headlight

New Headlight.

I have an 82 Yamaha xj650 maxim(xj650j). I’ve had the thing for a couple of months and love it. I’m new to riding and new to motorcycles in general.

I need to replace the headlight. I’m pretty sure the replacement for what I have is the 7in circular sealed beam variety.

I was just going to get a replacement bulb, but it kinda sucks and was hoping to get something a little brighter. Several hours later and I’m now on information overload. I’ve read several posts about headlights, but I was hoping someone can point me in the right direction. Actually, I’m hoping someone can just tell me what to buy. I just want things to work with as minimal of modifications as possible. I’ve replaced the speedo and tach with no problems based on other posts on this site and they work great. I’m not trying to trick out the bike, I just want replace non functioning parts so I can get back to riding. I ride at night sometimes, so I was hoping this would be a simple upgrade.

Some people have talked about upgrading to H4, some people have talked about LED. Some people say that you can’t upgrade the wattage, others say they have no problem. I don’t have any extras plugged into my bike that would be using any power and don’t have any plans to do so, so I was wondering if a small bump in wattage would be ok (50/40w to 60/55w).

Can I replace the lamp in the existing headlight assembly, or is it better to replace the whole assembly? There’s a rats nest of wires in there, so any new assembly would need to have plenty of room.

I’ve also read that I can just get an xj650rj seca headlight assembly and then get an h4 bulb. My Haynes manual says it takes a Philips 12342 H4 12v 60/55w Bulb. Looks like the headlight assembly is part number 5H1-84321-A0, but I can’t seem to find it anywhere. The seca parts I see online are square and I do kinda like the look of the circle ones better. Plus, I don’t know that the square variety has the room to fit the rat’s nest of wires that currently sits in the headlamp.

Still with me? Can you help? I’m not afraid of doing a little work, but the most plug and play option would suit me the best.

 

Start a conversation with Chacal. He has all the options, and can talk with you to find what you want.


You will not easily find a Seca 650 headlamp, and if you do you will also need the mounting ears; it's an 8" headlamp.

 

Thanks. I've started a conversation with Chacal.

 

I just didn't search hard enough. Best explanation about lights in case anyone runs across this thread is at:

Forums > XJBikes Marketplace >XJ4Ever - Supporting Vendor > XJ PARTS CATALOG, SECTION D: ELECTRICAL SYSTEM

See the headlight section on page 2 for everything about xj headlights.

I would post a link, but every time I put in a link it gets flagged as a spam message.

 

The spam warning is cuz you're new. 5 posts, and you can post links. 650 Seca is a rare bird, only available in US in 1982.

 

on my 83 750 the head light mounting ears has been bent in on one side to hold the bucket how can I tell if it is a Seca 650 bracket. 8" headlight would look nice. forget it just found a picture under Steering

 

Not sure if this helps, but my 82 xj650 maxim is about 8" across. I've attached a pic of the bracket with a ruler for reference. Mine holds a 7" headlight. That seca has got to be about 9".

 

83 XJ750 uses the same bracket as the 650's. The picture is good because I can see where to fix mine to for locations Thanks