Removing dual headlight mod

[Dennis in NH]

I have the dual headlight mod no my 2008. I read how to install the headlight mod and see that to undo this mod I need to remove the extra wire going to the right side headlamp.

Basically, I removed the right side connector from the 3 prong bulb, removed the electrical tape, removed the wire, taped the wire off with the electrical tape, plugged the connector back onto the 3 prong bulb.

Now, when I turn on the bike, I get only left light on and if I switch to high beam, I get right side on. I figure I'm getting another 55 watts back and now I can hook up my heated jacket liner. I put the jacket liner on, turned it to full heat and voltage seems ok if I keep RPMs at 3-4K in neutral. We'll see how the commute goes this morning. I'll report back when I get to work.

Dennis

 

[04fizzer]

I have the dual headlight mod no my 2008. I read how to install the headlight mod and see that to undo this mod I need to remove the extra wire going to the right side headlamp.

Basically, I removed the right side connector from the 3 prong bulb, removed the electrical tape, removed the wire, taped the wire off with the electrical tape, plugged the connector back onto the 3 prong bulb.

Now, when I turn on the bike, I get only left light on and if I switch to high beam, I get right side on. I figure I'm getting another 55 watts back and now I can hook up my heated jacket liner. I put the jacket liner on, turned it to full heat and voltage seems ok if I keep RPMs at 3-4K in neutral. We'll see how the commute goes this morning. I'll report back when I get to work.

Dennis

If you wanted to get really creative, you could probably wire in a switch that would turn off the headlight mod when you turned on the liner.

 

[FZ1inNH]

If you wanted to get really creative, you could probably wire in a switch that would turn off the headlight mod when you turned on the liner.

Now THAT is a cool idea! Simple too... just splice it into the lead at the bulb and flick the switch. Good thinking!

 

[FZ1inNH]

I have the dual headlight mod no my 2008. I read how to install the headlight mod and see that to undo this mod I need to remove the extra wire going to the right side headlamp.

Basically, I removed the right side connector from the 3 prong bulb, removed the electrical tape, removed the wire, taped the wire off with the electrical tape, plugged the connector back onto the 3 prong bulb.

Now, when I turn on the bike, I get only left light on and if I switch to high beam, I get right side on. I figure I'm getting another 55 watts back and now I can hook up my heated jacket liner. I put the jacket liner on, turned it to full heat and voltage seems ok if I keep RPMs at 3-4K in neutral. We'll see how the commute goes this morning. I'll report back when I get to work.

Dennis

Dennis, you could have just simply unplugged the barrel connector I put in at the fairing wiring harness and not touched anything else.

 

[04fizzer]

Now THAT is a cool idea! Simple too... just splice it into the lead at the bulb and flick the switch. Good thinking!

Either that or a relay.

 

[Dennis in NH]

Dennis, you could have just simply unplugged the barrel connector I put in at the fairing wiring harness and not touched anything else.

I think this is exactly what I did right? only thing is I removed the whole connector so I can see better what was there.

Dennis

 

[Dennis in NH]

Thanks for the idea as I thought about putting a switch and maybe a relay but I wanted to keep it simple down there.

Anyway, on the way to work, I turned the heated jacket liner to max and things seemed ok but voltage dropped to the point where the voltmeter read yellow even at highway RPM (say 6K at 74mph).

I hit stop/go traffic (road construction) and the voltmeter went red so I turned off the heated jacket liner.

Once at highway speed, if I keep my jacket liner to just over medium (I made a mental note of the position), the voltmeter stays at green and maybe goes to yellow once in a while if my RPM goes down. I'm thinking it's fine at that setting. So the heated jacket liner is now useful :rockon: and I was warm this morning.

Next step is to try the heated gloves (I think 30 watts). The jacket liner is 90 watts. Worst case, I'll ditch the heated gloves as my hands stayed pretty warm with just the jacket liner (well, it was 55F outside so it wasn't that cold ).

Dennis

 

[04fizzer]

Thanks for the idea as I thought about putting a switch and maybe a relay but I wanted to keep it simple down there.

Anyway, on the way to work, I turned the heated jacket liner to max and things seemed ok but voltage dropped to the point where the voltmeter read yellow even at highway RPM (say 6K at 74mph).

I hit stop/go traffic (road construction) and the voltmeter went red so I turned off the heated jacket liner.

Once at highway speed, if I keep my jacket liner to just over medium (I made a mental note of the position), the voltmeter stays at green and maybe goes to yellow once in a while if my RPM goes down. I'm thinking it's fine at that setting. So the heated jacket liner is now useful :rockon: and I was warm this morning.

Next step is to try the heated gloves (I think 30 watts). The jacket liner is 90 watts. Worst case, I'll ditch the heated gloves as my hands stayed pretty warm with just the jacket liner (well, it was 55F outside so it wasn't that cold ).

Dennis

Wait, you needed a heated liner at 55? Wuss.

 

[bcityroller]

I ended up doing an emergency dual light un-mod at just past a customs booth last Sunday myself followed by a push start. Turns out that the extra light, GPS, and cranked electrics (30w gloves, 45 W vest) was too much even at sustained 7k rpm on the highway. Everything was fine with just one light running the rest of the way.

FWIW, my preference has always been gloves first then vest - warm hands mean a lot more to me in terms of comfort.

 

[04fizzer]

I ended up doing an emergency dual light un-mod at just past a customs booth last Sunday myself followed by a push start. Turns out that the extra light, GPS, and cranked electrics (30w gloves, 45 W vest) was too much even at sustained 7k rpm on the highway. Everything was fine with just one light running the rest of the way.

FWIW, my preference has always been gloves first then vest - warm hands mean a lot more to me in terms of comfort.

Also keep in mind that the max output is going to be at 5000 RPM. Running more than that won't give you more juice.

 

[FZ1inNH]

With the dual headlight mod in place, you have about 45 watts or 3 amps to play with. If you remove the 2nd light, you get 55 watts back or 100 watts total. Electrical guys, help here but that should be about 6.5 amps?

So, start adding up what you have for heated gear and any other added electical accessories and see what you collectively will use for both watts and even more important, AMPs.

Also, regarding the vest vs. hands.... Saw an interesting item on TLC about a guy who developed a pair of water circulation mitts. He had a pro swimmer in an icy cold tank of salt water and they kept him there until it was almost hypothermic. Then the guy put these mitts on the swimmer while he was in the tank and started circulating 98.6 degree water through them. In a few minutes, the swimmer said his entire body was comfortable even while remaining in the icy water. Your hands and feet, kept warm, will circulate the warmth to your core and keep your entire body warm.

After watching that, I think the hands and feet are what I'll always plug in first. Besides, a vest robs way too much power.

FYI, the FZ1 has an extra 11 amps with dual headlights running. Yamaha put quite a charging system on this bike!

 

[Dennis in NH]

Wait, you needed a heated liner at 55? Wuss.

It wasn't really necessary. I was only testing it.

Dennis

 

[04fizzer]

It wasn't really necessary. I was only testing it.

Dennis

That's about what I figured. Just busting your balls.

 

[Dennis in NH]

... Your hands and feet, kept warm, will circulate the warmth to your core and keep your entire body warm...

After watching that, I think the hands and feet are what I'll always plug in first. Besides, a vest robs way too much power. ...

I'll give just heated gloves a whirl. Only problem is I hate having to put on the heated gloves because you have to connect wires on both hands and then tuck the wires in, etc. If you don't get the wires to lay just right, it kinda bothers my hands. Then if you have to stop and take the gloves off for some reason (like getting gas), you have to repeat. Ah, Winter sucks.

Extra watts come in real handy during Winter -- nice that you have that on the FZ1.

Dennis

 

[macem29]

With the dual headlight mod in place, you have about 45 watts or 3 amps to play with. If you remove the 2nd light, you get 55 watts back or 100 watts total. Electrical guys, help here but that should be about 6.5 amps?

W=VxA soooo, 100 watts on a 12 volt system, really runs more like 13
with the generator spinning, should be +/- around 7.7 amps, sound reasonable?

 

[04fizzer]

W=VxA soooo, 100 watts on a 12 volt system, really runs more like 13
with the generator spinning, should be +/- around 7.7 amps, sound reasonable?

Had to go the long way to get there (P=I^2*R, and P=V^2/R, then back door into P=IV (what you called W=VA). At 12 volts, you're at 8.3 amps. Like you said, at 13, you're at 7.7A, and for grins, 14 volts will put you at 7.1A

 

[necrotimus]

semi off topic but i did a cold test comparing my rain liner to a fleece sweatshirt and the rain liner was warmer by far... outside of your heated items you may want to look into different materials to keep you warm

 

[specialk]

FYI, the FZ1 has an extra 11 amps with dual headlights running. Yamaha put quite a charging system on this bike!

what about putting a FZ1 charging system on the FZ6?? has anyone done this yet? If I could get a bit more juice in the electrical system then I would only be left wanting for ABS with my FZ6

 

[Shamus McFeeley]

If you wanted to get really creative, you could probably wire in a switch that would turn off the headlight mod when you turned on the liner.

I did this with my dual light setup. People called me crazy, the thread is here:

My Dual Light Thread

The short of it is that it works great for me and I have had no problems since installing it.

 

[Dennis in NH]

Dennis, you could have just simply unplugged the barrel connector I put in at the fairing wiring harness and not touched anything else.

Hi Eric,

Hm... I see on the right side of bike, the plug that goes into the right side headlight bulb (this connector has the third wire you added). I also see a wire that goes from that same plug across to the other side behind the left side of the front fairing. That wire has electrical tape in the middle ; under that tape, looks like where you (I'm guessing) soldered the 2 wires together.

So this wire must be the one that feeds that third wire for the headlight mod right? If so, this looks like a good place to cut and insert a switch. I think just cut the wire in half, put 2 spades and put them onto a switch and mount the switch up behind the fairing out of sight.

04fizzer, out of curiosity, how would you do this with a relay such that if I activated the heated jacket, the right light would turn off? I thought relays turned things on when something was powered. Is there a relay that turns things off when things are powered?

My heated jacket is away getting upgraded so I thought I'd reconnect the light. I think if I did it once, I might want to do it again hence I need a switch.

Thanks,

Dennis