Headlight Upgrade: LED ?? HID ??


craigieboy

craigieboy

New member
As most of us know the headlight on the MT isn't the best so i've been on the hunt for an upgrade for a while.

1.At first i tried the Osram Nightbreaker Headlight bulb. There was maybe a tiny improvement but not much. Put up with this for a while but went searching for an alternative.

2. I tried a HID kit from Ebay, I was dubious to try these kits at first as i've had them on my cars before and had nothing but problems from them (dont know why i bothered now) but decided to give it a try as this was a while ago and thought the kits might have improved since then. While the kit is very bright the beam pattern is very scattered. The kit also developed a problem when flicking between Hi-beam and Lo-beam. As there is a part that actually moves on the bulb when switching between Hi & Lo it was getting stuck. Also our bikes are very tight for space behind the headlight and this is quite a big kit as you will see in the pics below.




3. Third time lucky hopefully. While browsing through an FZ-07 forum came across a thread about an LED Headlight kit From Cyclops Adventure Sports. Plenty of great reviews for it so took the plunge and ordered a kit. Kit arrived yesterday so ripped out the HID Kit and installed the LED headlight tonight.







I will update this Thread with more pictures when i can:

Cheers
Craig
 
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Noggie

New member
Looking forward to an update.

I have lived with the stock bulb so far as I really don't ride in the dark. And if I do that it is by accident :)
I just use the bike in the summertime, and the sun does not set before 11 at night mid-summer so it's not really a big deal for me.
Though an upgrade of the existing light is a good option, I would think some LED bars or something would get you some decent extra light.
 
craigieboy

craigieboy

New member
Initial feedback when i installed the other night, its similar in light output to the HID kit which im happy with. Its kinda hard though when i installed the HID kit I went out and took a picture/video to send to a mate how bright it was, but the picture didn't show anywhere near what it looked like in real life (Iphone picture). Scottish weather against me here though for any recent updates.

That video above, the bike has full beam on as well.
 
craigieboy

craigieboy

New member
Right so hibernation will hopefully be over soon (or i cant wait any longer to get back on the bike) so started messing around with the bulb and beam setup.

As it arrives it states in the instructions to try without any of the 2 spacers provided first and see what the results are.

Without spacer Low Beam:


Without Spacer High Beam:


So low beam is quite scattered and high beam just seams a brighter version of low beam.

Low Beam spacer installed:


High Beam spacer installed:


Note # Not sure why the last 2 pictures appear darker they were not in person. Guess it was just the way the camera picked it up

Now low beam is tidied up and high beam should light up the road further ahead.

Looking promising for this bulb. Once I am back on the bike i will get a riding prospective video, providing the go pro will film it properly.
 
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sdrio

New member
Iphone Cameras adjust the exposure to suit the light, so you can never get an accurate pic of stuff like that.

They do it quite well - I discovered this when I stuck mine in the office window to do a time lapse of the eclipse last year. As the light dimmed, the camera compensated and I got a 5 minute video of absolutely nothing happening. ;)
 
B

bartho

New member
Craigie , do you have pictures how you installed it on the back of the headlight. Is there space enough or did you change the headlight support? Where did you buy that cyclops kid? ebay or direct USA?
 
craigieboy

craigieboy

New member
bartho said:
Craigie , do you have pictures how you installed it on the back of the headlight. Is there space enough or did you change the headlight support? Where did you buy that cyclops kid? ebay or direct USA?
Click to expand...
I don't have any install pictures but this kit can be fitted just like a replacement bulb, it fits on the bike no problem. I bought Direct from the Adventure Sports site.
 
craigieboy

craigieboy

New member
Was out the other night so grabbed the Go Pro and did a short video with the LED Headlight. The video is a pretty good representation of the light output, its maybe just a little brighter in person,

Very happy with the kit, Very easy to install even a novice cant go wrong. As you see in the video Dipped beam the bulb isn't scattered everywhere it has a nice clean cut-off line (isn't dazzling oncoming road users) High beam is plenty bright as well.

[video=youtube;NN_svCLVn9s]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NN_svCLVn9s[/video]
 
Eddieh93

Eddieh93

New member
Looks pretty nice to be fair might have to invest i hate the stock light not good enough really.

Was it a pain to install as I have heard its a bit tight behind the panel? Looking to get some LED indicators as well.
 
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Noggie

New member
Eddieh93 said:
Looks pretty nice to be fair might have to invest i hate the stock light not good enough really.

Was it a pain to install as I have heard its a bit tight behind the panel? Looking to get some LED indicators as well.
Click to expand...
Yeah it's tight, remember that from when I installed the led indicators.

These bulbs look good, might have to try them on my 25 year old BMW car as the low beams are useless on that car.
 
S

sdrio

New member
Tips for anyone doing this or similar work on their headlight.

The back of the headlight is accessible by undoing/removing the two allen bolts at the top, it will then tip forward, it is just sort of hooked on at the bottom.

You should be able to replace the bulb by just doing that, you don't need to remove it altogether, but of course be careful you don't let it fall off when you disconnect the wires. Do it gently, as there are two foam pads under where the allen bolts were, which are only glued on and are fiddly to replace if you pull them off.

But beware - everything is tightly packed behind the headlight, you have several different connectors (indicators, ignition etc), and they are stuffed into a rather complicated rubber protector thing. The less you disturb that, the better, as it can be a right bastard to get everything back together afterwards.

I know this as I have had it all apart several times, replacing the ignition barrel, and also when I changed the switchgear cluster.

Would suggest if you're going to disturb the cabling, take a lot of photos before you do, so you can see the routing for the various cables / blocks etc when reassembling.

The light might need a good push backwards to get the allen bolts lined up with the holes, when refitting.
 
N

Noggie

New member
sdrio said:
T
they are stuffed into a rather complicated rubber protector thing. The less you disturb that, the better, as it can be a right bastard to get everything back together afterwards.
Click to expand...
Yup, that thing was a right bastard to say the least.
 
craigieboy

craigieboy

New member
I
sdrio said:
Tips for anyone doing this or similar work on their headlight.

The back of the headlight is accessible by undoing/removing the two allen bolts at the top, it will then tip forward, it is just sort of hooked on at the bottom.

You should be able to replace the bulb by just doing that, you don't need to remove it altogether, but of course be careful you don't let it fall off when you disconnect the wires. Do it gently, as there are two foam pads under where the allen bolts were, which are only glued on and are fiddly to replace if you pull them off.

But beware - everything is tightly packed behind the headlight, you have several different connectors (indicators, ignition etc), and they are stuffed into a rather complicated rubber protector thing. The less you disturb that, the better, as it can be a right bastard to get everything back together afterwards.

I know this as I have had it all apart several times, replacing the ignition barrel, and also when I changed the switchgear cluster.

Would suggest if you're going to disturb the cabling, take a lot of photos before you do, so you can see the routing for the various cables / blocks etc when reassembling.

The light might need a good push backwards to get the allen bolts lined up with the holes, when refitting.
Click to expand...
Good advice ^^^

It is a bit tight but there is room. My bike has LED indicators aswell so there is resistors in that area, as well as the new LED light and it all fits in fine. Very easy to install no cutting wires. 1 Connector from the LED light that fits straight onto the original connector.
 
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