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H4 Headlight Upgrade! Anyone done it?

  • Thread starter Thread starter gmoore
  • Start date Start date
Most of the GSes came with H4 lights, starting in '80, so that's no problem at all.

As rustybronco said, it happens all the time.

If you are getting the one in your link, make sure it does NOT include that blue bulb. You want a WHITE bulb, in the stock 55/60 watts.

.
 
I did it in 1979, and loved the improvement. No charging problems, either.
 
Steve said:
Most of the GSes came with H4 lights, starting in '80, so that's no problem at all.

As rustybronco said, it happens all the time.

If you are getting the one in your link, make sure it does NOT include that blue bulb. You want a WHITE bulb, in the stock 55/60 watts.

.
Click to expand...

A small disagreement....it depends on which "blue" is involved.

I have compared the stock halogen 4300k with 4800K and 5600K xenon bulbs, which both came with a blue coating that affects the colour temperature of the light emitted, and found a noticeable improvement in illumination with the xenon ones. (Approximately 5500K is equivalent to daylight in colour temperature.) It it not so important in city riding, but on empty roads with no other lighting, these bulbs can make a significant difference.

Going above 6000K moves you into a new area, however, as the blue in the light issued becomes more intense, and as the numbers rise higher the illumination value depreciates rapidly. This depreciating effect is what you get with HID lighting, as well, as human eyes work best with light that is in the daylight portion of the visible spectrum
 
Allie said:
Done it. Do it. A spare H4 fits in your tail section too, along with other bulbs and fuses.
Click to expand...
And you can fit yet another one in the bike's tail section. :-\\\


argonsagas said:
Approximately 5500K is equivalent to daylight in colour temperature.
Click to expand...
Absolutely no argument that 5500K is equivalent to daylight.
noway.gif


Where I tend to disagree is with the assumption that daylight "color" is best. :o

Ever wonder why shooters wear yellow glasses? Ever notice the popularity/effectiveness of ?Blue-Blocker" sunglasses? :-k

Both of them work on the same physiologic principle. Ultraviolet light scatters in the fluid of the human eye, over-exciting the receptors on the retina. Blocking UV with yellow lenses keeps the retina more relaxed, allowing you to see better. The higher "color temps" produce more UV light, which gives the appearance of being brighter, but only because your eye is being over-excited. For the actual ability to see better, "color temps" closer to 4000K work better. If you want to read a little more on this topic, you can read this page from Daniel Stern Lighting.

.
 
Hmmmm, that is some interesting stuff that I have not given too much thought.
I will most certainly keep that in mind.

And thank you guys for the feedback, I will definitely be making this upgrade!

Is there a legal reason to keep the light bulb @ 60/55 watts?? what about getting a more powerful bulb? Wouldn't a 100/55 bulb be better and provide more visibility from the high beam?
 
gmoore said:
Is there a legal reason to keep the light bulb @ 60/55 watts?? what about getting a more powerful bulb? Wouldn't a 100/55 bulb be better and provide more visibility from the high beam?
Click to expand...

Nessism said:
Yes, it will. But it's illegal so you could get a ticket.
Click to expand...
Agree. It will give you better light on high beam. But, ... (you know there's always a big butt in there somewhere
butt1.gif
)

Like nessism said, it is illegal. However, the probability of being caught with an illegal bulb is rather small, unless you have vehicle inspections that either look at the bulb or put a meter in front of it.

Some riders tend to run with high beams on during the daytime. Some states actually suggest doing so in the motorcyle rider's handbook.
Sitting behind someone at a light with a 100-watt light staring in their mirror is somewhat "less than polite".

I don't know how many on this forum use a headlight modulator. If you do use one, you have to make sure it's rated for the higher load.

The additional load will also push the charging system to its limits. The saving grace there is that, when you slow down in town, you are more likely to use the low beam, reducing the load at the same time the stator is less-able to handle it.

Lastly, you would want to be sure to upgrade the wiring to the headlight. All of the current going to the headlight goes through the small contacts in the dimmer switch in the left handgrip. The brighter light will about double the current through those small contacts, increasing the heat. The best way to get around that is to use the stock wiring to control a relay that runs proper-sized wiring from the battery to the headlight, much as the popular "coil relay mod" assures proper voltage to the coils.

.
 
I'm a complete newb and have some headlight questions in this area. I bought a gs850 with a windjammer. I took that ugly thing off and now I need a headlight and blinker setup. I want the h4 upgrade, but I'm confused about a few things.

When I took off the windjammer it had a wiring harness that just clipped into place. I unclipped it and removed it. Is that only for the windjammer? Would I have to rewire things to install a new headlight setup? Or is there a setup that would click in so my blinkers and everything work. If I do need to rewire it all is there a link you can give me to some instructions on this?

Thanks!
 
In the 80's put an 80/100 bulb in my Commando and one in my brother's 650 Seca. In the Seca, it literally smoked the low beam wiring. I don't understand why no fuse broke. On the Comando, it hasd a short life and I went back to a 55/60.

You should not need any wiring changes to go back to stock on the headlight. Normally, a windjammer has a pigtail to the stock harness that unplugs.

Check out the color GS850 wiring harness on Cliff's site. That should match your bike well enough if it is pre '81.

Usually, the headlight shell and mounting ears are missing on a Windjammer equipped bike, but sometimes you get lucky. The stock ears have mounting points for the stock turn signals. I would look for the missing parts here, and on E Bay rather than going aftermarket, but you can go either way. The L stuff is easier to find. I think I have a set of somewhat rusty L brackets somewhere I think. I'll never use them.

I generally source the parts I need before removing the Jammer.
 
Normally I would find parts first but I'm not currently riding the bike. I picked it up cheap and I'm getting it up to par right now. Why I want on the carb stuff I got bored and removed the windjammer. I think I found most of what I need on ebay.

Do you think the chrome ring around the headlight in the windjammer would fit around the regular headlight? It would save me $25 if it did, :)
 
modifieddesign said:
Do you think the chrome ring around the headlight in the windjammer would fit around the regular headlight? It would save me $25 if it did, :)
Click to expand...
Nope. That Vetter ring is unique to the Vetter headlight bucket. You should be able to move the whole bucket over, though.

.
 
Re:"A spare H4 bulb in tail sction..etc".Most likely illegal.."but"..might repell those pesky cell phone talkin',eatin',drinkin',sleepin'non-thinkin' cage non-drivin' tailgaters,if mounted and turned on,when they get to close to motorcycle rider on road:a back-off please signal warning of sorts,a wake up notice signal:hello,can you see me now?Maybe shoulda' used the blue/yellow megaK watt kelvin retina sin-ger model,but need 2 big batteries that won'fit on bike,seems to be gettin'more diff.out on road all the time,but gotta' try to cope somehow.Shine a light.
 
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