ibjman wrote:
I expect there may be others here that would agree with me that you have made your point that your machine(s) have not failed in this way as you have stated.
I would like to ask you to give the rest of us equal consideration here and consider the possibility as being true that the failures described by so many as to melted parts or poor connections may indeed be real and caused by some insufficiency in OEM design, perhaps validating the installation of the EB relays or other similar upgrade. That you have quoted to be unnecessary.
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We are here with the intention of "helping" one another.......not disputing others' intelligence.
Please go ahead & tell me if I am off base here but be considerate to all.
I am confident that everyone wants to respect your opinions & posts.
The forum administrators will point out to me if my direction here is mis guided.
What say Crazy?
I am in total agreement with Ibjman.The problem with the switches is real and many of us experienced it. Nobody enjoy taking the bike apart in the middle of the riding season just for fun.
Themason: I question your electrical ability.
The wiring of the K100 was NEVER designed to run a 100 Watts bulb. Furthermore, in most cases, the extra heat generated by the bulb will melt the original plastic headlight socket resulting to a fire hazard.
The hand switch contacts are not adequate to carry the load generated by the installation of a 100w bulb. They are barely good
enough for the 50w bulb.
Calculation of the wire size is critical and when modifying a circuit, you must consider a safety margin. What if the battery voltage is low? Have you ever encounter a problem with the starter relay? Many of us had.
amps = watts / voltage + consideration of the length of the wire. (A wire is a resistor!)
To safely carry a load of 5 Amps (a 50 Watts bulb draw 4.2 Amps at 12v) the size of the wire should be 4mm² or 11 AWG.
If you install a 100W bulb (the draw will be 8,5 Amps at 12v) the size of the wire should be 6mm² or 9 AWG.
Here is a good site to be educated.
WD40 is a water repellent and does not prevent contacts to melt if they overheat.
Relays have been used for many years and their intended applications are exactly what members are trying to integrate to their original wiring. I would never suggest changing the bulb for one with higher wattage without the addition of a relay, the installation of bigger wires and the replacement of the headlight socket with a ceramic one. AND having the circuit fused protected.
If BMW had designed the perfect bike, we would not have the technical sections on this forum. To my opinion, the design of the electrical has big flaws.
Please consider others before posting a misleading opinions. We are working with facts. If one of us consider himself as an expert, his answer MUST be true with consideration of safety factors.
Here is what must be done to upgrade the original circuit in order to accommodate a more powerful bulb. Their is NO alternative without compromising the safety.
![Headlight upgrade experiences Headlight-upgrade](https://2img.net/h/hrsbstaff.ednet.ns.ca/bvogel/K100/download/electrical/Headlight-upgrade.jpg)
CF