I installed one of those eBay specials that allow you to have both low and high beams on at the same time. It essentially just jumps one circuit to another. I believe everything was working fine but then I went on to my next Mod by adding 2, 55w Halogen driving lights. I thought it best to wire them into the high beam circuit so I did. After making the connections and attaching the ground wire to the frame, I had something unusual happen. It all worked, the lights came on when the switch was in the high beam position. This worked for several tries, then all of a sudden, it didn't. The high beams quit but the low worked. Then, the engine wouldn't even turnover (like no electrical) but then after a few tries, it did and when it did the high beams came on. When I disconncted the newly installed lights, it always worked. I reconnected and made sure my ground was good and everything appeared to be working again just fine so I attributed the problem to the ground wire.

Well, not so, at one point on a ride on the dunes tonight, the entire electrical system went off! Bike and all....while doing about 30 mph! That was REAL interesting on a pitch black night on the dunes! I turned the key off and then back on and everything was back, it started and off I went. A few minutes later when my wife was cruisin', the speedo needle started flashing and the "battery" LCD was flashing but only when the high beams were on. I shut them off and all was fine. I put the Ute away at that point.

I know the obvious is to just disconnect the new lights. I can wire them directly to the battery as they do have a nice lighted rocker switch but I was hoping to not have to install another switch somewhere. Anyone have an idea as to what might be causing my problem? Seems kinda weird but electrical issues can sometimes be that way...this one's a bit beyond me!

 

Are the driving lights wired through a relay? If everything is running off of the hi beam curcuit it may be overloading the system and tripping a breaker. I don't know that this would shut everything down but, it might.

 

It sounds like you are overloading the system. If you follow the red wire from the battery you will find a short ways from the battery a self resetting fusing, which means it will trip when overloaded and after a short period will reset. Its a great saftey device which will save a lot in fuses when you have a problem like that. If you were to run the new lights just off of the battery you may be ok but I would think that it would put a strain on the battery and may also rob current from the other electrical on the bike.

 

Sounds like you might be asking for more than the quad can deliver. In the owners manual, it should say what the max output of the alternator is. And that is the maximum, under ideal conditions( fully charged battery and 5000 rpm). Take into account manufacturing differences, and quality of the wire connections, and rpm under 5000, youre lucky to get 50% of the rated output. Add up the wattage of the lights and anything else electrical, thats running, and see how close you come to the rated maximum output.

 

All good points! I was really wondering where the breaker was as I looked in the owners manual and it said nothing about it! The specs show the alternator output to be 240w. It doesnt say "Max" output, just "Alternator Output" so I would still assume this to be the max. I'm already driving a 50w high beam on the handlebars and with the addition of that mod which links the low and hi's together, I'm adding two 27w lamps to the equation. With all 5 lamps cooking plus tail and brake lights I'm drawing 249 watts. There's my problem. If I eliminate that mod that connects the hi/low beams, that cuts 54w out of the equation when the hi beams go on....that just might solve my problem.

Thanks for the input guys!

 

Hey TreeDoc, I can do that trick with my Kodiak with out the kit. I tried that trick with my friends dads Polaris ATP and it would not stay and was wondering what the name of the company is so he can get one for his quad. It is nice to have the high and lows on for night riding. I also added the spotlight to mine for additional lighting.AlaskaBoy.

 

your overloading the electrical system, it's tripping a circuit breaker. even if you wire them directly into the battery you'll eventually fry a diode in the alternator.
I wouldn't go over 150 watts with all your accessories, remember the engine needs some juice too.