Long term test up date

When I bought my bike, a 2000 FE400E, used 2 years ago I read about all of the electrical issues that everyone seemed to have with their bikes. So I decided to try a couple of things myself to see if I could improve on the issues that bothered me. First off the original owner said that the stator was the original OEM unit and the only electrical things he did was to remove the keyed on/off switch and he also removed all of the lighting. So I bought a new tailight and headlight and mask.

I wasn't happy with the light that the stock headlight put out so I decided to switch it out in favor of a Baja Designs unit. I installed their KTM light improvement kit part #60-0037. It came with a glass lens to replace the factory plastic one and it was a perfect fit in my OEM mask. It came with a Halogen 80/80 watt H4 bulb. The new set up puts out about 10 times the light that the OEM unit did and it is a much brighter and whiter light. It is much easier to see at night now. I also hooked up the rear light and also hooked up the brake light to the rear brake for night riding.

Also the bike came with the YUSA YTX7L-BS battery so I switched it out with a YUSA YTX9-BS battery. It puts out about .2 more amps. I charged the new battery with an Optimate III charger and I keep it hooked up to the Optimate charger between each ride. Before I changed out the battery I could not start my bike with the electric starter until it was warmed up just like everyone else but since the change it starts on the electric starter on the first try when the weather is warm and on the second or third try when the weather is really cold or the bike is cold. The only other thing I changed was to switch to an irridium spark plug.

I wanted to test it during a couple of cold Chicago winters and with the new lights that put more of a strain on the battery just to make sure before I wrote this. It has been over a year and a half and everything is still operating fine. We even had a week of below zero temps back in December in which I tried starting the bike on the electric starter after the 4th day and it started on the third try. We also had below zero temps over last weekend and the bike started on the electric starter again on the third try after sitting for over a month. The bike still starts off the electric starter when cold.

I hope this helps someone out.

Don

It's not an easy task removing the battery. I found the easiest way is to remove the tires mud gaurd and then remove the top bolt of the shock and let it fall against the tire. Then you have to massage it out of it's position removing it from the rear.

As for the headlight, I was not able to adjust the OEM light but the Baja Designs replacement is adjustable. It has a glass lens and it definitely lights up the way a whole lot better. If you want to stick with the factory light you could always cut the masks straps off and then put some type of shim between it's mounting points and then wire tie the mask back on. This way it pushes the top of the mask out aiming the light more towards the ground. My straps kept breaking anyways so I cut the straps off leaving the rubber where it goes through the masks hole. I then drilled a hole just big enough to fit a wire tie through and then I re-mounted it using the said wire ties. It works perfectly and has yet to break in a year and a half.

I hope this helped.

Don

Hey Longjump

I just checked out your website, that's some really nice looking furniture that you've made! I noticed that you used a lot of bookmatched quilted and flamed material, it really sets your stuff apart from the rest! I use a lot of the same flamed maple and quilted maple in making electric guitars guitars.

Don

Hey logjump

Thanks for the cudos! I just wanted to let everyone know how good the bergs can actually be.

Don