ANOTHER headlight mod- OPINIONS NEEDED!

[07FZ6]

Ok, over the last month I have looked over all the different options for modding my headlight. There are several great options, but to be honest I am a lazy SOB, and want something more simple.

SO, Here is what I am thinking of doing, can someone smarter than me tell me why it is a bad idea?

Autozone sells a replacement three prong headlight socket for like $3.99, this plug is identical to our LEFT side plug. Why couldnt a guy simply take one of these plugs, wire it direct to the left side headlight socket wiring and plug it into a modified H4 bulb using cashcrazy's method to make it fit our right housings.

I cant find a reason it wouln't work, The right bulb would react just as the left does (both lows on at same time, when you switch to highs, both sides light up) An Identical setup as the left side re-created on the right.

Another great feature would be since I wont be touching the OEM left side wiring or socket, it could just hang out of the way, and if the time came that I had to switch back to an H7, I would just plug it back in the stock way.

HERE IS AN ILLUSTRATION OF MY IDEA

 

[SirIsaac]

Ok, over the last month I have looked over all the different options for modding my headlight. There are several great options, but to be honest I am a lazy SOB, and want something more simple.

SO, Here is what I am thinking of doing, can someone smarter than me tell me why it is a bad idea?

Autozone sells a replacement three prong headlight socket for like $3.99, this plug is identical to our LEFT side plug. Why couldnt a guy simply take one of these plugs, wire it direct to the left side headlight socket wiring and plug it into a modified H4 bulb using cashcrazy's method to make it fit our right housings.

I cant find a reason it wouln't work, The right bulb would react just as the left does (both lows on at same time, when you switch to highs, both sides light up) An Identical setup as the left side re-created on the right.

Another great feature would be since I wont be touching the OEM left side wiring or socket, it could just hang out of the way, and if the time came that I had to switch back to an H7, I would just plug it back in the stock way.

HERE IS AN ILLUSTRATION OF MY IDEA

I may not fully understand your proposal, but neither the existing left nor right sockets on our FZ6 have three wires. Does your plan call for doing the BD43 mod (add a low-beam wire from the wiring harness to the right-side bulb connector) first? If so, and you will then basically wire another three-prong H4 connector in parallel with that one to connect to an H4 bulb that has been modified to fit into the left socket, it should work. If I drew up your proposal, it would look like the attached illustration. The down-side to this is that it for both high and low, it runs two bulbs through one supply wire, so you will have a little extra voltage drop resulting in slightly dimmer lights. I don’t know if the difference would be noticeable.

 

[Less]

I got the impression he was trying to avoid doing the BD43 mod.

By putting in a 3 prong connector on the left side with the new H4 bulb, and running jumpers between the two connectors he would effectively pick up the low beam for the right side from the existing hot on the left side and in return pick up the new high beam on the left side from the existing high beam wire on the right side. Using the existing wiring going back to the switch to initiate hi-lo beams on both sides.

 

[Boneman]

I concur with SirIsac.

You need to add in the '3rd wire' from the wiring harness. Basically, I think you will need to do exactly what I did for wiring up my HID lights, which, if I'm understanding what you are wanting, is what you need to do.

This gives me dual low and dual high beams.

 

[Less]

What about this? Using the existing wiring into the new 3 prong left side connector. You are effectively just creating two jumpers. Lo to Hi beam from left to right and Hi to Lo beam from right to left.

 

[manas12]

OK, I have a quick question here. Will the H4 bulb plug in to the exisiting area for the H7 bulb? I am guess I will also need to replace the socket as well right? Is the size of the socket same?

And since I have already done bd43's dual headlight mod, I can splice the new wire from the harness and connect it to the new H4 socket, correct? Edit: Boneman already answered this question. Thanks Boneman.

 

[SirIsaac]

I got the impression he was trying to avoid doing the BD43 mod.

So did I, I just don't think it is doable.

By putting in a 3 prong connector on the left side with the new H4 bulb, and running jumpers between the two connectors he would effectively pick up the low beam for the right side from the existing hot on the left side and in return pick up the new high beam on the left side from the existing high beam wire on the right side. Using the existing wiring going back to the switch to initiate hi-lo beams on both sides.

What about this? Using the existing wiring into the new 3 prong left side connector. You are effectively just creating two jumpers. Lo to Hi beam from left to right and Hi to Lo beam from right to left.

The factory low-beam wire stays on all of the time. I'm pretty sure that your suggestions will result in both filaments in both bulbs being on when the high beams are activated. The total headlight draw will be about 230 Watts. This is beyond the capacity of the charging system, and the battery will be in a discharge state whenever the high beams are on. To get around this, you either need the BD43 wire, or a relay to shut off the low-beams when the high beams come on.

 

[Fred]

My bike is set up like this now. It works.

But really, you should install headlight relays with this setup, since you'll be doubling the amount of current through the high/low switch.

Fred

 

[SirIsaac]

OK, I have a quick question here. Will the H4 bulb plug in to the exisiting area for the H7 bulb? I am guess I will also need to replace the socket as well right? Is the size of the socket same?

As detailed here:
http://www.600riders.com/forum/fz6-mods/2927-real-head-lamp-modification-making-h4-bulb-fit-into-h7-socket.html
the H4 bulb needs to be trimmed to fit on the left side.

 

[Less]

So did I, I just don't think it is doable.





The factory low-beam wire stays on all of the time. I'm pretty sure that your suggestions will result in both filaments in both bulbs being on when the high beams are activated. The total headlight draw will be about 230 Watts. This is beyond the capacity of the charging system, and the battery will be in a discharge state whenever the high beams are on. To get around this, you either need the BD43 wire, or a relay to shut off the low-beams when the high beams come on.

I beleive you are right. I had not considered that the low beam is always on on the left side. That's why I'm reluctant to do electrical work.

 

[wolfc70]

Ok, over the last month I have looked over all the different options for modding my headlight. There are several great options, but to be honest I am a lazy SOB, and want something more simple.

SO, Here is what I am thinking of doing, can someone smarter than me tell me why it is a bad idea?

Autozone sells a replacement three prong headlight socket for like $3.99, this plug is identical to our LEFT side plug. Why couldnt a guy simply take one of these plugs, wire it direct to the left side headlight socket wiring and plug it into a modified H4 bulb using cashcrazy's method to make it fit our right housings.

I cant find a reason it wouln't work, The right bulb would react just as the left does (both lows on at same time, when you switch to highs, both sides light up) An Identical setup as the left side re-created on the right.

Another great feature would be since I wont be touching the OEM left side wiring or socket, it could just hang out of the way, and if the time came that I had to switch back to an H7, I would just plug it back in the stock way.

HERE IS AN ILLUSTRATION OF MY IDEA

This will not work. In an OEM setup, the left bulb (sitting on the bike) is low beam, the right is high beam. Taking wires from the left bulb to the right will give you both low beams. BUT, by not using the right bulb connector, you eliminated the high beam completely. The BD43 mod takes the low beam power from the bikes harness and send it to the low beam filament on the right side bulb.

By doing what you have outlined in your schematic, you are also doubling the current that the stock wiring has to deal with. While it might be ok, there is a reason Yamaha only has one filament per set of wires. The stock headlight wires are a pretty small gauge wire, and I would not feel comfortable running 10 amps through them. Also the right side bulb is an H4, as it has two filaments, the LEFT side is an H7, and only has one filament. People modify the H4 to fit on the left side, that way you have two high and two low beam bulbs.

And really the BD43 mod is really simple and requires no splices or cuts of the factory wiring. Thus it can be removed easily if needed to get back to stock.

 

[SirIsaac]

But really, you should install headlight relays with this setup, since you'll be doubling the amount of current through the high/low switch.
Fred

Agreed. If I was going to do this, I'd probably connect as illustrated on the attached (which is probably pretty close to how yours is connected)