Power

 Is there a place on a bike that only has power AFTER the engine starts?
I want to change my lights to operate only after the engine starts. I'm
tired of having all the lights on when trying to start it. I think it's
too much drain on the battery. Maybe I can tie the light circuit to the
generator output or on the regulator somewhere.

 Broderick Crawford wrote:

Probably not.


The typical lighting load on a motorcycle is only about 100 watts.

When you crank the engine with the electric starter, that takes about 500
watts, but the voltage drops down about 20%, so the lights are only drawing
80 watts when you're cranking.

That really should cause no problems for a battery that is in good condition.

If you really, really want to turn the headlights off when you're starting
the engine, the simplest way would be to get a heavy duty light switch from
an automotive supply store like Pep Boys and cut the ground wire from the
headlight. Splice two wires from the heavy duty switch into the ground wire.

If you don't want to have to remember to turn a switch on and off, you can
install a headlight relay that automatically shuts the light of when you push
the starter button.

Some Yamahas and Hondas had those relays, but I don't think you would want to
pay the price for Japanese electrical parts.

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 Albrecht via MotorcycleKB.com wrote:

I guess I can buy a time delay relay for $29.00 and connect it to the
light circuit. A 15 to 30 second delay for the headlights coming on
after turning on the key switch shouldn't hurt anything.

 Broderick Crawford wrote:


The problem with most electric parts intended for stationary use is that they
won't take the vibration you get from a motorcycle. Even if you mount the
relay in rubber, it will still get jolted by going over bumps and will fail
in a short time.

That's why the switch in the ground wire is the simplest solution. I've done
it to three of my four motorcycles.

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 wrote:


Any relay you added would probably be designed for
automotive use anyway. My bet is the bosch relays
already on my bike probably have 100k mile on them,
a fair amount of it fire roads and trails.

I'm surprised the bike doesn't already have a relay
on the starter circuit. A very reasonable fix would be
a normally closed relay that opens and breaks the
lighting circuit when the starter solenoid is activated.

This assumes some electrical cluefullness of course,
so you can find the right point to hook in the relay.