Speed3Chris
I like Dick
Most of us are dissatisfied with the stock headlight and have thought about upgrading it at some point. Seems like I have been on a lighting kick lately in preparation of much anticipated summer riding…recently changing the rear Lucas light to a LED and upgrading the speedo lighting…see associated threads in the Project Zone.
Triumph upgraded the reflector for ’09 which is a step forward but the stock H4 halogen 55/65W bulb is pretty pathetic if not downright dangerous. It is not common knowledge around the motorcycle industry that the weakest link in lighting isn’t related to the bulb but generally the wiring for all stock motorcycles. Some believe this simply pertains to heat sensitivity…but it is much more than that. Time to break out your EE handbook.
An obscure fact is light output is approx. proportional to the 4th power of the voltage across the filaments in the bulb. 1 to 1 increase would make a difference, but 4th power or exponential increase changes everything.
Translation is, a small increase in wiring resistance translates to a major loss in light transmission. How is power lost from the battery to the light? Loss is realized in small wire gauge and hence high resistance and Triumph to conserve cost, as most motorcycle mfr’s....elect to run light power right through the headlight switch and interrupt circuit in the starter relay. This translates to not only oxidation over time to the contacts due to substantial power draw for even further light loss but hot, resistive wires that rob headlight lumens. This isn’t small stuff….this is a big deal in lighting.
Have a look at the graph below:
If you have any doubt, perform the same check I did. Pull your seat and open your headlight. Place multimeter leads across the battery to measure voltage and then across the bulb leads at base of H4 plug for both low and high beams. My bike experienced a full 1.5 volts loss for low beam and a bit more loss for the high beam due to its greater current draw. This is common btw in the industry. If you want, go out on the web and read about it for further perspective.
I was getting only 10.3 volts for my low beam when the batt voltage (with light on) measured 12.1 volts. If you look at the graph this translates to a full 60% reduction in light output and even more for the high beam if somehow I can get all the battery voltage to the light. The Eastern Beaver relay harness gets all but 0.1 volts to the light. All I have to say this mod is transformative in terms of additional light. Not only is the light more than half again brighter but it is much whiter.
Installation:
Pic of the wire harness:
You maybe able to finder a cheaper H4 relayed harness out on the web but not one of this quality for the price….about $45. I also considered making my own harness but after adding up the cost of supplies, this harness can’t be beat. Quality is also excellent.
OK…how to put it on. Pretty easy installation. No soldering. Best method is to cut off your stock H4 female plug and isolate the ground (black) from the headlight harness with electrical tape. Then use posi-locks supplied in the kit to attach the harness right to the two remaining low and high headlight wires. If you decide to purchase this kit, go to Eastern Beaver’s site for additional info for the install. Note: for those that don’t want to assault your factory wiring harness, this relay harness includes a H4 plug that plugs right into the factory H4 light socket. Downside of this approach is it is fractionally less efficient and takes up more space inside an already crowded headlight shell and EB recommends cutting off both bike and relay H4 plugs for direct tie in which I agree with.
Posi-lock installation: (Optional)
How it looks in inside the headlight:
A look under the EFI tank:
Connection to the battery running up the spine of the bike under the tank:
Summary:
For those that want a stronger headlight which is most of us, this is what I recommend:
1. Change the bulb. I have a 80/100W "off road" Wagner H4 which are inexpensive and available at most Napa stores and a good improvement to the stock light. I had no problem with the stock harness overheating but without question the more robust Eastern Beaver harness can take the heat of the higher wattage bulb much better. Bulbs, color coating and wattage is a bit of shell game played by bulb sellers obfuscated by clever marketing. Reality is higher wattage bulbs don't shed a lot more light and partly due to the fact they draw more current and the stock harness on most bikes is too resistive to transmit needed energy.
2. Install a relay harness for direct battery voltage to the light bypassing the headlight switches and puny wiring which now simply operate the relays to direct power to the battery. (A much bigger difference than upgrading the bulb.)
3. Upgrade your reflector. I haven’t done this yet nor have immediate plans because the ’09 reflector is pretty good and the Cibie replacement doesn’t mount very well to the revised Triumph reflector housing.
Here’s to hot summer night riding. :boobeyes:
Please let me know if you have any questions about the installation.
Triumph upgraded the reflector for ’09 which is a step forward but the stock H4 halogen 55/65W bulb is pretty pathetic if not downright dangerous. It is not common knowledge around the motorcycle industry that the weakest link in lighting isn’t related to the bulb but generally the wiring for all stock motorcycles. Some believe this simply pertains to heat sensitivity…but it is much more than that. Time to break out your EE handbook.
An obscure fact is light output is approx. proportional to the 4th power of the voltage across the filaments in the bulb. 1 to 1 increase would make a difference, but 4th power or exponential increase changes everything.Translation is, a small increase in wiring resistance translates to a major loss in light transmission. How is power lost from the battery to the light? Loss is realized in small wire gauge and hence high resistance and Triumph to conserve cost, as most motorcycle mfr’s....elect to run light power right through the headlight switch and interrupt circuit in the starter relay. This translates to not only oxidation over time to the contacts due to substantial power draw for even further light loss but hot, resistive wires that rob headlight lumens. This isn’t small stuff….this is a big deal in lighting.
Have a look at the graph below:
If you have any doubt, perform the same check I did. Pull your seat and open your headlight. Place multimeter leads across the battery to measure voltage and then across the bulb leads at base of H4 plug for both low and high beams. My bike experienced a full 1.5 volts loss for low beam and a bit more loss for the high beam due to its greater current draw. This is common btw in the industry. If you want, go out on the web and read about it for further perspective.
I was getting only 10.3 volts for my low beam when the batt voltage (with light on) measured 12.1 volts. If you look at the graph this translates to a full 60% reduction in light output and even more for the high beam if somehow I can get all the battery voltage to the light. The Eastern Beaver relay harness gets all but 0.1 volts to the light. All I have to say this mod is transformative in terms of additional light. Not only is the light more than half again brighter but it is much whiter.
Installation:
Pic of the wire harness:
You maybe able to finder a cheaper H4 relayed harness out on the web but not one of this quality for the price….about $45. I also considered making my own harness but after adding up the cost of supplies, this harness can’t be beat. Quality is also excellent.
OK…how to put it on. Pretty easy installation. No soldering. Best method is to cut off your stock H4 female plug and isolate the ground (black) from the headlight harness with electrical tape. Then use posi-locks supplied in the kit to attach the harness right to the two remaining low and high headlight wires. If you decide to purchase this kit, go to Eastern Beaver’s site for additional info for the install. Note: for those that don’t want to assault your factory wiring harness, this relay harness includes a H4 plug that plugs right into the factory H4 light socket. Downside of this approach is it is fractionally less efficient and takes up more space inside an already crowded headlight shell and EB recommends cutting off both bike and relay H4 plugs for direct tie in which I agree with.
Posi-lock installation: (Optional)
How it looks in inside the headlight:
A look under the EFI tank:
Connection to the battery running up the spine of the bike under the tank:
Summary:
For those that want a stronger headlight which is most of us, this is what I recommend:
1. Change the bulb. I have a 80/100W "off road" Wagner H4 which are inexpensive and available at most Napa stores and a good improvement to the stock light. I had no problem with the stock harness overheating but without question the more robust Eastern Beaver harness can take the heat of the higher wattage bulb much better. Bulbs, color coating and wattage is a bit of shell game played by bulb sellers obfuscated by clever marketing. Reality is higher wattage bulbs don't shed a lot more light and partly due to the fact they draw more current and the stock harness on most bikes is too resistive to transmit needed energy.
2. Install a relay harness for direct battery voltage to the light bypassing the headlight switches and puny wiring which now simply operate the relays to direct power to the battery. (A much bigger difference than upgrading the bulb.)
3. Upgrade your reflector. I haven’t done this yet nor have immediate plans because the ’09 reflector is pretty good and the Cibie replacement doesn’t mount very well to the revised Triumph reflector housing.
Here’s to hot summer night riding. :boobeyes:
Please let me know if you have any questions about the installation.
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