My name is Simon, and I have an obsession with headlights. There, out and proud
My friends and I frequently find ourselves returning from green laning trips in the dark, sometimes 2 hours or more back from Wales. I've been searching for good headlight units for years, but the Open Enduro has a half candle power glow worm behind it's tiny foggy glass (plastic) lens. My own TTR came with a UFO Plastics headlamp shroud with a lamp the same size as the blue models. I eventually discovered Baja Designs in the USA who do a good glass lensed unit of that size (5" x 3.5") which takes an H4 55/60w bulb which I am satisfied with. The only improvement now for it would be a PROPER led bulb that maintains the beam shape/spread but that has so far eluded me. I'm now restoring another OE and want to maintain the original cowl (call me bloody minded) Hours at the keyboard eventually came up with this
on ebay. Glass lens, metal reflector, H4 bulb, Lens 4.75" x 3.25".
Stripped it down (shame, lovely chromework), drilled the spotwelds holding the brackets on the OE lamp, removed them and bonded them to the new unit with seam sealer (car body shop stuff used to bond panels on cars). Bonded the lens into the reflector as it relies on spring clips in it's chrome home.
Shaped the top of the aperture, apperture, aporture, hole in the shroud with the Dremel to suit the curve of the lens, new holes in the bracket lower than the originals, trimming off the waste and hey presto:
And...
Works really well. Long throw main beam and good spread of light for dip beam.
Worth it? Thirty odd quid and a weekend in the workshop (off and on) To me, yes. If I was making a habit of off road riding in the dark, led auxiliary lights are obviously the way, but "last trail of the day" and 2 hours home in the dark - it's just the job.
One other thing I do to get the most out of my lights is to use a pair of relays to supply power to the bulb to give max voltage and so max light output: Power up to relays direct (fused) from the battery, and use the existing switch for switching current only. It's an old classic car/bike trick to avoid the voltage drop associated with thin wires and oem switchgear. Relays can be seen on my OE below.
If anyone comes across a true H4 led replacement bulb that works, please let me know! I have considered hid conversions, but I'm now happy with the light output, it's the current draw that's my new challenge.
) Hours at the keyboard eventually came up with this
