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Sportsman 90, Headlights anyone?

42K views 18 replies 7 participants last post by  mraymo 
#1 ·
Is there a way to put functioning headlights on a 2001 Sportsman 90? Im not sure how much the charge system puts out or will handle. I had thought about getting some cheapo wally world rectangular driving lights that would fit where the dummy lights are but was worried if they would overtax the stator? Would some LED headlights work instead if the stator cant handle two driving lights?
 
#3 ·
Well after some looking around and talking with my local dealer, they said I had 30 watts to play with MAX. Really limiting. Stator puts out about 70 watts at 4K rpm, so the rest is dedicated to the battery charging, cdi box, etc. So he said stay under 30 watts or I'd be buing a new stator assembly.

So, I found a pair of 3W LED fog lamps from Pilot Automotive.
http://www.pilotautomotive.com/Product.aspx?ProductID=27241&PCID=1064

After seeing a review of them on streetfire.net I dedided they would probably put out enough light to see decently at night, enough for just running trails and such. If not I can slap two more up there hell they only pull 6 watts as a pair! I hooked them up tonight to the battery just to see what they looked like. Wellllllll, light output was surprising. Pattern well it's very narrow. Though it lit up my neighbor's fence from about 80 feet away pretty damn nicely. It's just such a limited light pattern. I dunno. I went ahead and mounted them tonight, they look pretty bad ass. I'll wire them up in the next few days and see how they perform at night. I also plan to add an LED brake light as well for better safety on the trails. Pics soon of the headlights...
 
#5 ·
neet. i like the first set of led fog lights. but the ones you added look oem. nice job.... post pics when you can light them bad boys up...
 
#7 ·
Hey I noticed in your sig you say you have "LED Work Lights" and some other LED stuff. Do you have any pics or links to the lights you used, and how you like them? Brightness and light patterns too maybe?
 
#6 ·
The first ones were the oem fake-o's. From what the local dealer told me they never offered these things with headlights, hence why the stator has so little extra output. 30 watts isnt much to play with lol.

I like these because they only draw 6 watts total, and they almost look like the OEM fake-o boxes. If they dont light up enough, I might get a second set, and mount them above the front rack. All four lights would only draw 12 watts so no big deal. For that matter I could add a third set on the back lol.

I've been sick for the last couple days so I havent wired them in, plus its been raining and cold as hell. I plan to probably wire them up tomorrow night after work and see how the work real world. I'll have some night time pics this weekend sometime hopefully.
 
#8 · (Edited)
Well I just couldnt stand it, it's cold but I had to see what they'd look like aimed and while driving. I aimed them and tightened them down, and had them hard wired to the battery using the factory connectors on the lights so I didnt cut anything yet. Let's say Im glad I saved the reciept. Wow. These suck balls, even for lowered expectations levels. The light is so damn narrow its totally useless. Not to mention how dim it is. Looks like it's back to the drawing board. These lights will be packaged back up and taken back to get my fitty bucks back. Totally worthless I wouldnt recommend them to ANYONE.

Im thinking at this point of trying to find a couple 25W or so halogen lights and putting in a seperate battery for them that I can charge and seperate them from the machine's electrical system. Since Im running premix anyway I can pull the oil tank out and mount a battery in that area I guess. I'll have to investigate this some more.

Damn shame these didnt work they looked perfect on there too. Oh well.

Edit: Pics Added...

Lights on the wheeler


About 5 feet back


About 10 feet back


About 25 feet back


Pattern in the road. How useless is that? Like that little strip is really useable light. Not even adding a second set is going to help.......


I'm now looking at some KC HiLites ATV System 35W 2X6 lights. These might be the exact answer I was originally looking for.

http://www.kchilites.com/store/-ATV-2x6-Flood-SystembrPart-551-P440C68.aspx
 
#10 ·
Hey man, no I never did mess with it again. There are alot of other LED foglights on the market but Im assuming you'd have to spend more than 50 bucks for good ones. Those were terrible that I bought. I've seen some here ane there online for 150-200 range that Im sure for that price they'd be nice and bright and have a good pattern, but I dont want to spend that much on a 4wheeler that I dont even keep at the house anymore. I essentially gave it to my dad to use out on their 60 acres, since I was sure that me riding it around here in the city was gonna get me in trouble eventually lol.
 
#11 ·
Yeah, I get what you mean. I really like my little 90 though, it's just so versatile. I get stuck I pick it up, I want to go somewhere it fits in the back of my 4-Runner. Seriously, it fits in a hatch back vehicle. lol. Well I am still on the quest to find more stuff for it, and lights are on my agenda, so hopefully I don't have to take away funding for my 700 or my 4-Runner because they have a few projects as well. Thank you!
 
#13 ·
I thinking these 10 watt LED lights are the solution for these quads now. I bought some 20 watt lights, (just 2 of these bulbs side by side) for work lights on my service truck and am quite amazed at the light output. I'm sure 1 or 2 of the 10 watt would be fine for a smaller quad that goes 30 or less.
Spotlight
4X 10W Cree LED Flood Pencil Beam Work Light CAR Boat Motorcycle 4WD 4x4 10V 30V | eBay
or in a flood light beam
4X 2" 10W 60°CREE LED Flood Work Light Offroad Lamp 800LM Jeep Truck Motorbike | eBay @ $25 a light
 
#14 ·
Well keep in mind you only have about 2 amps to play with, including the rear tail light. The ******* flood light I made doesn't work as good as I had planned. It puts out plenty of light in front of you but I ended up getting two of these.

Amazon.com: LED Flood Wash Light Outdoor Lamp Ip65 Waterproof 10W 12V 6000~6500K White 900 Lumen: Everything Else

Looking at the link, they have been updated/changed. They used to be cast aluminum with a clear coat. They put out some massive light, here is a few pics of what they look like.

https://www.dropbox.com/s/8y3odhx3lq12y6n/2013-05-26 01.42.17.jpg

No lights:
https://www.dropbox.com/s/56avoxm5cbb3wpg/2013-05-25 21.01.05.jpg

My crafted flood light:
https://www.dropbox.com/s/g650gbfslb9e151/2013-05-25 21.00.58.jpg

Those spot lights:
https://www.dropbox.com/s/ls906ywkqub358b/2013-05-25 21.00.52.jpg

The flood light is still good as it works as a running light while pulling 0.3a mps, compared to the 1-amp each spot lights up front.

The tail light and headlight, with brake light on the whole thing pulls about .5 amps. With the spotlights on, a tad over two but its had some good use and it seems to work good. However, I should add that when/if you do add those, make sure you do have a good battery in place. Otherwise the entire machine runs of the DC [which isn't very consistent] from the regulator.. and it may cause the regulator to go out. Not only that but the lights won't be very bright. As I rebuilt the machine, I ended up adding a few wires in the wiring harness. I added a tach/hour meter under the seat to keep track of the hours on the new piston. So far it seems to work good. Oh also, the incandescent bulb for the tail light itself pulls around 2 amps so make sure you take care of that. [Convert it to LED or get rid of it]

Also I did add a relay up inside the pod for the lights mounted on the frame below. It isn't nessicary but I believe its cleaner power going to them than using power directly from the toggle switch. Its a double pole 2 way switch. I made a small circuit with a diode to make it work with the flood light, then flood light + spotlight. As I said the LED's that I installed inside the tail light[which I made dual function, brake+tail light] and pod don't use very much current.

Good luck. :cowboy:
 
#15 · (Edited)
The ones I linked to are only 10 watts, and based on the output of the larger 20 watt ones I bought, I think one should be enough, two would be more then plenty for a small (slow speed) atv. If I go 2 up front then a LED taillight would be the way to go out back. The plastic is gone off my sportsman so I could mount one front and center or one to each side. Also want to do a Zuki LT 80, there it looks like on the handlebar mount out front would be where to mount the light. The Zuk would maintain 14.6 volts reved up with the 20 watt light.
'With a faster rider a 20w would be ok, but for kids putting 1/2 the time a 10w would allow a cushion of surplus watts and still have plenty of light imo.
I agree on a good battery, short wiring via relay and power conservation are the name of the game here though. before led there was simply too few watts.
Now to find the time..

Google Image Result for http://i01.i.aliimg.com/img/pb/482/005/454/454005482_588.jpg
 
#16 · (Edited)
Well just see how they do. If they don't seem to light it up all that well, then you can try something else. When I cruise on mine at max speed through a grassy plain, it can be hard to see as the lights don't cast that far [not very high up!]and your eyes focus on so much that its just hard to pay attention. But that is really with any ATV.

Ya mine didn't come with racks, bought it second hand and it has indeed been rolled. Luckily just that was broken off and we just grinded the tabs for it down before it was sandblasted and painted. I would have mounted them on the rack but since, well, I don't have that I just zip tied them to the serial number plate.

Eh.. I knocked out installing mine in probably 30 minutes. Probably an hour total after making the unnecessary circuits though. lol. I guess I just like to hear the "CLICK" inside the pod when the lights come on. But yeah before the LED, these just didn't have it. I just wish that I could seal the magneto. I'd love to take that thing through deep water and mud but due to the mag being exposed so the fan can bolt on it, its not possible unless it had an electric fan. I was curious if one could simply just dip it in lacquer and coat the coils to keep it watertight. Because after looking into it, seems that once that mag gets water, it gets killed and must be replaced. I have a grizzly 660 in the works. Its mag is all sealed inside the block.

I got it to go 24.3MPH. I took my GPS to it and hauled down the street on it. Not bad for a 90, but it could do more. You can tell when it maxes out. Its like the motor RPM's go up but it stops increasing in speed. Pretty sure its the clutch doing it for a governor. My friends tell me that it's slow but they don't realize that the thing is an ATV for kids, not a speed precision machine.. lol.
 
#17 ·
My son has a polaris outlaw 50. I installed a 15 watt rigid industries dually. It works flawlessly and produces enough light for us to ride into the mountains at night getting to our camp site. The power source has to come from the battery and not the running light wires. I hooked it up, started the bike, and then put a volt meter on the battery to make sure the battery would maintain a charge. BTW I unhooked the factory running lamps. You must do this for the stator to do its job with the new led light.
My son is due for a 90 next year, so I am going to get a dually D2 for it and see if it will charge the battery with it. If not I will install the standard dually in the fake headlight pod.
 
#19 ·
So I found some super bright led headlights and installed on my 2001 Sportsman 90 ATV in place of the reflectors that stay under the max amp rating of what is available from the ATV's stator. I mounted them to the bottom of the storage rack above the fake lights (reflectors). I ordered them from "superbrightleds.com", here is what I ordered.
146111
 
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