So we've all heard/seen the 650 xchallenge...let's see your XCOUNTRY!

[mikecbrxx]

Another way is to fit one of these in place of the left multi switch. Slows for the front headlight to be turned off..... Or not turned on till after engine start. It's off a KTM.



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[leafman60]

Originally Posted by mbfj40

Regarding the HID delay wiring and such:
The vacuum operated switch may not be the best choice for the lighting system. Although it would provide a delay as desired, it could/would also be possible for you to lose your headlight in a "low" vacuum condition like low gear wide open throttle or a stalled engine condition. You wouldn't want even a slight possibility of that happening during rush hour in a dark intersection. And for the electronic time delay versions, keep the delay down to just a few seconds, If your light goes out for whatever reason you don't want to be going 60 mph on some dark windy back road and have to wait for 4, 6, or 10 seconds for your light to come back on.
My first try was a 4 second on-delay relay. But that left me open for 4 seconds of darkness if I had a "flame out" for any reason. My latest solution was to use a standard relay that I wired with an electric "latching" circuit. I'll look around for my wiring notes and post-em for you-all. Basically, you have two "on" switches that must be on for the bike to run, the key needs to be "on" and the kill switch needs to be "on". My HID relay is triggered via the kill switch circuit and powered by the key, using the Key's wires that don't "power off" during engine cranking. The "key" power is just for relay triggering, not HID powering, that's wired directly from the battery. I start with the kill switch in the "kill" position and turn on the key. The display then will do it's diagnostic sweep. Then, when I toggle the kill switch to "run", the relay is energized and the light will fire. And at the same time, I have the relay wired to "latch" it's self in the "on" position as long as the key is not turned off. It stays "latched-on" even if the kill switch is pressed or if the engine dies. and then press the starter to start the engine. The light will not go out unless the key is turned off. If you forget (ooopsy) to have the kill switch pressed when you turn on the key then the lamp will fire with out delay and you may "code out" your display as before, so you have to get in the habit of "kill switch off" when turning the key on for this to work. (I'm not untrainable :-) The Light will be on during engine cranking and without the direct wiring of the relays "switched" power coming directly from the battery your lights could be "starved" for power during engine start. I added a Capacitor in line here to help eliminate that possibility, so far zero flame outs on engine start. The reason I went this way vs. my On-Delay setup was that one time my HID "flamed out" on me at speed in the dark and I had to reach across and "key-off, key-on", then wait 4 more seconds before it "re-lit" That was one time too many for me. Now once the headlight is on, it stays on regardless of the kill switch, engine running, stalling etc until you turn off the key. Much more better. This "current" setup is working well but I still would have to cycle the key to "re-fire" the light if it dropped out for any reason, so I'm thinking of adding a "master" reset button on the handle bars that will restrike the lights with just a touch. (good for any HID set up on a bike) I'm just waiting to get on over to CycleGear and pick up a motocross style kill switch and wire it in as my master reset.
Any of that make sense to my fellow G650X riders....
mike

Lol, I agree. You wire the relay to the HID to be latching so that once the VOES triggers it, the relay stays shut until you kill the ignition key even if vacuum drops.

[leafman60]

Originally Posted by DRONE

I think for this year I'm going to concentrate on the two bikes I got in the garage.

I wanted to weigh in on the HID thing. I got no argument with Leafman's post. But . . . the guys in GSPOT discovered quite a while ago that physical proximity of the ignitors to the RID makes a huge difference. Locate the ignitors far away from the RID and the RID problems go away.

Some of you guys might remember that I installed HID's on my XCountry back in 2009. I had no problems with the bike's electronics at all. But, and here's the big but, my old style non-digital ballasts (ignitors consolidated in the ballasts) were located below and behind the headlight. see pic--



Also, my HID's were controlled by an on/off switch on the left grip. Which means that sometimes they were off when I fired up the bike, but sometimes they were on.

My point being that if you put your ballasts and ignitors down low, or under the seat, or in the battery box (next to your LiFePo battery) I'll bet you have no problem.

I tried that too. Currently, my ignitor is down close to the airbox and I can still draw fault codes without making the precautions mentioned.

If you cut and splice extra wire to distance to ignitor too much, you can have problems with it striking the bulb on. In other words, these cant be too far away in order to work properly (same with sodium street lamps-smile).

Anyway, whatever works for you guys is great. I'm just giving you my "fix" after a great amount of anguish.

Oh, by the way, one issue to note - I use the H-4 HID bulb with the electromagnetic solenoid to shuttle the bulb element in and out to effect hi/lo beams.

On some bulbs, the coil in the solenoid can draw a helluva lot of current. Do a test with your volt meter. The bulbs stays on and does not change anything. When you hit hi beam, the solenoid pulls in. Do that and see if you have a huge voltage drop. If you do, the coil in the bulb shuttle solenoid is not working right.

[Geoffster]

I'm so old fashioned -- and electrical gremlins are so elusive -- I'll keep my stock headlamp and continue to hit foreign objects after dark.

(Or park the bike for the night and work on bad habits!)

[leafman60]

Originally Posted by Geoffster

I'm so old fashioned -- and electrical gremlins are so elusive -- I'll keep my stock headlamp and continue to hit foreign objects after dark.

(Or park the bike for the night and work on bad habits!)

There's a lot to be said for that !

Or, instead of doing a headlamp conversion, just fit some auxiliaries.

In addition to my HID headlamp, I fitted a pair of led auxiliaries of the BMW Take Down type. They give much better down-road illumination than I expected.

I have thought about going back to the stock halogen but I like the idea of using 35 watts instead of 55/60.

[Geoffster]

Originally Posted by leafman60

There's a lot to be said for that !

Or, instead of doing a headlamp conversion, just fit some auxiliaries.

In addition to my HID headlamp, I fitted a pair of led auxiliaries of the BMW Take Down type. They give much better down-road illumination than I expected.

I have thought about going back to the stock halogen but I like the idea of using 35 watts instead of 55/60.

Please talk to us about LED auxiliaries. (I'm sure there's something in the archive, but humor me, please.)

This morning I rode with a friend who's replaced the lame aux lights on his GSA with nifty LEDs. He followed me all morning since I had the route, and I found his LEDs to be much brighter and much bluer than his main H7 lamp.

Assuming I could wrestle mounting them to my X-Country, would the electrical system handle them okay? I understand LEDs have a low current draw, but my dad was the EE in the family and he's passed, so I have to trust the collective's wisdom. ;-)

[GSALite]

I am working on a single HID system, and hoping that with one balast I will have no electrical problems. It is not wired up yet, so I will see. I have two of these on my 1200 GS and they are super bright. One will be plenty.

[DRONE]

Originally Posted by GSALite

I am working on a single HID system, and hoping that with one balast I will have no electrical problems. It is not wired up yet, so I will see. I have two of these on my 1200 GS and they are super bright. One will be plenty.

How's the clearance between that Hella lamp and the front wheel fender under full compression? Or have you modified the fender?

[GSALite]

Damn I knew I missed something when I was thinking it through. Here is a better shot to get reference. The way I designed the bracket I can move the light more forward and up, and maybe give me more room. I will check it out tomorrow and see how close it is.

[DC Mike]

The thread inspired me to get a Xco. I found a 2007 with 7k for 4800. Came with scorpion exhaust, tail tidy, and k&n filter. Just had to drive 700 miles to get it.



Unfortunately, I found after I had gotten it home, it also came with the cold stalling problem. I did a canisterectomy, cleaned the idle actuator, and did the idle reset. It helped, but the problem is still there. I might try a g650gs tune next.

I want to do the TAT this summer, so more farkles are coming. I've seen a couple ride reports from Xchallenges, any TAT reports on a Xcountry out there?

[mbfj40]

[QUOTE=mikecbrxx;18678097]Another way is to fit one of these in place of the left multi switch. Slows for the front headlight to be turned off..... Or not turned on till after engine start. It's off a KTM.



I agree, a simple switch to control the light that's separate from the OEM harness. I thought of that as well, but had way too much time on my hands to do it the easy way. If I encounter any issues with my current setup, I'm going back to "Keep It Simple Stupid"
I like the Highway Dirt Bike switchgear mounts and switch selections.
http://www.highwaydirtbikes.com/HDB_...=perchswitches
mike

[leafman60]

Yes, that simple way would be the easier. Just turn the sumbich on after the little motor is running good.

[GSALite]

Originally Posted by DRONE

How's the clearance between that Hella lamp and the front wheel fender under full compression? Or have you modified the fender?

Yeah, thanks for the heads up. 9.4 inches of travel and 8 inches of clearance between the light and the fender. Would not be a problem most of the time, but all it takes is once to piss me off. I mounted it up on the handlebar now. Trying to squeeze the balast between the plastic and airbox cover. It is a little tight but I think it will work.

[GSALite]

OK, new setup on the HID. Mounted off the mirror bracket, and the balast is under the plastic where a tank would normally go. Runs great, no dash problems, bright as hell.

[leafman60]

I'm glad that HID is working for you. I notice that you have the "older" big ballast that does not have the external ignitor. My experience is with the thin ballast and external ignitor. Maybe that has something to do with the problem.