Headlight Question

So my headlight sucks. Not very bright at all.

I was looking to buy a new bulb but thought "what about changing it to LED or something".

I was wondering if anything like this would work on the 82 XJ750 Maxim.

http://www.amazon.com/Rectangular-H...ular+LED+Headlamp&refinements=p_85:2470955011

My guess is that it wouldn't be as simple as plugging it in and going so thought I'd ask about it before I went and spent any money.

 

don't do dat
you loose a bit of voltage in every connection from the fuse box to the light, added up it's a lot.
a new fusebox helps, then just open each plug, squirt it with brake cleaner, put a dab of dielectric grease in it and plug/unplug it 5 or 6 times. everything will work better

 

I put a brand new blade style fuse box in last year and have been through cleaning every electrical connection (part of my yearly upkeep). Bulb was crappy last season too. Upgrading the fuse box did help a lot with the electronics on the bike.

The reason I was thinking of changing over to LED was not only for the brighter light but that they usually use less power.

Pretty sure the bulb in there is about as old as the bike. Why I thought changing it might make a difference.

 

DOT compliant LED headlights still cost $$$$. Non DOT compliant LED headlights also cost $$$$, but also involve paperwork and court appearances.

There is also a practical issue. Heat. LEDs need to shed large amounts of heat or they burn out rapidly. Your motorcycle has a plastic (that isn't particularly heat resistant) headlight bucket, with a lot of important wiring inside of it.

Get a new halogen bulb and go ride. It will make a huge difference and cost a lot less.

 

I replaced stock sealed beam with halogen in 1986. Bike and light still going. Halogen is much brighter.

 

Get one of our headlight relay kits, and by-pass all those connectors and switch and small wiring, that way you get fully battery voltage to the headlight, which is what makes headlights bright (their rated output is typically at 13.6 VDC, and since you are probably lucky to be getting 12.nothing volts AT THE BULB, that translates into about a 20% light output loss............even with a brand new bulb......so your "60W" headlights is really only outputting 48W).

Easy way to test is run a jumper wire from the battery positive directly to the headlight connector or terminal, see if the headlight is brighter (it never hurts to run a jumper cable from the negative terminal directly to the battery, either). Use 14-gauge wire instead of that anorexic 18g that the factory uses..........

 

Thanks guys! You've given me some things to think about. I appreciate it.

 

Where can I find a blade style fuse box?

 

Chacal sells them with really easy to follow instructions for installation