Miss November XS2 tribute

Interesting. As I suspected, there are issues which I am as yet unaware of. The unknown unknowns so to speak.

Some of the cheap LED replacements on offer have extensive finning behind the bulb, which looked unlikely to fit.

Some reviewers spoke about how well or not the centre of the light source matched the incandescent bulb - affects whether the light is focussed correctly into main and dipped beams or dazzles oncoming drivers. Less of an issue as not likely to ride the XS much after dark. But I don't want to annoy drivers either.

The MoT might be a problem for some older vehicles but Miss November is old enough (over 40) to be registered as an historic vehicle. The legal position was changed 2 or 3 years ago - historic vehicles no longer face an annual MoT inspection BUT it is the owner's responsibility to ensure that the vehicle is roadworthy, ie meets all MoT requirements.

Which maybe leaves enough room for a little bit of sensible interpretation.
 
Today, investigation.

The LED bulb has turned up already:

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Took the headlamp out to have a look. Hope these pictures show the problem. As said earlier, the ring that holds the bulb holder is loose - it can drop down inside the headlamp unit. In fact, with a bit of wiggling, it can be pulled out.

PICT2721.JPG PICT2724.JPG PICT2726.JPG PICT2727.JPG

I guess the ring is supposed to be fixed in place? I had been thinking of expoxying it but the difficulty is holding it in place while the resin goes off. Thought about employing kiddies balloon inflated inside the headlamp, but the shape of the component with the light shield part seems to preclude that approach.

Have made an offer on a Wipac headlamp unit on ebay. How bloody frustrating is the ebay auction process? Wrote to the seller, see if he'll accept an offer . . .

For now, Miss November is resting.
 
Hi Raymond,
I buy & sell quite a lot on eBay and find it fairly simple.
Most sellers respond quickly as they want good seller references regardless of whether you buy or not.
If you do buy, you leave the seller a 'feedback' dependent on the experience.
Seller does the same for the buyer.
 
Hey @Raymond partway through this vid
I flip the LED headlight through bright, dim. You can see the light pattern on the garage door, (in full daylight) it shows the effective cut off line on low beam. Note bike is on side stand hence the angle. Turnsignals, tail, brake light, all LED on that bike.....
 
Hope I get a similar result with dip beam cutoff.

Having pulled the ring out from the headlamp, it will sit in place without falling back in. Which gives the opportunity to do this:

PICT2728.JPG PICT2729.JPG

Side note - went to Galashiels to buy some Araldite epoxy but Carparts4U don't have it, stock JB Weld instead. That should be solid by morning.

Still waiting to hear from seller about Wipac headlamp.
 
Today, back together.

With the epoxy hard, easy to fit the LED bulb. Less easy to fit the three metal and one rubber rings around the front of the headlamp. All of them are round, but slightly different versions of round. However.

Clipping the outer ring over the edge of the headlamp shell then holding it while fitting the two screws is generally a two-person job but it took less time than usual for the Willing Assistant to finagle the screws in.

Said I would give photos but these are not much use. The first is dipped and the other main beam:

PICT2730.JPG PICT2730.JPG

Was hoping to show the beam pattern on the garage door but it was too faint to show up in a photo so I might have another go when it gets a bit darker later on. Though then the camera will probably use its initiative and flash.

I think the headlamp is maybe set a little bit too low. Doesn't matter a lot, the main thing is to have a bright day-running light. The LED bulb appears brighter and whiter.

For me the more interesting question is how long will the bulb last. It's not scientific because the bulb holder has now been fixed in place which should reduce the bulb being shaken & rattled around plus there's an LED bulb which is supposed to be more vibration resistant.

The guy selling a NOS Wipac 7" headlamp on ebay responded to my query about taking an offer. He has re-listed the unit Buy Now at £14 so I decided it represents a good investment. Says it will be posted 1st class on Monday but unless there's a problem with the one on the bike it will probably just sit on the shelf.

Did Yamaha fit Wipac headlamps or is that something a PO has picked up somewhere?
 

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I had 4 motorbikes...wife says hoarder
I’ve had 5 guitars wife says......hoarder
I had 2 drum kits.....wife says hoarder
I had 3 old cars... wife says ....hoarder
Now I only have one of each of the above.
I now just get bits for my one bike.......she still says hoarder
She may have been referring to my 3500+ vinyl albums mind
 
I had 4 motorbikes...wife says hoarder
I’ve had 5 guitars wife says......hoarder
I had 2 drum kits.....wife says hoarder
I had 3 old cars... wife says ....hoarder
Now I only have one of each of the above.
I now just get bits for my one bike.......she still says hoarder
She may have been referring to my 3500+ vinyl albums mind

The Future Mrs. has 26,311 pairs of shoes. Because you might need a dark blue pair (which is different from the other 368 dark blue pairs you also have) for when it rains on a Wednesday between 1:30pm and 2:45 pm and you're wearing your black pants and grey top, but you don't have a jacket (because it doesn't go with your hairstyle today), only your pink umbrella, but you are wearing your green scarf because it goes with the earrings you have on, which also goes with the bracelet on your left wrist, but not the one on your right wrist so you walk with your right hand hidden behind your purse so no one will notice the obvious mismatch, but at least you have the right pair of dark blue shoes on. Oh sh!t...today is Tuesday...............:doh:
 
The Future Mrs. has 26,311 pairs of shoes. Because you might need a dark blue pair (which is different from the other 368 dark blue pairs you also have) for when it rains on a Wednesday between 1:30pm and 2:45 pm and you're wearing your black pants and grey top, but you don't have a jacket (because it doesn't go with your hairstyle today), only your pink umbrella, but you are wearing your green scarf because it goes with the earrings you have on, which also goes with the bracelet on your left wrist, but not the one on your right wrist so you walk with your right hand hidden behind your purse so no one will notice the obvious mismatch, but at least you have the right pair of dark blue shoes on. Oh sh!t...today is Tuesday...............:doh:
I feel you. My wife is a shoe enthusiast. I sometimes refer to her as Imelda.
 
Still have not been able to take any decent photos showing the beam pattern with the LED bulb.

Been looking for specs - how much power the bulb draws. It's sold as a replacement for H4 55/60 W bulb. In one ad, manufacturer gives power as 30 Watts so I guess the saving is about 25 W running on dipped. If I understand correctly - not a safe assumption - then that means a saving of about 2 Amps on a system that produces about 11 Amps? Quite a useful saving?
 
Have you enabled your headlight on-off switch full time so you can turn it off when starting? It's simple to do on a '78 model, just unplug one wire .....

vG1TF6W.jpg
 
Can't answer your question directly. Those wires have been replaced/ function differently on Missy.

If you recall, pulled all the wiring out and built a one-off system. Which uses the lights On/Off switch on the r/h handlebar. I always have the lights off when starting the bike and usually ride through the village and out onto the main road before putting the headlight on dipped. Sometimes turn the light off when traveling slowly on little backroads, so as to give the battery an easy time. They say we all need that opportunity to recharge our batteries, LOL. But with the LED drawing less current, then the headlight will stay on pretty much all the time we're in motion.

Today, having to look at the turn signals. Left rear gave up yesterday. Went to change the bulb, but it looks fine, so now thinking a loose connection, probably in the headlamp shell area. Will have to investigate and while I'm at it, will take the opportunity to hook up the indicators - turn signals in the US - to the warning lights - indicators in the US? I don't use any of the warning lights at present but it would make sense to use the orange one for its intended purpose of confirming & reminding that the flashers are uhm, flashing.
 
Hi Raymond, post some images of the indicator work. I'm going to do a Motogadget Indicator / turn signal conversion soon and wuld be interested i your options.
 
There's not a lot to show, Adam. The wiring diagram tells it all:

Wiring Diagram.JPG


There's a wire numbered 4A from the fuse box to the flasher unit, which is always 'on'. Then a brown/white wire to the central post in the flasher switch. Turning the flasher switch completes completes the circuit through a green wire 14 to r/h inds green or green/white 12 to l/h inds. Gave each indicator unit its own earth, just to be sure to be sure.

The wire tail (?) supplied with each rear indicator unit is pulled up through a hole in the mudguard under the seat, the connects to the feed I provided through the harness. All connections are crimped 3.9 mm bullets

But the supplied tails were not very long and ran just a bit too tight. What happened to cause the rear l/h to fail was the bullet connector on the tail got pulled out. Which was not obvious until I pulled the connection open and it just came away in me hand.

The solution is I've replaced the tails with longer pieces, colour coded now. The little button terminals in the bulb holders looked a bit naff so have made up new ones with solder, rubber washers and JB weld. Try out tomorrow when the epoxy has gone off.

Oh, alright, here's a piccie of the new tails:

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Apologies for awful quality. The wires are protected for life their hard life under the mudguard with blue heat-shrink. On the ends of the buttons, the wires are terminated with solder blobs. Feed those through the bulb holders and it will be fine.

Haven't got round to wiring the warning light yet . . .
 
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