Cheapo Upgrade for 09 FE headlight

berglsmerg · Jun 26, 2010

I have been doing a bit of night riding lately and wasn't impressed with the stock headlight, it's set up great for possum hunting but not night riding, so I wasthinking of an upgrade. I stumbled across a spare 12v H4 55/60w globe for a car and was pleasantly surprised when it made a nice neat fit. I made a spring wire retainer like found in a car and with a soldering iron I melted a small slot in the head light rim to fit the bulb locating tab. See attached pix for the end result[attachment=1:1dimohuh]DSCN5331.JPG[/attachment:1dimohuh][attachment=0:1dimohuh]DSCN5334.JPG[/attachment:1dimohuh]

I had to trim the terminals on the globe and relax the female blade connectors on the harness and cut a small window in the rubber boot to squeeze it all in, the connectors clear the headstem by about 10mm.
As a bonus it turns out to bet one of these type globes http://www.repcotrade.com.au/go/news/na ... wer-globes. Thats a crappy link the Narva website is fubar or something ATM. They are Narva Acrtic Blue globes, I had them in my last car and they are a crisp white light not blue at all. Project Cost = nil

Can't wait for the sun to go down and test it out.

berglsmerg · Jun 27, 2010

Here is what I ended up with[attachment=1:1wu8sffq]DSCN5345.JPG[/attachment:1wu8sffq][attachment=0:1wu8sffq]DSCN5346.JPG[/attachment:1wu8sffq]

The trees are 20 meters ( 65 feet ) away in both shots, the lens and reflector are dusty so the light could be whiter. With a couple dabs of sealant the h4 would seal better then the stock globe holder, and all I really did was make one tiny hole and two small slots so it can be returned to stock easily. Here is a better link for the globes http://www.narva.com.au/products/browse/h4

suhoi27 · Jun 27, 2010

how about the heat from H4? I expect it to melt some plastic crap in the headlight!

DaleEO · Jun 27, 2010

Good Job berglsmerg!

What's interesting is that the Husabergs used to come with H4's on the rectangular shaped headlight mask.

What's the stock one now 35W? Must be a huge change going to the 55W.

berglsmerg · Jun 27, 2010

Thanks DaleEO, the difference really is night and day. Stock is 35/35, h4 is 55/60 and really light the way, on single track stuff you see every thing and the high beam is great fo the open road because it actually penetrates the darkness. I think the stock setup is just to let others kow you're around not actually for any serious nocturnal activities. Hi suhoi27, no real probs yet It sat for 5 mins on high beam last night while I took photos, I dont see it being a real problem if it was like 100w then there would be trouble.

U2Slow · Jun 28, 2010

The higher wattage headlight will burn the reflective silver off the back of the reflector. It actually starts to go black pretty quickly. The only real fix is glass or multiple small halogens.

HID's work ok but again you need glass reflectors to handle the heat.

When LED headlight globes hit the market we'll all have them !!!!!!!

berglsmerg · Jun 28, 2010

I would be worried if the globe was 100w, I think this one will be ok. I have ruined reflectors before running excess wattage. I run it in the daylight hours as well to prevent winding up as road pizza, I will endeavour to let you know how it goes as the months pass.

berglsmerg · Sep 5, 2010

So its early september and I am still running the H4 and have had absolutley no probs. I run it on low beam at all times when the bike is running to be seen on and off the road. ( bloody car drivers just dont see me WTF ?) So the reflector is in great condition and doesn't look like flaking or turning black anytime soon and there is no evidence of melting or heat damage anywhere.

awilksch · Jul 24, 2011

Great post Berglsmerg, just what i was looking for, going to go get a couple tomorrow and set up, then ride accross my little island on the weekend hopefully.

definately 35 / 35w H4 in my '05, and was keen on going the 100w but i'll look at the lower wattage Narva arctic blue globes and try.

Cheers!
Azza.

ggalex · Jul 24, 2011

Here's an S2 base bulb that fits right in with no modification to replace the stock 35w unit found in 09+ FE Bergs, this one is 45w/40w halogen, for $15, and is a good bit better without a lot more wattage. So far no issue with the reflector.
http://sicassracing.com/store/bulbs/hal ... grade_bulb

wilko · Jul 26, 2011

This is what i did to my 09 450 I have made a twin headlight holder for Vision X lights which are 10 Watt LEDs which output around 100 watt, i have ordered a spot for the second hole.

hoosie5seventy · May 14, 2012

great info thanks, just installed an H4 bulb in a 2012 FE570 so still works on later models. you can definitely feel the heat through the plastic, some riders have reported the plastic deteriorates above the bulb, so figuring this is the hot air rising i just stuck some aircraft-grade alloy tape above the bulb.

the terminals are a tad wide so just filed them to suit the plugs, then stuck them on:
- blue wire is high beam
- green wire is low beam
- brown wire is earth.

hoosie5seventy · May 23, 2012

hoosie5seventy said:
some riders have reported the plastic deteriorates above the bulb, so figuring this is the hot air rising i just stuck some aircraft-grade alloy tape above the bulb.

the bike has done 20 hours now with the el cheapo H4 bulb and there is no blackening of the reflector material so the alloy tape seems to be doing the trick. just a quick note, the bulb needs to be fitted as per the pic above e.g. the low terminal at the top, or otherwise you'll get the wrong dispersion of light... mine was only good for spotting possums in trees till it was rotated correctly. it might be tempting to fit a 100w H4 bulb but given how hot the 60/55 runs i think you'd be asking for a headlight meltdown!

Cheapo Upgrade for 09 FE headlight

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