Author Topic: The most powerfull headlamp  (Read 14417 times)

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slarty-bart-farst

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The most powerfull headlamp
« on: April 13, 2007, 01:42:45 AM »
If you want to see where you are going at night you got to do 2 things and in  this order:-

1) Relay out the supply to the headlamp, you dont need to do any more and for $12 or £6 you will have 100% more light. The standard loom drops 2volts when its new, it just kills the headlight power. http://www.tekwyze.com/headlamp.pdf

2) Now you can really go to town, with power feeds as shown on the attched PDF you can run almost any lamp, I fitted a Marelli replacment with 130 W 80W Xeon bulb.  I get 0.1v drop and if you hold your hand in front of the lamp in will burn. Awesum! This thing lights the road like the very best cars or bikes and looks standard, but the main reason it performs is its getting the full battery voltage (minus 0.1v) so remember relay out first then think about a lamp/bulb

As a plus point no one ever forgets to dip comming the other way ;)
« Last Edit: April 13, 2007, 01:49:21 AM by slarty-bart-farst »

Offline Gordon

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Re: The most powerfull headlamp
« Reply #1 on: April 13, 2007, 07:31:50 AM »
Sure, you can attach a 130/80W bulb, but how long will your battery last?

Offline Steve F

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Re: The most powerfull headlamp
« Reply #2 on: April 13, 2007, 09:39:54 AM »
I've done the relay thing for the headlamp, and agree 100% about the brighter beam.  I would be a little less enthusiastic about putting a higher wattage bulb in there, for two reasons. 1) like GORDON says, the amperage required to keep the battery cahrged and the bike running may be too much for the alternator to keep up. and 2) the heat like made mention of may get too hot for the headlight bucket, cause remember you have all of those wires directly behind the headlight reflector that aren't immune to getting fried.
I went with all led's on my bike so I would enjoy the luxury of more available power for the important things like 3 ohm coils and headlight brightness.  Do you still have the standard bulbs on your bike?

Offline clarkjh

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Re: The most powerfull headlamp
« Reply #3 on: April 13, 2007, 03:34:15 PM »
Where did you get the relays?

James
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Offline Gordon

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Re: The most powerfull headlamp
« Reply #4 on: April 13, 2007, 04:25:09 PM »
Where did you get the relays?

James

You can get standard 12V relays at any auto parts store.  I have two on my 750.  One running the aftermarket horns and the other running power directly from the battery to the coils.  Remember to install an in-line fuse if you're going to use them, because you'll be bypassing the stock fuse. 

Offline clarkjh

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Re: The most powerfull headlamp
« Reply #5 on: April 13, 2007, 06:06:56 PM »
Thanks Gordon

James
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Offline ChevelleSSLS6

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Re: The most powerfull headlamp
« Reply #6 on: April 13, 2007, 10:01:05 PM »
post a chintzy wiring diagram for the noobs!

my headlight is retarded on my 550...  might as well rewire it. ;D
"What about incomplete idiots?" -TwoTired
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slarty-bart-farst

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Re: The most powerfull headlamp
« Reply #7 on: April 14, 2007, 02:46:09 AM »
No concern about battery, alternator output 165W ;load is lamp 130,tail 5,poilet 5, high beam 2, clocks,8, duty cycle flashers tail etc 5, ignition 5 total =160w so 5w spare

Therfore battery lasts infinity!

Forget the pointy head stuff these oid 750s have a power system way ahead for there time, they can still put most modern bikes to shame. This stuff is my business and Honda way way over engineered the generating system.

Yep I know the starter takes a wack but I never have a problem and you dont drive round at night all the time either, or do you ;)??

Heat is all radiant so is reflected forward, no melted headlamps don't worry, you can see from my pics the wires are still O.K the headlamp runs cool to the touch at the back.

To answer concerns about the battery think of it this way, the battery does act as a buffer between drain and charge and if your gonna run a big bulb you will give the system a work out but it's nothing it can't deal with.

And if like on the latter bikes 550 etc wher Mr Honda thought time to pair down the safety factor of the charging system you find that for YOUR situation where you need the llights for X amount of time YOUR battery is going flat well that simply means you have quite cheaply found out that your power generating sysyem does not fit YOUR needs and you will have to upgrade the gen system or accept the old smaller origanal 55w bulb.

But! you only spent $6 extra on a 130w bulb however you have relayed out the lighting circ anyway so you get free 100% more light, bigger sparks in the ignition, brighter tail/stop lamp, cars dipping for you, no concern over age of the current wiring..... its a no brainer really.  I would urge you to try this if you want fantastic lighting but remember its 2 steps relays first, bigger bulbs if you want later.

Oh yes wiring diagram is on the link in my first post, good luck.

Also the 750 is on conventioal bulbs all round, I have other bikes on LEDs but I do not like the narrow spread of light in the 750s indicators and rear lamp, they would be OK in the clocks maybe, but the 750 dont need the LEDs to provide spare capacity it has it anyway.  My Yammaha GTS 1000 93 seems to have a less capable gen system than the 750, there is no downside to fitting the relays and this allows you to try big bulbs, what you do from that point is up to your needs but don't try fitting big bulbs wthout relays.

Garham
« Last Edit: April 14, 2007, 09:33:19 AM by slarty-bart-farst »

Offline GroovieGhoulie

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Re: The most powerfull headlamp
« Reply #8 on: April 14, 2007, 12:54:34 PM »
If you are saddled with one of the later bikes with the lights on all the time, (like me), you can retrofit a factory right-hand switch from an earlier bike, allowing you to turn the light off during the day and when tuning in the garage.  It'll save the load on the system since you'll only be using the headlamp at night.

Offline Steve F

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Re: The most powerfull headlamp
« Reply #9 on: April 14, 2007, 05:19:20 PM »
If you are saddled with one of the later bikes with the lights on all the time, (like me), you can retrofit a factory right-hand switch from an earlier bike, allowing you to turn the light off during the day and when tuning in the garage.  It'll save the load on the system since you'll only be using the headlamp at night.
Where I live, headlights on all the time is the law for motorcycles, and there's no exception.  :-\ I prefer to keep the amperage draw to a minimum so that's why I went with the led's (besides looking cool).  I feel that the less draw on the electrical system, the cooler everything will run, and save a little (very little) gas in the process.  The relay for the headlight was a remarkable improvement.  You can tell this right away when going to high to low and back with the "immediate" reaction of the filaments in the headlight.  On my other 750F, with no relay and the same bulb, the light is dimmer, and reaction is way s l o w e r.  You COULD feasibly use just one relay, but the headlight would stay on while cranking the engine.

Offline TomC

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Re: The most powerfull headlamp
« Reply #10 on: April 14, 2007, 05:34:53 PM »
Hi slarty-bart-farst
     Would please tell us more about your 5 watt ignition system.
          TomC
TomC in Ohio
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Offline GroovieGhoulie

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Re: The most powerfull headlamp
« Reply #11 on: April 14, 2007, 07:41:01 PM »
If you are saddled with one of the later bikes with the lights on all the time, (like me), you can retrofit a factory right-hand switch from an earlier bike, allowing you to turn the light off during the day and when tuning in the garage.  It'll save the load on the system since you'll only be using the headlamp at night.
Where I live, headlights on all the time is the law for motorcycles, and there's no exception.  :-\

That sucks dude.  In Texas, where I am, I think the cutoff is somewhere in the late '70s.  Louisiana is the same way, which is where the Army sent me.


slarty-bart-farst

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Re: The most powerfull headlamp
« Reply #12 on: April 15, 2007, 03:43:10 AM »
Tom C You are totaly right theres no way the ignition runs at 5w its 50w sorry for the typo. Also screwd up on output its 210w, my appologies so let me run the numbers again but I ran these calcs some time agao and knew these was a 5w safty margin worst case:-

130 lamp + 2w high beam indicator, 50w ignition, 5w tail, 5w piolet, (5w duty cycle stop and indicators, neutral lamp, horn) (instrument lights 4x2w=8 ) total load = 205 leaves 5w spare.

This assumes worst case and yes we can argue with th eduty cycle calc its got to be an estimate, but I know my system works and never a battery problem.   Looking at the small loads ie the 2 w lamps these soon mount up so now I look at this ( 2w high beam 8w instrument lights, 5 w piolet = 15w) there is a very usefull gain to be had just replacing these small lamps.  If you did the turn signal repeater and neutarl lamp you may gain the full 15w as the LEDS only draw 0.1W each.  This would leave about a 20w safty margin for the supply, this assumes headlamp on full all the time.  Remember on dip you gain back 130-80= 50 w.

Re Leds, I agree with their use to drop demand on the system always a good thing, but the one ive tried from virtual village on ebay do not spread the light as well as a conventional bulb. Maybes you could mail me a link of the ones you have

Offline Steve F

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Re: The most powerfull headlamp
« Reply #13 on: April 15, 2007, 05:37:38 PM »

Re Leds, I agree with their use to drop demand on the system always a good thing, but the one ive tried from virtual village on ebay do not spread the light as well as a conventional bulb. Maybes you could mail me a link of the ones you have
Led's I used are shown in the attached pic.  DOT truck light for the tail light in a one-off billet mount, same for the license plate light, and 1157 red bulbs (x4) for the rear running and turn signals, 1157 ambers up front.  All the idiot lights are led's too.  I'm running DYNA 3ohm coils now, and love it.

Offline clarkjh

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Re: The most powerfull headlamp
« Reply #14 on: April 15, 2007, 05:45:18 PM »
I just put the relays for the headlight in today, BIG difference.  The only drawback I found is that now there is even Less room in the bucket, tight squeeze.  Now to get LEDs for the rest of the lights. :D

James
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Offline Steve F

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Re: The most powerfull headlamp
« Reply #15 on: April 16, 2007, 02:13:36 AM »
I mounted the relays in the triangular section of the frame in the area where the coils are, since I didn't have enough room in the headlight bucket.  Only problem (not really a problem) is that the coils induce a magnetic field in the relay and makes my high beam led indicator glow very dim when the bike is running.  :-\

Offline francisew

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Re: The most powerfull headlamp
« Reply #16 on: April 16, 2007, 07:55:20 AM »
My '83 CB650 SC has a lot of trouble staying charged, with the standard headlight. Still, the relay might result in less wasted current...

I definitely can't upgrade the bulb without risking getting stuck without power for the starter (no kickstart on my bike).

I liked the complete LED upgrade by Steve F. I upgraded my rear light to an LED, though now the rear light indicator is always on (I guess that the LED doesn't draw enough current to let the indicator know that the light isn't burnt). I'll try adding a second LED in the back to get more light out, since it isn't very bright.

I had thought about wiring LED's into the dash panel, but hadn't gotten around to it. It'll be cool to have it all replaced.

Oh, and in Quebec, all bikes are required to drive with lights on 24/7, so the light enable/disable switch wouldn't be much use... other than for garage work.

After reading about the 3ohm Dyna coils, I'm curious about replacing plugs and wires. My spark plug wires are definitely due for changing, as they're no longer solid rubber, but rather cracked and wires exposed in places. Does anyone have suggestions that cost less than the 40-80$ for the 4? I think something new is better than something old, but I'm not sure what would work best. I read somewhere that using the wrong spark plug wires can burn out the ignition coils... (wrong resistance/inductance causes a short in the coils?)

Francis

Offline speedracer741

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Re: The most powerfull headlamp
« Reply #17 on: April 17, 2007, 09:59:11 PM »
We have to run headlights all day here as well. I have just tested an HID install with great results. 35 watts, 3 times the power of halogen. Yeah it's more spendy than halogen but will last many times longer and really lights up the road! This bucket is from a KZ but uses the same 7 inch headlamp as all of my CB's. I will be using this on all of my bikes from now on for sure. I have also used high power halogen bulbs in the past and used the relay system and I can say that yes, it really works!
« Last Edit: April 17, 2007, 10:03:05 PM by speedracer741 »
Chris

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Offline francisew

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Re: The most powerfull headlamp
« Reply #18 on: April 18, 2007, 06:49:05 AM »
That's pretty cool.

How much was it?

Francis

Offline speedracer741

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Re: The most powerfull headlamp
« Reply #19 on: April 18, 2007, 05:37:33 PM »
I purchased automoitive kits for both the HID system and the H4 conversion headlight so I have 2 of everything. The total cost for one bike is just under $100.00 including the shipping! Well worth it if you ask me. I have a thread going on the install:

http://www.sohc4.us/forums/index.php?topic=19912.0
Chris

'74 CB750K
'76 CB750F
'75 CB550K
'71 CB500K
'77 KZ1000 x2
'78 KZ650 TURBO
'80 KZ750LTD
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Offline Rsnip988

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Re: The most powerfull headlamp
« Reply #20 on: April 21, 2007, 03:14:20 AM »
THe link isnt working for me... is there any way someone can cut and paste it?
R.K.S.

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slarty-bart-farst

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Re: The most powerfull headlamp
« Reply #21 on: April 21, 2007, 09:28:57 AM »
Chriss

Thats HID and reflector is the dogs do dars, does the reflector dip to the right side? If it dips flat I'll go for a couple of those.

Thanks

Graham

Offline Rsnip988

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Re: The most powerfull headlamp
« Reply #22 on: April 22, 2007, 06:26:39 PM »
nevermind... it seems to be working fine now
R.K.S.

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1976 CB750 K6 Cafe'ish

Offline francisew

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Re: The most powerfull headlamp
« Reply #23 on: April 23, 2007, 12:48:50 PM »
Hrm. 2 Questions:

a) It's a circular, not rectangular light, right?

b) What are you doing with the second one?

I'd love to put something like this on my bike, but my headlamp is rectangular.

Francis

I purchased automoitive kits for both the HID system and the H4 conversion headlight so I have 2 of everything. The total cost for one bike is just under $100.00 including the shipping! Well worth it if you ask me. I have a thread going on the install:

http://www.sohc4.us/forums/index.php?topic=19912.0


Offline Rsnip988

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Re: The most powerfull headlamp
« Reply #24 on: April 24, 2007, 03:51:13 AM »
just buy a circular HID light and there ya go... ;)

I'm just kidding there should be a way to upgrade your too, its still the same plug isnt it?
R.K.S.

1976 CB750 K6 Full

1976 CB750 K6 Cafe'ish