Headlight upgrade

The Quadoptic is not the most directional beam but you can't (in the UK at least) improve upon a 65w halogen.

In the first instance, it's worth taking apart and cleaning properly all wiring loom connections and switches as the cause is almost certainly a voltage drop (if you have a volt meter, check what is reaching the lamp).

In the longer term, the best option is to rewire so that the lamp unit is switched via relays.

For years I put up with dismal lights on my Commando.

Hello Gary,

If you can find a supplier for Cibie headlamp lenses then you might want to buy one - the existing lens is a very poor design (S&P supplied mine). The bulb could be replaced with a Philips Vision Plus; they are much brighter and have a proper cut out. The Wipac Quad Optic is an extremely poor design; lots of light all over the place and none where you need it (in front and to the left) but ideal for people who talk about bikes but don't ride them, especially at night.

Regards, Colin.

I use a standard 7" headlight unit from a Land Rover fitted with a QH bulb from Halfords. Jolly fine headlight beam even with a single phase alternator.Fitting a separate earth wire return to the battery can make quite a difference.

hi all when the german nickel plating parted company

with the conical reflector during a gentle clean-up

I changed the complete unit as per gordon using an austin fx4 taxi unit with a halogen 60/55w H4 p43t plenty of light for me and readily available in garages(if you don't mind queuing behind people getting their monthly shopping)

steve

Demon Tweeks used to sell Cibie z beam 7" lights. +1 on the 2 relays to supply max power to the bulb. The original wiring will route power through the ignition switch, headlight switch, dip switch and a host of crappy connectors, I was loosing 1/2 volt thats a dim headlight.

My Rotary has a HID headlight that runs at about 23,000volts and comsumes only 35watts. It's brighter than the sun but there is a small dark area in the centre of the beam. Cree LED headlights are the next big thing.

David,

could you list the parts required for you HID conversion please and a good source. I have tried local car factors and they have been unable/unwilling to help. Many thanks.

eBay item360795011630

is identical to the one I fitted to my Rotary about 2 years ago. It costs about £64 now but bear in mind my Rotary is negative earth. provided you observe the correct polarity the wiring is simple. there are two wires one black one red from the battery via a fuse, a female headlight plug to go on the rear of your new bulb and a male headlight plug to go in the original headlight bulb plug. The element bulb is electromagnetically moved fore and aft to achieve dip and main beam. The Ballast gets hot and needs to be in the breeze and mine is screwed to the bottom of my lower steering yolk. There is not a massive length of wire as the ballast needs to be close to the bulb and it's not the sort of thing to adjust with 23,000 volts buzzing away. There is another small box in the harness and it would be tricky to hide it all on a Commando unless you had a screen or fairing to hide it behind. My rotary has a bit of space behind the headlight.

With a z beam and 2 x relays and a good bulb, you probably would have enough light to sastify all but the most serious night rider The HID conversion is good but not cheap

Previously gary_hawksworth wrote:

I thought I my try Gordons option of a car headlight. When I was looking at Landrover lights I noticed they were advertising crystal headlight conversions as an upgrade so I have ordered one of these and then fit a new earth. I

I have one fitted plus a Phillips night braker bulb fed by relays from the 20ah battery an earthed back to battery. Dip is a good wide spread like most modern cars but maybe spread to much as it does not seem to bright. Full beam on the other hand is very good and goes a very long way with a good spread to. I fitted a pair to a landrover i had to replace the sealed beams but using old orginal wiring and ordinary bulbs an had same results but dip was better as you could see the two lights murge together but it was way better than sealed beam.

I have seen HID bi xenon kits on ebay from £14 for one blub kit and am toying with getting one but as i have a Alton Ekit i am stuck with positive earth but depending on how HID kit earths i think as i use relay i can use them to feed HID if i am carefull about how i connect it. The relay can supply 12v when switched by orginal possitive earth an the earth can go to battery terminal.

Previously david_evans wrote:

eBay item360795011630

is identical to the one I fitted to my Rotary about 2 years ago. It costs about £64 now but bear in mind my Rotary is negative earth. provided you observe the correct polarity the wiring is simple. there are two wires one black one red from the battery via a fuse, a female headlight plug to go on the rear of your new bulb and a male headlight plug to go in the original headlight bulb plug. The element bulb is electromagnetically moved fore and aft to achieve dip and main beam. The Ballast gets hot and needs to be in the breeze and mine is screwed to the bottom of my lower steering yolk. There is not a massive length of wire as the ballast needs to be close to the bulb and it's not the sort of thing to adjust with 23,000 volts buzzing away. There is another small box in the harness and it would be tricky to hide it all on a Commando unless you had a screen or fairing to hide it behind. My rotary has a bit of space behind the headlight.

With a z beam and 2 x relays and a good bulb, you probably would have enough light to sastify all but the most serious night rider The HID conversion is good but not cheap

Can you tell me if the ballist resistor earths through its metal casing or by an earth wire as if it is by wire i think as my bike runs all earths to the battery and relays for the headlight and other things i may be able to fit a HID kit

I've considered fitting HID units on my bikes, but so far I've delayed it because I hear from several sources that they MAY be illegal. I understand that they are only legal on cars if they are fitted with washer units (so dirt on the lenses cannot cause diffraction of the beam into the eyes of oncoming drivers.)

I've hear reports that bike MOT testers have issued failures if an HID conversion is fitted. Conversely, many riders have fitted them and they have not had problems at MOT time.

Basically, lots of disinformation around and it would be nice to know for sure.

I too have seen examples of dazzling headlights. I do wonder if these have been fitted by boy racers, following a trip to Halford's, and have HID bulbs mounted in standard reflectors which do not focus the intense light correctly.

Or indeed, they are simply misaligned, or dirty (as in my previous comment.)

The ballast case is not the earth, there is a wire earth. If you were to fit a HID setup, any relays you have fitted to your original lights setup would be no longer required. With regard to the legality of these lights, provided the beam is set correctly (and it is tested at MOT) then there should be no erason why the bike should fail an MOT. I believe the MOT regulations are available on line.

Over the years I have become fed up with the car driver that "forgets" to dip his lights when he sees a mere motorcycle coming the other way. I don't seem to suffer this problem any more. I can ride safely with a good view of the road in the dark, without dazzling the oncoming driver, and see it about as well as I can see it in my car. My Rotary has a simple handwheel on the LH side of the headlight bracket to adjust the height of the beam, (Norton think of everything)

There are high output bulbs that are available for a few pounds. The HID conversion is not just a bulb change. I'd be surprised if you could get a HID conversion for £14

You could go back to the dark ages, pun intended, and drive behind the warm glow from an acetelyne lamp but you would probably be wasting 700cc of your Commandos performance.

The way ahead would be night vision goggles. I have some serious experience with these things, the down side is my helmet, with a counter balance weight weighs about 3.25 KG

Actually acetylene lights are astonishingly bright. Not the dark ages at all. Merely prone to run out of carbide or water or blow out at inopportune moments. One of my bikes has an E3L dynamo uprated to 12 volts and an ordinary BPF 50/40 watt bulb. It's pretty good, even on unlit rural roads and proof of that is that should I be slow to dip, oncoming cars will flash theirlights at me.

If you have a decent reflector and your bulb is getting the full voltage - i.e. no voltage drop through poor earthing - you should be able to get a pretty good headlight beam, good enough for 50 - 55 mph on dark country lanes which in my experience is quite fast enough. Gives you a chance to avoid 'stinger' hedgehogs and wandering badgers which can be so difficult to get out from between your mudguard and your tyre.

A different slant on the subject - hijacked from another web site:

................there is an important difference between what's required for MOT and what is legal (in case of accident claim etc.)

Here is a quote from a supplier, quoting DOT too -

HID is only legal if the headlight unit is correctly 'E' marked. Halogen headlight units and Xenon HID units have different 'E' marks. The only way for an HID kit to be road legal is if the whole headlight unit is replaced with one specifically designed for HID or the existing headlight unit is reassessed for compliance and assigned a new 'E' mark. As you can imagine, this is vastly inconvenient and expensive. In short, unless you take steps to do all of this then your vehicle will not be road legal.

In the Department's view it is not legal to sell or use after-market HID lighting kits, for converting conventional Halogen headlamps to HID Xenon. If a customer wants to convert his vehicle to Xenon HID he must purchase completely new Xenon HID headlamps. The reason for this is that the existing lens and reflector are designed around a Halogen filament bulb, working to very precise tolerances. If one places a HID "burner" (bulb) in the headlamp, the beam pattern will not be correct, there will be glare in some places and not enough light in other places within the beam pattern - Department for Transport (2006).

Autobulbs direct will sell a HID conversion for motorcycles for £40.00. I thought E rating only applied to vehicles of a certain age.

Thanks for the info on the E issue John, I'll do a little digging to see where I stand with my HID setup.

Changing the subject a little, I recently fitted a cree LED to a 3 D cell maglite that I use for walking my dogs late at night. The beam on these torches is adjustable and when on it's narrowest it has a range of well over 200 metres (The bulb was £12) I reckon it is easily good enough to ride a bike on. I thought my HID setup was good but these cree LEDs are exceptional. Reflector design is paramount though. I had to stop my car on a back lane because an oncoming cyclist was dazzling me with his twin light setup, of course he didn't have a dip facility. (he did get a bit of abuse as he went past)

I am considering keeping a set of CREE bicycle lights with my lightless belt driveDouglas in case I get caught out in poor visibility or after dark. Probably illegal but a heck of a lotsafer than getting terminally flattened (as has happened to a friend of mine).

Previously David Cooper wrote:

These HID lights are vile things. They are only allowed because of pressure from manufacturer's lobbyists partly to provide them with the opportunity to market high price lights to those who desire the latest and best gadgets, and partly to allow car stylists to employ smaller diameter lamps. Result is severe dazzle and I suspect eye damage to other road users - the human eye did not evolve to deal with brilliant point light sources surrounded by darkness. When these things come the other way I fix my eyes on the left hand side verge and I don't believe that assists my judgment about exactly where the oncoming vehicle is.

Totally agree with the above. Dazzle is a serious problem with halogen - with HID the situation becomes dangerous. Dazzle in rear view mirrors also becomes a serious problem from following vehicles. I'm thinking about an amber visor, which is illegal for night time driving, to combat this problem. The HID's make night driving more, not less dangerous, especially on unlit roads.