Switching a honda XL125S over from 6V to 12V

[dolfandringa]

Hi all,

 

I am working on a 1983 Honda XL125S. I want to put a decent LED headlight in there so I have a reasonable amount of light when driving at night. But being in the Philippines (besides having a very limited budget), I can only get 12V DC powered LED headlights. I can switch the headlight over from being powered directly from the alternator (which is the case on this bike) to the battery, but still the battery is only 6V. Adding a dc-dc converter to step up the battery voltage from 6V to 12V will quickly look messy. So I was wondering how much would be affected if I just change the rectifier/regulator of my bike to output 12V instead of 6V and change to a 12V battery. The bike has very little electronics (no electric ignition, only analog meters, etc), so I was wondering if that is viable. I am most worried by the ignition coil and CDI unit. Would those be affected by this? And the indicator lights, would those work on 6V as well as 12V if I just change the bulb?

I hope someone can help me with this choice.

Cheers,

 

Dolf.

[rduff]

DolfandRinga,

Yes, from what I've read- you can do this. Just need to replace all your bulbs, battery to 12V, add a 12V rectifier/regulator and you should be good to go!! I will be doing this shortly on my SL125. There are many posts on this. Some that say you need to rewire your stator- ignore those posts, not true!

Edited December 1, 2016 by rduff