Lighting questions. Led, no battery if possible.

[Joshua]

I'm a bit out on my project for wiring, but wanted to gather information as I tend to build parts over time. Chuck mentioned some of you really have played with this in the past, and I'd love to pick your brains.

Probably go with a Vape ignition, headlights, tail, turn. Didn't want to run guages but, will want a tach, speedo I was thinking gps on my phone, but that may get annoying. If it doesn't need to be on the bike, it's out, or so my stupidity goes.

Some questions, are there kits that would help tie things together?  What can I run without a battery, or should I just run one. I don't mind everything being on all the time the bike is running, simplicity. Minimal controls/switches.

I'm half decent with mechanical, but wiring has always been voodoo to me. I'll do my best to follow along.  Thanks for any input. You all have been a big help on my build so far!

[m in sc]

i dont run turn signals unless it s a stock ish bike. thats just me. my hand works fine.

the mzb is great because, at the end of the day, you will have 1 red hot 12v wire out, and the kill switch. you can wire that to the HL, tail, brake switch, and turn signal relay of you must. should be less than 10 wires on the bike., easy stuff. 

i run a trailtech endurance speedometer on one of mine, super simple and it backlights.  No tach on that one, i wont be watching it anyway.

[Dvsrd]

With a Vape( previously sold as Powerdynamo/MzB), you have more wattage available than the stock alternator. So absolutely no need for using a LED headlight. Some LED Taillight/brake light units are brighter than the stock one, so is still a good idea. You will have 150 W lighting power available, so you could actually use dual 55/60W H4 headlights! Or a single 80/100W H4. If you still prefer LED,Trailtech,Touratech etc have good auxillary spot and flood lamps. In any case, good lighting is great to have.
One potential disadvantage of going batteryless could be some voltage drop over the oem light switches. With a battery, you could use headlight relays, feeding the bulbs directly, instead over 3 switches ( ignition lock, light switch, dimmer switch) Of course you could have the lights on constantly, and use the dimmer switch only, when running without a battery. That would be as basic as it gets :)

[motodreams]

There was a newer guy on the forum talking about running w/o battery or a relatively easy and definitely cheap system.  No clue if/how it works.  try searching for him.

[m in sc]

the HPI? if so a few of us run them.

[Joshua]

Thanks all. I'll run lights on all the time, I was hoping using LED lamp and tail I won't have problems with loss of power. Turn signals will come later, maybe. All I need is a little encouragement to feed my lack of judgement thanks m in sc.

[m in sc]

my project bike with an hpi has them on all the time. but, there isnt a single stock part on that bike sooo... if you are down for a rewire you're good. I run the HL all the time, and its an led HL and tail. no battery.

in the middle of un-installing the banshee cdi and putting in the hpi. it was messy in this pic.



hpi installed.




vape/powerdynamo on my other project:

rewiring a few things on the hybrid. that fuse box actually caused issues and had to replace it. i do run a battery on this bike.



this was early 2018, prior to the carb swap and a few other things. mzb , initially installed in 2007 or so.

[Joshua]

Can I get some feedback on your hpi ignition. I know many like the vape  ignition, but it's a substantial difference in price. What's the pro's and cons of each.

Just read some threads on both. Looks like they are both reputable sources for ignition choices. Will both work with no battery running basic lighting maybe turn signals? 

[Dvsrd]

Both will run with no battery. However, turn signals normally require a battery to function. On my RD350A, I have a Powerdynamo, which now is called VAPE, and a Super-B 2600 battery. That battery is super light, weighs 450g or 1 pound, and is very compact also. I built a very simple alloy battery tray, and bolted the reg/rect under it.. You can barely see the reg/rect with the oil tank and side cover removed. I am using a R5 reproduction seat from Yambits, which has a plastic base, and allows the battery to sit slightly above the frame tubes.