The Honda XL (and other vintage singles) thread!

[dorkpunch]

i HAVE a 12v system for the early XL's... I've just never been able to install it! There was also someone on the oldrice board that managed to fit a 12v system from the newer 250's and it seemed to work but i think there was quite a bit of work involved. Mine was just a re-winding of the stator, a new regulator, and a 12v battery.

[G2mk3]

Originally Posted by zagger

Hey man, why bother? What's wrong with 6V? 12V is SO overrated. The cool thing is that LED lights actually run at very low voltages. I added two LED "light bar" headlights to my XL500 and they only draw 200mA of the available 1A (1000mA) generating capacity. Prepakaged LED lights are naturally set up for 12V because that is what everyone has - except us. All you need is a DC voltage regulator which is small, cheap, and dirt simple to wire up. If you actually want to dig into this let me know and I will give you some more detailed info.
zag

more info please! i'm just about to go through all the wiring and lights on my xl185. i'd much rather use LED's than try to get the old system to light up normal bulbs bright enough for use around the city!

[zagger]

Originally Posted by G2mk3

more info please! i'm just about to go through all the wiring and lights on my xl185. i'd much rather use LED's than try to get the old system to light up normal bulbs bright enough for use around the city!

OK, I need to ask what you are trying to do. I have a 6V headlight that is reasonably bright (when the engine is above an idle) and a 6V tail light that is certainly bright enough. I didn't pull out the bulb but according to the manual, the headlight is 35W (pretty typical for even 12V bikes) and the tail light is 5W with 21W for stopping. Both are normal incandescent 6V bulbs. The manual says that the lighting output of the alternator is 7amps to 9amps. 7amps times 6V = 42W (somewhat more than all lights combined). In actual fact, the engine must be running above an idle for the headlight to be at full intensity. The total extra alternator power (beyond lighting) available on the XL500 is 1.8A at 2500rpm up to 4A at 8000rpm. If we call that an average of 2-3A at typical rpm's, you have about 12-18W extra - not much if you are looking at incandescent bulbs for extra lighting. If you are trying for extra LED lights, a few watts go a long way, however. All of the above numbers are from the Haynes manual on the XL500. If you have some other model, your numbers will be different. The first thing to look up is the generating capacity on your bike and decide what exactly you want to add.

LED's use very little power but it is critical that they are supplied with the correct voltage or they will instantly burn up. If you get a bright LED array intended for lighting, the power input will be designed for a specific voltage but you can likely modify it to run at some other voltage. On my XL500, I used two bright flashlights (just the LED part) to make the "light bar". The flashlight was designed to run on 4.5V (three batteries which are 1.5V each) so I simply added a voltage regulator to convert 6V power into 4.5V power. If you pick an LED light that was designed to be powered by 12V, the conversion might be a little tougher depending on how they made the LED array compatible with 12V. Internally they reduced the 12V input to the actual voltage needed by the LED's. The voltage regulators I am talking about are just integrated circuits like this: http://www.st.com/stonline/products/...2142/l4941.pdf

There are only 3 pins to connect and you don't need a circuit board or anything fancy. Parts like this can be purchased from Mouser: http://www.mouser.com/
but since there are thousands of choices, you do need to get an idea of what you need.

Sorry to make this long winded and confusing. What are you actually trying to do?
zag

[dorkpunch]

Added EvilClown's TL125 to the Inmates Bikes section. I'm impressed, there are lots of the old gurls out there still pulling their weight!

[T-REDZ]

Hey mates,

this is my Honda CB125 1978. I modified it into supermoto, so I could run a lil bit wild on dirt tracks.. :)





No extreme, no life huh? Hahaha..

[T-REDZ]

The CB125 without its rider..

[G2mk3]

what front fender is that?

you should mod a xr200 motor to stick in that thing

[T-REDZ]

Originally Posted by G2mk3

what front fender is that?

you should mod a xr200 motor to stick in that thing

I'm using a KTM "looks a like".. hahaha.. it's an after market fender, but I don't know from what bike...

My CB125 has been bore up to 200cc now, with a racing cam so I wouldn't have to worry if I have to take it for an adventure. I have two pair of wheels, the other using a spoke wheels with dual purposes tires if I want to go for a lil bit naughty tracks.. hahahaha..

[momphrare]

Father in Law had a 78 XL125 bike sitting in his garage for about 15 years with flat tires. Only has 700 miles on it and 100 of that is from me after getting it running. It still seems like it floods when I hold it wide open but after pulling the carb 15 times and sea foaming the tank and carb twice, i'm pretty sure there is no prolbem there. Air Mixture screw is at 2 turns at the moment. Also noticed with the air filter cover off it runs alot better.

[dorkpunch]

How is the air filter? Also check the timing advance mechanism, they can stick if the bike has sat for a long time. Located behind the points plate on the upper left hand side of the head.

[momphrare]

Originally Posted by dorkpunch

How is the air filter? Also check the timing advance mechanism, they can stick if the bike has sat for a long time. Located behind the points plate on the upper left hand side of the head.

Working on two bikes at the moment so the 125 is last priority. Airfilter is the next thing i'm going to buy but like I said the funds are going to another bike at the moment. Not that the air filer cost much but, I cleaned it out and did the best I could. I still think it has a big part in whats happening. When the seat is off and I put my hand half way over the "intake hole" the bike will run pretty much perfect. No throttle lag or bogging out at all.

[T-REDZ]

Originally Posted by momphrare

Working on two bikes at the moment so the 125 is last priority. Airfilter is the next thing i'm going to buy but like I said the funds are going to another bike at the moment. Not that the air filer cost much but, I cleaned it out and did the best I could. I still think it has a big part in whats happening. When the seat is off and I put my hand half way over the "intake hole" the bike will run pretty much perfect. No throttle lag or bogging out at all.

XL and CB has the same basic engine type. They're Bad Ass one! Don't worry about the air filter.. tell you the truth, my CB125 is not using an air filter coz I've change the carb into PE 28. Maybe a lit bit hard when you're riding in the dirt track.
After that, I tried to modified a radiator pipe from a toyota car that fortunately fit in with the carb's intake.
But if you're not using one too is still okay, as long as you often clean up your carb after playing with dirt.. hahahaha..

[rick danger]

[rick danger]

[Bow3022]

Hey guys i'm new to the forum. I'm looking to purchase an honda xl 250s. Its a 1980 with about 2700 miles. The asking price for it is 600$, and i'm trying to work my way down to 500 or lower.







what do you guys think? There is a slight issue with it, the owner says that it needs a new brake lever and on/off switch? Im not sure of what hes talking bout when he says on/off switch(maybe its the kill switch?). Anyways, what do you guys think about this? I've had experienced fixing bikes before but this will be my first ride.