up from BD's which worked great until you droped the bike and pulled the wires out. That really sucked during the race. When I got the bike one light was out and by the second leg of my race I had the light fixed and then I fell in the sand and pulled the other wire out. The Tecate set up worked well which we used as a back up light and to prerun with.

I installed the glass lens with a 85w PIAA from BD and works great up and down my street. I can't wait to try it on the trail.

As far as the stator goes maybe just go with the 18 gauge but add more turns than 55. I'm not sure how much room I would have if the coils had one more layer of wire.

[Moredesert]

Cool Thanks for the stars ?