Hi Folks,
I just put a set of headlight relays from Eastern Beaver on the K 100 I was extremely impressed by the quality of assembly of the kit which fitted my bike perfectly. Big improvement in brightness too so a must do mod if you ride at night (or during the day with your headlight on). [url=http://www.easternbeaver.com/]http://www.easternbeaver.com/[/url] is the address, I found them on the net and my pal and I purchased relay kits for our bikes. He also went the modulator route but he is braver than I am since here in NZ modulators are not legal for use and it would be just my luck to meet a traffic officer with a down on bike riders.
Regards,
K-BIKE

K-BIKE wrote:Hi Folks,
I just put a set of headlight relays from Eastern Beaver on the K 100 I was extremely impressed by the quality of assembly of the kit which fitted my bike perfectly. Big improvement in brightness too so a must do mod if you ride at night (or during the day with your headlight on). http://www.easternbeaver.com/ is the address, I found them on the net and my pal and I purchased relay kits for our bikes. He also went the modulator route but he is braver than I am since here in NZ modulators are not legal for use and it would be just my luck to meet a traffic officer with a down on bike riders.
Regards,
K-BIKE

I have to concur. When I purchased my bike I found it had I 100/90 watt globe in the headlight and then realised the headlight was wired straight to the handlebar switch without a relay and after looking at the dubious contacts in the switch realised a relay was the way to go. A quick search found Eastern Beaver with Jim being a former "K" owner. I and a colleague have purchased a number of his products and found them to be very well made at a reasonable price with very quick freight from Japan.

Regards,

Phil Mars

There already is a relay. The load dump relay supplies power to the headlight, and also to the tail light, instrument backlighting, horn and some other items.

Bob.

But that relay is fed through thin wire and feeds out through thin wire so head light output is sub-optimal. Using the Eastern Beaver kit gives thick wire direct from the battery so headlight voltage is the best it can be. I saw a definite worthwhile increase in light output on my 1990 K100RS16 when I put the Eastern Beaver kit on.
Regards,
K-BIKE

I may be wrong ( not unusual) but what I should have said is the high beam switches directly through the handlebar switch without the benefit of a switching relay and the additional relay takes the load from (imho) a very poorly designed switchblock.

Regards,

Phil

Phil is absolutely correct in what he says, the standard K bike headlight is switched directly through what I have to say IMHO is a rather poor contact set-up. The load dump relay merely interrupts the supply, it still goes through the handlebar switch and all the wiring to and from.

With the Eastern Beaver relay kit it is connected by a high quality plug which plugs into the socket which normally sits plugged onto the headlight bulb and a very high quality socket comes off the Eastern Beaver relay and plugs directly onto the lamp. The Eastern Beaver relay is fed through a fused thick supply line direct from the battery.

That way the handlebar switch feeds only the relay coil which is a very small load on the switch whereas the bulb is now fed via the Eastern Beaver relay direct from the battery.

The load dump relay still functions as normal since when it interrupts the feed to the handlebar switch the relay turns off and the headlight goes out.

In these days of needing to see and be seen I think the Eastern Beaver kit and a 100/55 watt bulb is a must have for K riders.
Regards,
K-BIKE

I am not sure of the legality of the higher wattage globes in Australia not that anyone seems to care but it has always been a bit of a grey area. Rather than the higher wattage I have been looking at the new globes that "promise" higher light output with the same wattage and as alway the claims are promising but I am not sure of the real world story.

The HID lights also look excellent and seeing them from the perspective of the oncoming vehicle is very encouraging but a fairly complicated setup and the cheaper ebay kits don't seem that reliable.

From what I have seen the reflector is the key to the best light output and I think the early K headlight leaves a bit to be desired when compared to what is on offer today. I think smaller driving lights may be the best option and thankfully our friend Jim at Eastern Beaver has a relay kit to cover that as well.

Regards,

Phil

I just posted a headlight upgrade diagram in the download section.

Bert

Hi Folks,
Here in NZ and I suspect in most jurisdictions it is not legal to convert standard headlights to HID and I know on the Mercedes list there has been considerable negative comment about conversions. I know on other BMW lists people have said they are a good improvement on EITHER dipped or main and the one which is not improved is worse than standard. This was said to be because the reflector is not designed for them and they will not be properly focussed in both positions as there is only one arc in the lamp. We run 100/55 in all our cars and I do on the K-BIKE
Regards,
K-BIKE