The easiest would be to use the existing wire to drive the lamp. Since the lamp is incandescent it doesn't matter if the filimant is heated by AC or DC current. But as you pointed out the wattage has to stay the same.

If you go to smaller wattage but more efficient lighting you may get away with wiring it to the battery side of things. But you need to take out the main fuse and put a current meter in its place to see if your stator can keep up. If the stator can keep up you'll see current flowing out of the battery at idle (headlights on), then as you rev the engine the current drain will diminish to zero and then reverse direction. Current in reverse means the battery is being charged, and that the stator is able to drive the lights and have a little left over to charge the battery.

Another concern for converting to DC powered lights is the fact that all the lighting wattage is now passing through the rectifier/regulator. It will get warmer. It would be easy to design the rectifier/regulator such that it will limit its output to protect itself from overheating, and I would think that they would do that. But just to be sure run the lights on DC for 10 minutes or so while monitoring the regulator heat sink to make sure it doesn't get too hot.

 

But there is no real downside to leaving it alone, other than dim lights at idle?

 

I was looking at lights today at Wally World...I know, I know... My younger son was with me and he actually saw the driving/fog light collection. He reminded me that the light on his quad [Meerkat] doesn't work. [this is the kid that does 5 laps around the yard and takes a 10 minute break] I can order one straight from the net for it for $20+. [it's not worth $5 it's so cheap] I saw the Navigator lights that were mentioned. Everything they had was 55 watt bulbs. That, or LED. Since the LED wouldn't take AC running through it, I was sort of stuck. I didn't bother getting anything. It can wait...

 

I love my light setup and yes, all driving lights come with H3 55watt bulbs. Go to Amazon.com and search h3 35. You can get the bulbs for under $5. I bought the Navigator lights there also with 3 bulbs so I didn't need to pay for shipping charges. LOVE 'EM

 

I don't see any down side except for the dim lights. It also looks like your charging system is working based on your previous voltage measurements.

 

My sons 125 does the same thing - lights are dim at idle and then when he revs it up, they get bright to the point they blow the filament off both headlights and the taillight. I want to install some 35watt round offload driving lights to the front bumper, but would they blow out as well? What about the tail light? Do I have something else wrong?

 

I think you have some electrical issues to address before you go adding additional lights to destroy. Are you running with a battery? Is the battery good (i.e. will it crank the starter motor)? If so, when you turn on the ignition (engine stopped) and turn on the headlights, do they light up? Or do your lights work only when the engine is running? Again though, I need to know if you have a battery installed at all, and also if you have a *good* battery installed that will crank the starter motor.

What I'm trying to figure out is whether you have AC powered lighting direct off the stator or DC powered lighting off the battery.

Either way your voltage regulator is suspect, the the tests to verify this differ depending on what lighting power arrangement you have.

You're going to need a meter...

 

what you need to do is ditch the stock high wattage lights and do what we did

wifes 6 yr old taotao 150 cc atv had 2 18watt headlights that would drain the batt in 3 hrs and we like long rides
went online and bought a set of these....installed them and there is little to no draw on the system now
2pcs Universal LED Daytime Running Light DRL Head Light Offroad Car SUV Jeep ATV | eBay

running with all lights on it produces (at an idle) 13.4 volts



and they are very bright

 

Thanks Lynn! I have a meter and basic electrical knowledge. The battery is good enough to crank the motor & start the atv - the lights don't light with just the key in the on position. The atv has to be running for them to light - the brake lights do shine bright when brakes are pressed when it's not running. What do you suggest to test the voltage regulator and where is it/what does it look like on these offshore atvs? Just a note on the battery - it is small and needs changing after every ride - if it doesnt start on first or second try, you only get a we more cranks and it doesn't have enough after that... Can I use bigger batteries in this. The ATV is new and lights have never lasted more than 1 ride... I was also suspecting the switch on the bar could be faulty/shorted - would that cause issues?? I love those lights midlifcrzis! I will buy those once I get my electrical solved!

 

Yeah, LED technology is really impressive. And it is so much more efficient. I have a four inch long LED flashlight tht runs on a single lithium ion rechargeable battery. It puts 750 lumens for 2 hours on a single charge. That's incredible. LED lights draw a fraction of the power needed to run incandescant lights for the same light output. So it makes sense to use them on a small engine lighting ystem.

But they run on DC only. So you *must* make sure your lights are DC powered (and not AC powered directly off the stator).

My Gy6 engine will put out a maximum of 55 watts total at *really fast* engine speeds. I have an eight pole stator. Six pole stators are common in GY6 engines and will put out proportionally less power.