Headlamp

[mikesim]

My '79 XS Special still has the OE headlamp assy. The current sealed beam bulb is rather <ahem!>, anemic. I would like to replace the bulb with an LED or at least a brighter halogen bulb. I do not however want to change the headlamp housing from OE. What are your recommendations?

Mike

 

[jetmechmarty]

I've thought about that and did some research. I thought about how much night riding do I do. Little to none. If I do, the OE light gets me home. My opinion is that a big improvement using LED is going to come with an entirely new light. It won't look vintage. Any LED lamp in a vintage light will have some compromise involved. I know others will disagree, but I looked into it and decided, NOPE. OE still works on this bike.

 

[member28833]

I agree on the vintage look (shape) of the original light. The conversion to H4 comes with that newer flat lens that sacrifices the look.
These original bulbs seem to last. I have accumulated a couple spares over the years but have never owned an XS with a burned out element.

 

[thuban]

I went with the expensive Optronics HLL93HLBP Opti-brite sealed hi/low white headlight. It is plug and play with exception of needing a strip of tape around the edge of the lite under the retaining ring. It was a bit loose. I does not look OEM but I still like the look. It is bright. I got it so cage drivers could see me not because I ride much at night. It's not glass but acrylic. About $140 bucks, no ballast to mess with. Liked it so much I got another for the CB750.
The bike has the old world charm with a 21st century look! I went thru two Sylvania sealed beams. The little blub inside would vibrate, break and fall down inside the light.

 

[bikefreakjon]

I have h4 conversion bulbs on 2 bikes. Not the absolute brightest but a lot better than the sealed beam oem!

I too lament the loss of the curved glass, but the better lighting and easy bulb replacement is worth it.

I also haven't blown a bulb since I upgraded to an electronic voltage regulator.

 

[gggGary]

Later XS like XS850 etc have an H4 reflector, perfect to mount LED bulbs in a stock housing. My goto Broview H4 S5 LEDs no longer available.

 

[Mailman]

Id say if you are truly going to ride after dark, put whatever headlight in there that gives you the light you feel comfortable with. I like that one that Thuban posted. For me now, my riding after dark days are over so stock is fine for me, but when I was commuting in city traffic after dark, I had so much candlepower on my bikes it looked like the sun was rising when I came down the road! Too much is never enough!

 

[5twins]

That's what I use in my '83, an XS850 light. I scored a complete XS850 bucket off eBay for about $25. I may try to adapt the bucket as well eventually as I think it may have more room inside for the wiring. Honestly, I don't think the flatter H-4 lens is that noticeable, and it certainly doesn't bother me.

 

[Mailman]

I don't think the flatter H-4 lens is that noticeable,

Nah, I had one on my ‘77 Beemer, I never thought it looked outa place.

 

[gggGary]

Hard to tell for sure but When I rode the Norton for a few hundred miles a couple weeks ago I felt invisible, which I wasn't really used to. I kinda thought it related to just a dim ole incandescent headlight compared to the LEDs I'm normally running.
Madness with a later XS reflector and BroView LED on a stock shell.

I'm putting an LED headlight and LED turn signal, running lights on the 70, WJL for the upcoming Iowa trip. Will follow up with pics later.

 

[jetmechmarty]

I found both of the above worthy of your time if you're looking to upgrade your illumination.

 

[RonXS]

I found both of the above worthy of your time if you're looking to upgrade your illumination.

X2 on the FortNine video... I haven't seen the other one...

A couple of comments...
- Cibie (See - Bee - eh) produced a convex (rounded) H4 headlight. Problem is that they were expensive new and are worse now. But they are out there if you want the 'look'.
- I've not seen this mentioned much... When converting H4 to LED, look for an LED bulb with one LED above and below the central 'stalk'. As tungsten and halogen bulbs emit light from one point or filament, the reflector and lens are designed to focus the light correctly. Multiple LEDs on a bulb sound good, but tend to scatter the light. Not much help if the light is not focused ahead of you. Besides it really pisses-off some drivers.

 

[Grimly]

Cibie were the best at one time, without a doubt, but other makes caught up with them.
Koito made some utterly stonking H4 7" lamps that were fitted to late 80s Shoguns and other off-roaders from Japan. Koito also made few m'cycle lamps as you might know. After I'd hunted down a pair of Koito 7 inchers and fitted one to my Windjammer with a decent LED, the world lit up in front of me. I recently discovered, when rummaging through some odds and sods that the late 80s big rectangular lamp from a GPZ 1100 that I'd had on the front of the Zuk for years was a Koito lamp. It was a great headlamp for years, but never had an LED in it.
I don't know if the Cibie lights of the 60s and 70s were computer aided design, but Koitos definitely were.
The fairing I use at the moment has a Cibie lamp that was originally designed for a Renault fitted in it. Back in the day, I'd fitted a set of decent halogen bulbs to the exact same headlights (from the factory they were fitted with some dreadful tungsten bulbs, because of some French law) and it totally transformed them so I knew I was on solid ground equipping one with an LED that had decent element positioning.
Many, many thousands of car drivers were driving around with awful headlights because they didn't know that their actual lamps were capable of being ten times better. Part of that was reluctance to spend on the halogen upgrade bulbs. We're used to halogens being cheap now, but in the 70s a pair of halogens were expensive compared to now.

 

[thuban]

Well, riding at night around here is asking for trouble especially with the stock brakes on the XS. Deer, black cows and wild hogs, your just asking for it. I want the bright light so cage drivers can see me! We had a light discussion a few weeks back. I watched the tube where the guy did a real world test. I thought the regular "sealed beam" won as far as coverage in all areas. But the Wagner and other brands, have the little bulb inside that breaks from vibration and falls down inside the light. Went thru three of those.

Oh, same thread! My bad!

 

[RonXS]

Oh I have some XS broken bulb Wagner stories too...