Additional Lights Draining Battery???

[flexibleflyer]

I have a R1200ST, and I am adding additional LED brake lights, and flood lights for the front - I have heard that this may be a drain on the battery - a friend of mine has a different bike, and has lights, plus wears a heated vest and has had this problem. Should I be concerned, and is there anything I can do to avoid having a problem. Thanks, Bob

[Ken H.]

Not a problem. The electrical system can easily handle most anything you add to the bike. (Presuming connect wiring, additional fuse block, etc.) As a matter of fact it's one of these bikes strongest points.

 

Additional stuff on our GS (which has a smaller alternator than the RT): 2 sets of aux driving lights, 2 heated seats, 2 sets of heated jackets and gloves, GPS, Autocom, FRS radi0, additional LED lighting, and more. No issues.

[Rocket_Cowboy]

The LED lights pull hardly any power at all. The biggest power drain you might have would be the flood lights, and just how big of a power draw would depend on the bulb wattage used.

 

You don't mention what your friends bike is/was, but he could easily have had a problem due to alternator size on his bike. Not much of a problem on BMWs. One of the reasons I sold the Busa that I was touring on was because of the limited alternator output.

[Bowenman]

The ST has a 750W alternator. You can run some serious kit with that with no issues

[flexibleflyer]

FYI - my friend's bike is a BMW 650 GS - thanks for the input - I haven't put on the flood lights yet - will let you know if I have any issues after installing.

 

Bob

[Jim VonBaden]

Tina runs Motolights, P3 LED tail lights, GPS and Gerbings all at once, and has never had an issue.

 

I run similar, plus an additional set of gerbings, and an additional set of driving lights on occasion, and no issues, even with the Servo-ABS.

 

Jim

[paulcbrowne]

I owned a 650 GS that I sold last year. You need to be careful about the electrical load. I dropped my H7 Hella FF50's for smaller H3 lights and dropped to 35 w bulbs. I installed a voltmeter. I could run my Gerbing jacket liner, but had to turn off the lights at a long stoplight. While running, I could run the Gerbings, heated grips and lights. Idling alternator output is weak on the 650.

[RFW]

I have a R1200ST, and I am adding additional LED brake lights, and flood lights for the front - I have heard that this may be a drain on the battery

This is clearly not a problem. LED brake lights (or any brake light for that matter) consume far to little current to even be noticed by your alternator. An LED brake light uses around a Watt or two at most. Your alternator can pump out hundreds of Watts. As you can see, this is a non-problem.