Better headlinght....death to alternator?

[Anonymous]

I CAN"T SEE!!! The headlight on my '78 GS 750 E is crappy to say the least. It's original equipment, and just doesn't have any candle power. I want to upgrade to an H-4 Halogen bulb. The one I have found is 55watt in low, 60 Watt hi beam. Is this too much for my alternator? I don't want to drain the system every time I turn on the headlight.

I tried hooking up a set of those intense beam halogens for cars. I was lucky if I got 30 seconds of use before it drained me. I'm not sure what my charging system is rated for or what I should use. WHo else has done a swap to get better lighting?

Also, in the GS's, should the side marker lights be on at all times? Or do they just act as turnsignals and operate only when the switch is thrown? I saw a friend's older Honda tonight, and his front lights were on and also worked as turnsignals. That is more lighting, which I'm all for when riding at night.

Thanks for the help

[SqDancerLynn1]

I have a 79 GS850 I have had a h4 55w/100w for the last 10K miles without any electrical problems

[Anonymous]

Re: Better headlinght....death to alternator?

I want to upgrade to an H-4 Halogen bulb. The one I have found is 55watt in low, 60 Watt hi beam. Is this too much for my alternator? I don't want to drain the system every time I turn on the headlight.

My 450 had a crappy little light too. I accidentally busted the filament. It's an odd sized sealed beam package, $60 from dealer for replacement. So I went to eBay and replaced the whole darn thing (bucket, lens, bulb and all) with one from a 650 I think. Anyway, I now have a H4 setup with a 55W/60W Sylvania XtraVision. The high beam is so bright that the reflection from a highway sign is hard to look at against the dark night. Hell yeah.

Also, in the GS's, should the side marker lights be on at all times?

I understand that some of the later models have running lights. My 81 450 does not.

Michael

[Detman101]

Re: Better headlinght....death to alternator?

I now have a H4 setup with a 55W/60W Sylvania XtraVision. The high beam is so bright that the reflection from a highway sign is hard to look at against the dark night. Hell yeah.

Quoted for truth!! I'm running the same bulb! Bright as heck!!!


Dm of mD

[KGB]

I run a H4 90/100 watt beam.

Just keep an eye on your fuse

[Anonymous]

Another great thing abot the H4 over the sealed beam is that you can easily carry a spare.

Michael

[earlfor]

Re: Better headlinght....death to alternator?

I have run a H-4 halogen in my 79 750E for years. There is no problem with that. The 70's GS's I dont believe had the dual element front turn signals that allowed the signal to also be used as a running light. If you really want to upgrade your lighting, you can get a H-4 Xenon bulb
(theryre expensive...about $40) that will give you the lighting capability of a 100-150 watt halogen, but they consume the same 55 watts of power that the H-4 55/60 does. The thing to watch is the power consumption of the bulb you choose because the charging systems ability to handle addition electrical loads is limited. You could run a H4 55/60 halogen and front marker lights and be OK, or you could run a H4 90/100 halogen and no marker lights, or you could run a 90/100 Xenon and marker lights.
I would probably go with the 90/100 Xenon and let it go at that. If they cant see that, then adding a christmas tree to your helmet wouldnt help either. :-)

Earl

I CAN"T SEE!!! The headlight on my '78 GS 750 E is crappy to say the least. It's original equipment, and just doesn't have any candle power. I want to upgrade to an H-4 Halogen bulb. The one I have found is 55watt in low, 60 Watt hi beam. Is this too much for my alternator? I don't want to drain the system every time I turn on the headlight.

I tried hooking up a set of those intense beam halogens for cars. I was lucky if I got 30 seconds of use before it drained me. I'm not sure what my charging system is rated for or what I should use. WHo else has done a swap to get better lighting?

Also, in the GS's, should the side marker lights be on at all times? Or do they just act as turnsignals and operate only when the switch is thrown? I saw a friend's older Honda tonight, and his front lights were on and also worked as turnsignals. That is more lighting, which I'm all for when riding at night.

Thanks for the help

[Anonymous]

I recently replaced the 60/55W H4 lightbulb on my GS650GLZ with a 100/90W H4 bulb. It performs much better than the original light did. At least I can see a spot of light on the road while driving in the city.
If I see no problems in the next month or so, I will post a report to the "Product Reviews" section of the forum.
My wiring, high/low switch, generator, battery, ignition switch are standard.
My main fuse is 25A (instead of 15A). Headlight fuse is 15A (instead of 10A).
My rectifier/regulator is non-standard, adopted from a later model Suzuki GSXR.

[earlfor]

The purpose of having a fuse is to protect the woring harness from bing over loaded and burning up. A 25 amp fuse does not increase your capacity, it only insures that if there ever is a short of any kind or corroded connectiors causing excess resistance, your wiring will catch fire. Bad idea!

Earl

I recently replaced the 60/55W H4 lightbulb on my GS650GLZ with a 100/90W H4 bulb. It performs much better than the original light did. At least I can see a spot of light on the road while driving in the city.
If I see no problems in the next month or so, I will post a report to the "Product Reviews" section of the forum.
My wiring, high/low switch, generator, battery, ignition switch are standard.
My main fuse is 25A (instead of 15A). Headlight fuse is 15A (instead of 10A).
My rectifier/regulator is non-standard, adopted from a later model Suzuki GSXR.

[Anonymous]

Hello earlfor.
The wiring should still be capable of blowing a 25A fuse without catching fire first...
Although you are right, 25A is a little too much for this application.
My "worst case" current draw would be 9A for headlight, plus 5A for turn signals and brake light, plus ignition, plus horn, plus instrument lights... I probably should have stayed with a 20A fuse (5A bigger than the original one).

[earlfor]

Your fire, your call. :-) :-)

Earl

Hello earlfor.
The wiring should still be capable of blowing a 25A fuse without catching fire first...
Although you are right, 25A is a little too much for this application.
My "worst case" current draw would be 9A for headlight, plus 5A for turn signals and brake light, plus ignition, plus horn, plus instrument lights... I probably should have stayed with a 20A fuse (5A bigger than the original one).

[scotto58]

Re;Better headlight.....death to alternator

Hi Guys,

Just thought I'd throw in my 2 cents.

Besides the possible overheated wiring, fried battery.etc. you need to think about legality

Here in New York State it is ILLEGAL to run a 90/100w headlight on the road- limited to 55/60 . So you might want to check you local regulations regarding this.

Just food for thought

Scott

1979 GS850 1977 GS550

[Einar J Skog]

Hi

I ran 100/90 watt in my car ,,
But the 3 lead socket that you put on the back of the lamp,melted
after a few monts .corroding the blades and therefore no light any more.
Afterwards I used Cable shoes directly on the pins of the lamp.

[Anonymous]

Hello scotto,
I think a traffic ticket would still be be less expensive than a doctor's bill after you run into something you could not see... Tough choice, but I would rather ride safer - even if that does not comply with the law. Needless to say, I have adjusted my headlight properly so it would not blind other drivers.

[Anonymous]

if you have the H-4 system you can get sylvanias new silverstar bulbs for about $25 US. they are very bright and still street legal in all 50 states. because they are a low wattage bulb they produce less heat than the 90/100W variety and shine like you have the HID system. can we say daylight in a can