H4 Headlight Upgrade! Anyone done it?

[modifieddesign]

I'm a complete newb and have some headlight questions in this area. I bought a gs850 with a windjammer. I took that ugly thing off and now I need a headlight and blinker setup. I want the h4 upgrade, but I'm confused about a few things.

When I took off the windjammer it had a wiring harness that just clipped into place. I unclipped it and removed it. Is that only for the windjammer? Would I have to rewire things to install a new headlight setup? Or is there a setup that would click in so my blinkers and everything work. If I do need to rewire it all is there a link you can give me to some instructions on this?

Thanks!

[850 Combat]

In the 80's put an 80/100 bulb in my Commando and one in my brother's 650 Seca. In the Seca, it literally smoked the low beam wiring. I don't understand why no fuse broke. On the Comando, it hasd a short life and I went back to a 55/60.

You should not need any wiring changes to go back to stock on the headlight. Normally, a windjammer has a pigtail to the stock harness that unplugs.

Check out the color GS850 wiring harness on Cliff's site. That should match your bike well enough if it is pre '81.

Usually, the headlight shell and mounting ears are missing on a Windjammer equipped bike, but sometimes you get lucky. The stock ears have mounting points for the stock turn signals. I would look for the missing parts here, and on E Bay rather than going aftermarket, but you can go either way. The L stuff is easier to find. I think I have a set of somewhat rusty L brackets somewhere I think. I'll never use them.

I generally source the parts I need before removing the Jammer.

[modifieddesign]

Normally I would find parts first but I'm not currently riding the bike. I picked it up cheap and I'm getting it up to par right now. Why I want on the carb stuff I got bored and removed the windjammer. I think I found most of what I need on ebay.

Do you think the chrome ring around the headlight in the windjammer would fit around the regular headlight? It would save me $25 if it did,

[Steve]

Do you think the chrome ring around the headlight in the windjammer would fit around the regular headlight? It would save me $25 if it did,

Nope. That Vetter ring is unique to the Vetter headlight bucket. You should be able to move the whole bucket over, though.

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[elrico]

Re:"A spare H4 bulb in tail sction..etc".Most likely illegal.."but"..might repell those pesky cell phone talkin',eatin',drinkin',sleepin'non-thinkin' cage non-drivin' tailgaters,if mounted and turned on,when they get to close to motorcycle rider on road:a back-off please signal warning of sorts,a wake up notice signal:hello,can you see me now?Maybe shoulda' used the blue/yellow megaK watt kelvin retina sin-ger model,but need 2 big batteries that won'fit on bike,seems to be gettin'more diff.out on road all the time,but gotta' try to cope somehow.Shine a light.

[Steve]

Re:"A spare H4 bulb in tail sction..etc".Most likely illegal ...

Not quite, elrico. The "tail section" refers to the small storage section that is between the seat and the tail light on some of our bikes.

Nothing is "installed" or "lit up", it's just stored there as a spare.

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[elrico]

Thanks,Steve,like the little box in some call it,rear cowling,also? was maybe thinkin' outside the box on things.I have literally been hit on motorcycle by cage from behind,guess good posters got me thinkin'.Appreciate direction.

[Steve]

I, too, have been hit from behind by a cage. My KZ1300 was not exactly lit up like a Christmas tree, but it certainly wasn't dark.

About 11pm on a Friday night, waiting in the left turn lane at a light. Left arrow had just come on. As the 6 cars ahead of me started to move, I looked in the mirror as I reached for the clutch. Did not have time to warn my wife on the back seat. Screeeech!! WHAM!! A four-wheel drive pickup skidded for about 30 feet before hitting us. Yeah, he was drunk.

Lights might help, but they won't prevent everything.

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[argonsagas]

I, too, have been hit from behind by a cage. My KZ1300 was not exactly lit up like a Christmas tree, but it certainly wasn't dark.

About 11pm on a Friday night, waiting in the left turn lane at a light. Left arrow had just come on. As the 6 cars ahead of me started to move, I looked in the mirror as I reached for the clutch. Did not have time to warn my wife on the back seat. Screeeech!! WHAM!! A four-wheel drive pickup skidded for about 30 feet before hitting us. Yeah, he was drunk.

Lights might help, but they won't prevent everything.

.

Nothing deters idiots: I was hit from behind a couple of years ago in full daylight. Never saw it coming as I was stopped between two semis (and behind a third) on a curved off-ramp. The idiot approached on the curve behind the truck on my left, so he was not visible until he veered around the truck at the last moment.