Currant headlight options?

[Rich G]

Hello All!

Searched all the way to page 14! lots of good info about everything, this site is da bomb!
Anyway I would like to do a headlight upgrade. I want to keep a single round light. I want to stay away from any radical looking conversions. I found the 599 conversion, but if I read correctly, he is no longer selling them or the upgrade harness. What other good looking, bright and easy to do options are out there?

TIA

Rich

[NT696]

Honda Hornet (CB 900) headlights are the same diameter, but have a modern design faceted reflector. I got one off of E-bay recently, but it came pretty banged up. It will take a little more work before I can get it mounted. Combined with a direct-drive relay, it should just about be as bright as the sun.

[Rich G]

Thanks!

Can you tell me more about the relay?

Rich

[MrDude_1]

Re: Thanks!

Can you tell me more about the relay?

Rich

you need a 12volt relay (a generic one is availible at any autoparts store.. i prefer BOSCH ones)

a inline fuse holder.. theres usually a sealed "heavy duty" one if you have a chouce... also availible at the autoparts store



run a wire from the battery immediatly to the fuse holder.

then from the fuse to the relay.. and the relay directly to the headlight.

take the old headlight power wire and connect it to the relay turn-on post..
ground the other end of the relay coil



now whenever you turn the headlight on, it clicks the relay on, and the headlight has a direct connection to the battery.

[Tusk]

I seem to remember someone along the line doing an SV650 headlight mounting on a hawk.
(insert pause whilst Tusk does some "searching")

Here's one from hawkgt.com: http://hawkgt.com/photoalbum/display...ch&cat=0&pos=0

Unfortunately I know no details. However a search on the archive from the mail list may help.

[KDNYC]

Honda Hornet (CB 900) headlights are the same diameter, but have a modern design faceted reflector. I got one off of E-bay recently, but it came pretty banged up. It will take a little more work before I can get it mounted. Combined with a direct-drive relay, it should just about be as bright as the sun.

Does this require an upgraded relay? I'd love to get a slightly stronger light without having to create a new wiring harness.

[MrDude_1]

Honda Hornet (CB 900) headlights are the same diameter, but have a modern design faceted reflector. I got one off of E-bay recently, but it came pretty banged up. It will take a little more work before I can get it mounted. Combined with a direct-drive relay, it should just about be as bright as the sun.

Does this require an upgraded relay? I'd love to get a slightly stronger light without having to create a new wiring harness.

you will get a stronger light from just the wiring upgrade then from any light upgrade.... of course if you do both, it gets really bright. lol. and some lights require a wiring(relay) upgrade because they pull too much power for the stock stuff.

[NT696]

Does this require an upgraded relay? I'd love to get a slightly stronger light without having to create a new wiring harness.

No. No new relay required.
From the milktree site; the Hawk suffers from two basic lighting faults. The small gauge wire, and the lots of switches and connections it has to pass through, and a poor reflector design. The electrical problems result in only 9.4V actually getting to the bulb. The poor reflector design is solved by swapping out the entire headlight bucket assembly, for one of a newetr design. I chose the Hornet because it is the most similar to the stock look. New side brackets will likely need to be made to attach to the stock bracket, or fork clamps if you prefer.
You will definitely see some improvement in the light output by changing the reflector, but probably bigger difference if the wiring harness is inproved. BTW the direct drive relay route only adds wires alongside the existing ones, you keep the stock harness. The hardest part is connecting to the backside of the bulb.

[SkinnE]

I'm lucky enough to have a Milktree relay (with stock headlight), and I can tell you it's a Huge improvement. Night riding is no longer frightening, and I often get oncoming traffic flashing me thinking my high/main beam is on when it's not. And yes, my headlight aim is correct.

I would say try to rig up a relay before investing in new parts. I think Milktree's www.hawkworks.net site might still have some info regarding a DIY option. He seemed to be pretty good about sharing his knowledge that way. I'm not sure if you can click to the info from the home page, but if it's still there a search of that domain should work.

Oh and just a FYI and a possible free upgrade:

Recently I had to add a parking light to the inside of my headlight to appease a very picky, new-to-me MOT inspector. While I was in there, I gently stuffed a clean rag inside the headlight body and pushed it around. I was a bit surprised to see how dirty it came out, and how much cleaner the whole assembly looked. Accordingly my light was much whiter afterwards.

E

[Roberto]

Xenon upgrade to standard? I found a link to a site that did the proper conversion, not just a blue coated bulb. Will try dig it out.

[KDNYC]

Thanks for the explanation. I've seen the Milktree site, and will look into creating a relay.

[motorcycleman]

Oh and just a FYI and a possible free upgrade:

Recently I had to add a parking light to the inside of my headlight to appease a very picky, new-to-me MOT inspector. While I was in there, I gently stuffed a clean rag inside the headlight body and pushed it around. I was a bit surprised to see how dirty it came out, and how much cleaner the whole assembly looked. Accordingly my light was much whiter afterwards.

E

My bike has the same dirty look to the internals of the headlight, and is fairly yellowed from age (darn plastic lens) .... I noticed that a friends '96 honda Hawk has the same headlight - so getting a new one shouldn't be a problem.

[SkinnE]

My bike has the same dirty look to the internals of the headlight, and is fairly yellowed from age (darn plastic lens) .... I noticed that a friends '96 honda Hawk has the same headlight - so getting a new one shouldn't be a problem.

Eh, '96 Hawk? Do you maybe mean Superhawk?

I thought mine looked pretty yellow too, but it really cleared up a lot after cleaning it. It's worth doing as it brightens your light and only costs you the hassle of stuffing the wires back into the bucket.

E

[brewsy]

BTW Rich (and I'm sorry I just couldn't resist this one)...

What have dried fruits got to do with your headlight then???




LOL

Marc

[DefTrap]

The lens on my h-light looks almost opaque. Maybe a clean is in order? ....