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Brighter headlight for 1980 GS550E ?

jabcb said:
You could also use the relay mod to give the headlight the max voltage.
Click to expand...

True, but it's only an "improvement" if the voltage was low to begin with.

A quick measurement with a voltmeter at the headlight will determine whether you need to go to the trouble of installing a relay.

By the way, with all the "relay mods" that we tend to do to our bikes, how many realize that just ONE relay will likely do the trick?
Yep, one of the big culprits in the voltage loss problem is the ignition switch. Instead of running all the power for the bike through it, why not just use it to switch a relay that then powers the fusebox, which can retain most of its stock wiring?
 
Man wants a brighter headlamp, and before you know it people are telling him to rewire his electrical system.

Cleaning electrical connections is part (or should be) of normal maintenance so that's a given.

The way to a brighter headlamp on a 550E is though ditching the sealed beam and installing a new lamp with high powered H4 bulb. In the US the Sylvania Silverstar 9003 bulb is a good choice. Compared to the stock lamp there is a significant increase in light.
 
Just spent ags doing a reply - added a photo and all was lost.

I checked the wiring - i agree this has to be learned !
I will add a wiring diagram of the results but there is soming wrong and there is voltage drop.gs 550 e headlight wiring.jpg

I have cleaned up all the connections with that stuff from halfords.
electrical connection cleaner and brushed all the connections clean.

I need to draw a diagram on my whiteboard.
the negative side voltage drop is all below 0.4 so ok.
After cleaning all seems to work perfectly BUT i think there is voltage drop.Dia
gram to follow for your expertises ....

I like the idea of using a standard 7" lense and putting a better bulb in it.
Cost effective and i think ill try it but the electrics must be perfect first !
 
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Be careful buying from American sites, I don't know that ANY of the can provide the beam pattern that you will need to pass MOT. You would be better off shopping your local bike shops or your local version of eBay for lights from Bosch, Cibie or Marchal. Any of the lights over here that are marked "DOT" usually have a rather pitiful beam pattern and I avoid them as much as possible. I prefer a "Euro beam pattern", which is MUCH better for bike use.
 
I have an 81 550T and just replaced my light with a Truck-Lite LED towards the end of last year and for the first time in the 5 years I owned the bike I actually smiled on the way home at night. It lights up the road so well on low-beam that you think you have your high beams on ensuring you can see any animals coming from the sides while the high beams show more than enough road to see far enough out to make decisions as needed late at night.

If you decide to get one then you'll either need universal headlight ears or ones from a G or E model. Plus you'll need the larger 8 inch bucket (the light is 7" wide)
 
hannibal said:
Is this the actual lens housing you bought? Did you have to mess with the tabs around the back edge of the housing to fit it in the stock retaining ring and housing?
Click to expand...

No, that's not the lamp I bought. I bought mine from JC Whitney and it was a perfect fit inside the holding ring mechanism. Your bike takes a normal 7" headlamp.
 
Datsa Noydb said:
True, but it's only an "improvement" if the voltage was low to begin with.

A quick measurement with a voltmeter at the headlight will determine whether you need to go to the trouble of installing a relay.

By the way, with all the "relay mods" that we tend to do to our bikes, how many realize that just ONE relay will likely do the trick?
Yep, one of the big culprits in the voltage loss problem is the ignition switch. Instead of running all the power for the bike through it, why not just use it to switch a relay that then powers the fusebox, which can retain most of its stock wiring?
Click to expand...

Definitely worth considering. My old ignition switch had been corroding at its base connections for a while, unknown and unseen by me. When I rebuilt the front end, the ignition wires were all cracked and corroded severely at the soldered connections on the base of the switch, so much so, given the age of the switch it wasn't worth attempting a repair. I'll replace it with an aftermarket EMGO switch later, but as a temporary measure I wired in a hyster on/off keyswitch. Armed with that, the bike starts better than it has for a while - for the past year there's been a slight hesitation, but now - bursts straight into life first touch. It's also got rid of the slight roughness at some parts of the rev range, which I was suspicious were caused by bad LT connections somewhere, but hadn't zeroed in on them - turned out to be the main switch.
 
http://www.easternbeaver.com/

I have these kits fitted to a couple of bikes, even with stock wattage 55/60 you will see an improvement. I use a PIAA bulb and high wattage and no worries of melting the ordinal plastic H4 connector, its ceramic.
 
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