Headlight issue

[AC Rider]

Hey Everyone!  I just wanted to let everyone know that I appreciate all the help and advice I get from this forum.  This is not my first forum, but it is by far the most insightful forum that I have been apart of.  Well, onto my problem...my headlight seems to have really bad aim.  Either dim shoots straight and bright is off, or the other way around.  If one shoots straight, then the other one shoots too far upward or downward.  I have replaced the bulb, so I know it has nothing to do with it.  I am considering buying another headlight assembly, but I would prefer not to if I can avoid it.  Any suggestions...

[DesignBuild]

Hola AC,

as you said if replacing the bulb doesn't have the desired effect then there arent really many options left, since the bulb contains both settings.

you can loosen the mounts for you headlight bucket and adjust the angle up or down, but this will really just let you position one or the other to your desired height. another option being what you stated and replacing the bucket and assembly all together.

my lights are similarly off; but on mine i installed a visor to the headlight, more for the look, but it has another trait of focusing the light in sort of a spotlight way. you could give this a shot.

[LukeM]

I noticed that my headlight bucket has little tabs on it so the glass portion goes in only one way.  If yours has a replaceable halogen bulb like mine does, it's supposed to go in only one way as well.  Apparently my bike had a Vetter fairing on it at one time, and they just took the Vetter headlight bucket and bolted it in place.

I'm guessing you have the right bulb for your housing?  Is there any way to put it in "wrong"? Is your headlight bucket upside down? I know these may be dumb questions, but it's worth it to try and sort those out.

Good luck, and let us know what the fix was.  We'll add it to the database.

Luke M

[Re-run]

The bulb may not be the issue. It is just a smooth bulb with 2 filaments. The fliaments are, however, placed in different spots.  the headlight lens is what controls most of the beam though. On most bikes, you will find that when high is set for good coverage and range, low seems, well, too low.
Couple things to try.
1: if you can, turn the bulb in its socket. I have not had to replace my bulb in 10 years so I am not sure if it is 1 position only but it has 3 tabs and so you may be able to try 2 other positions.
2: pull the lens out and flip it 180 degrees and see if that evens it out a little better.

I think most likely you wont see a change. It was likely how it was designed back then. If you can, toss a halogen in if you have not done so already.

[vern401]

You can try getting it adjusted to a happy mediun. But the problem you have is common. No two bulbs will work the same. They all have a slight difference in the way the beam is directed. What I try to do is get the beam from the high side to be almost double what the beam from the low side. the beam I mention is the bright spot it makes on the road. most times if you tip the bucket up and down it will be the bright line.
No to be funny or anything but some friends have actualy converted there bikes to dual headlight to avoid this problem. Bottom light is low and top light is hi beam.

[AC Rider]

Great advice guys!  If I come across anything, I will make sure to add it.  vern401...the dual headlight swap sounds interesting.  Do you know anyone personally who has done this swap?  Have you seen any pics or posts about the swap?  My only concern would be the pull on the charging system and battery.  From what I have read, that is the downside to these bikes, and there is not much of anything you can do to improve it.

[Re-run]

Yeah the charge system is not that great but if you keep the connectors clean and maybe switch to led lights for indicators and other lights, you should be able to pull it off fine.
A dual light would be kinda cool. I think I would do an over/under instead of side by side though.

[AC Rider]

Sounds good!  I was planning on swapping over to LED bulbs anyways just to lessen the load on the charging system.  I am going to have to do some research on the dual system, but it will definitely be an over/under.  The bike just is not wide enough to look good with a side by side.  Anybody have some ideas...custom bracket, revise the wiring warness???

[vern401]

I'll look online for a pic. They did do this for some of the cafe racer mods.
The top light is the high beam light only.
The bottom light is the low beam light only.
This was set up so that when you switched from low to high the low light shut off while the high turned on.
Other than brackets and the rectangle single element bulbs the wiring was simple.
I'll see if I can get ahold of Richard for a list of what he bought to do this on his 750K
I did mean over under but wordrd it wrong sorry.
The bulbs have different part numbers though for hi and low.

[vern401]

What you can do is set the high beam distance first then see how the low beam is.
Try to get a happy medium between the two.
Thinking about it the dual light was a kit he bought.
but you can get brackets to mount headlights on bike that clamp on the fork tubes.
The buckets I think will be harder to find.
I'll try to remember to look into finding the parts/kit online.
If I find it I'll post it here for you.

[AC Rider]

Thanks vern401...I have been doing some digging myself, but I seem to only find side by side.  My best guess would be custom brackets using 7" buckets or maybe 5.75" buckets.  I would like to see a wiring diagram though b/c I am nowhere close to a master electrician  With a diagram to go by, I am sure I can do it.  Thanks for the help guys...

[DesignBuild]

I used the wiring colors from my bike, so check to make sure they match, but the wiring should be something like this.


it's a pretty basic diagram based off using the existing terminal connection for the headlight and jumpering off for the now separate lights. Guys feel free to correct anything i might of mistakenly done, or make other suggestions, but this way you can use your stock handlebar switch and not mess with too much.

hope this helps.

[Re-run]

Nice diagram there. Very clean and simple.

I would probably do smaller lights like the 5 inchers. Dual 7s would look kinda funny I think cause of their size.
If you can find one, check out the honda rebel headlight. It is smaller and might do the job. They have been around since mid-80's so should be fairly easy to find for cheap.

Another option, it keeps the standard housing though, is to get an HID kit. You will need to clean up the rats nest but it does fit.  It would be something like this.
http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/82-83-Honda-CB-750-SC-Nighthawk-Xenon-HID-Headlight-Kit-_W0QQcmdZViewItemQQitemZ290461672355QQptZMotorcyclesQ5fPartsQ5fAccessories
And while for a 82-83, I would be pretty sure it would fit.

Now I know there has been debate over these lights. 1 side has people that just want to see and be seen.
the other side is worried about blinding oncoming drivers. This side talks about focus patterns and such.

I, myself, go on side 1. Focus patterns or not, these things ARE bright and blinding anyways even in cars supposedly set up for them. It is just my opinion though and I have not looked at a kit in action to make an truly informed choice.

The price has dropped though and I think I might get one this winter.

Again, just another option.

[DesignBuild]

that HID kit is sweet and crazy cheap, i was just looking into these this morning actually and most places i seen were at like 160.00-250.00. i might have to look into getting this too.

[AC Rider]

A HID conversion was my first thought.  I had a show car a few years back that I ran them on inline with blue dot lenses (see these on the newer cars like Mazda) that really helped to focus the light.  I came close to buying a kit, but stopped myself b/c I figured it would do the same thing...one beam being too high or low.  It would be cool to convert to a dual system with a HID kit...just don't know if that look would be too modern for the bike.  I will have to take a look at those headlights Rerun, but we are definitely thinking on the same page...5" is the way to go!

[vern401]

Ya the conversion we did years ago was a kit. It had 2 aprox 5" lights in it and 2 clamp on light brackets and 2 buckets. The wiring converter did just as the above diagram does.
So you would need to get 2 lights 5". 2 headlight buckets for the lights. 2 brackets to mount them with.
there is a bracket you can get from JC whitney that will work but you still need 2 of them.
Some choppers and cafe racers ran the dual over under lights back in the late 80's and early 90's.
It was in the late 80's that we did the conversion on his bike.