walmart lights

[chuckie]

Well I bought some (platinum burners) from walmart. They came with switch and fused wiring, but not with a relay. wiring diagram does not show relay being used. They are 50 watt halogen bulbs
Front bezel is twist and lock type. Concerned they might come loose. Any ideas?
Is a relay necessary for safe operation
Thanks Chuckie

[9Ball]

absolutely, you should install a relay.  You can find them in the auto parts stores near the accessory driving lights or 4x4 accessories.

[John Schmidt]

Also, if you're talking about extra driving lights then you need to wire them in totally separate from the headlight circuit. That way if either set of lights goes out, you still have lights to get you home. Murphy's Law says that will happen, usually at night(guaranteed), a long way from home and out of cell phone range(also guaranteed). Plus, those 50watt halogens create quite a pull on the alternator. You might be better off with some high output 35 watt bulbs. I converted mine to that, don't recall the brand or model of bulb, and they still light up the road real good.

[R J]

You can go to Rattlebars site for a wiring diagraphm.

A RELAY is a must unless ya want to burn up some wiring.

[Warlock]

They are 50 watt halogen bulbs
Front bezel is twist and lock type. Concerned they might come loose. Any ideas?

I have a set on my Valkyrie. I have them wired into my extra fuse panel with their own fuse. To keep mine from coming a loose I drill a small hole in one of the places were it holds on the housing and installed a small metal screw. Works great and will not fall off. I had a set on my VTX and lost one of the covers so the screw took care of the problem.
David

[olddog1946]

I  have set of the chrome bullet halogen's from Wally world, lost one of the front within a few days, bought a second set and put a small dab of clear RTV inside the housing and installed the new ring..seems to work just fine and don't have to worry about rust.. time will tell...if I loose one again, I'll switch over to some LED lights..

[Bobbo]

A relay may or may not be needed, depending on how you connect them.  If you plan to run them off a low current circuit, like the headlight or instrument light circuit, then you will need a relay to switch the high current circuit.  If you connect them directly to a high current power outlet in the fuse box, or directly to the battery, you don't need a relay.  If directly connected, You will need to be sure to turn them off manually when you park the bike!

100 watts total power is about 8 amps of current, so the power outlet should be fused at least 10 amps, 15 or more is best.

[RP#62]

A relay may or may not be needed, depending on how you connect them.  If you plan to run them off a low current circuit, like the headlight or instrument light circuit, then you will need a relay to switch the high current circuit.  If you connect them directly to a high current power outlet in the fuse box, or directly to the battery, you don't need a relay.  If directly connected, You will need to be sure to turn them off manually when you park the bike!

100 watts total power is about 8 amps of current, so the power outlet should be fused at least 10 amps, 15 or more is best.

I was going to say, you don't need a relay if you've got a big switch.  Hell, I'm running several 75 watt lights in the house with no relays.
LOL
-RP

[Mildew]

I had a set of those in my garage for 2 years. Do ya all mount those things on the bracket below the headlight?

[chuckie]

 I mounted lights on top of crash bars next to radiator. I used kuryakyn p-clamps.

[olddog1946]

I mounted mine on a set of memphis shades fork mount air deflector brackets, along with a set mini amber led running lights that mount facing the lenses to the sides, giving me lit side markers..

[Mildew]

Priciate the replies I may tackle that project tonight

[chuckie]

Got her all wired up and working. However I wired a  switch to the relay together with my zumo 550
from the hot to both from the switched accessorie plug. When I turn off the key before turning off light switch the zumo stays on. If I turn off the lights then, the engine the zumo turns off.
????? Anyone know why this is happening
TKS Chuckie 

[Bobbo]

Got her all wired up and working. However I wired a  switch to the relay together with my zumo 550
from the hot to both from the switched accessorie plug. When I turn off the key before turning off light switch the zumo stays on. If I turn off the lights then, the engine the zumo turns off.
????? Anyone know why this is happening
TKS Chuckie 

It sounds like you are back-feeding power from a non-switched source to the switched side, essentially bypassing the ignition switch.  Can you show a diagram of how you hooked it up?

[Tropic traveler]

Got the Wally chrome bullets for Kim's Valk too. Used P-clamps to mount them to the crash bars next to the radiator as well. Used the relay & a handlebar mounted switch from Scootworks to power them. They look great & no problems so far. Pointed them down slightly & towards the ditches for "critter illumination".
Those things are BRIGHT!!

[scoobydoo]

mounted mine low on the front fork using one of the bolts that hold the front fender

[B]

I'm on my second set ftom Wally World (rock or road debris shattered a lens so I now have spare parts  ). 
I pulled the front ring and bent the outer housing slightly; its a tight fit NOW.

I ran a dedicated fused line (on a buddy-breaker) with no relay ... no issues. 
Been runnin Wally-Lights for over two years now... Hard to beat for the price.

Mine are mounted below my highway pegs.   


Safe Travels ... hope to see you all at 'Shanty'
B

[fordmano]

Yep some of those less than expensive WalMArt light work very well.
I have the rectangular set just below the fairing and the yellow very small set under the engine attached to the air scoops under the crash bars on my I/S.


I am looking for a new set to replace those yellow FOG lights, I broke one on the road a while ago (over a year ago). I ran over a large bag of something just could not miss it was being kept from changing lanes by the only car on the road at 04:30 they just had to run next to me at any speed. I am just lucky that bag did not take me down.

[Willie]

Scooby, I want to mount mine there too.  Question - How did you manage the offset allen head bolt??  Did you get a spacer??  Also, if you had to get a longer bolt, what length did you get?

Thanks,

Willie

[chuckie]

Well I reversed the battery hot from 87 pin to 30 pin. Now everthing shuts down with ignition off.
Diagram on autozone relay had hot going to 87 pin.
Chuckie

[Mildew]

Sorry to hyjack but is it better to run the lights from a relay or straight from the battery...... also thinkin of mounting a second set under the triple clamp like rattlebars mentioned. Is the valk able to handle these or should I use leds?

[scoobydoo]

I went to the local farm supply store and went thru their misc. bins ( clips,springs,rubber mounts, that sort of stuff) and found a brass spacer that fit the bolt and inside the fork housing. They also had metric allen head bolts so I got a couple long enough to stick out past the recess but still tighten up. Took it all home and cut the spacer just a tad longer than the fork recess so the light mount would thghten up.When your all done you don't see any of the mounting. It's pretty clean.