Headlight swap questions
Thread Starter
|
Road Captain
Joined: Jul 2011
Posts: 626
Likes: 2
From: The Coma
Headlight swap questions
Hey everyone, I hope you're all having a safe New Years Eve.
I bought a 7" DBI headlight bucket with sealed beam bulb on eBay and when I got it I found there are 5 wires inside and unlike the stock FXD bucket.
I've read in other posts that the extra wires are intended to hook up passing lamps. Even though I probably never will, I may as well leave them in there if I can... Can I? If not what is the best way to go about making the swap. I know there have been threads on this, but after searching for the past two days, I can't seem to find one that makes it clear enough and I don't want to waste a bunch of fuses trying to figure it out if I don't have to.
Can anyone shed a little light on this? Pun intended.
I bought a 7" DBI headlight bucket with sealed beam bulb on eBay and when I got it I found there are 5 wires inside and unlike the stock FXD bucket.
I've read in other posts that the extra wires are intended to hook up passing lamps. Even though I probably never will, I may as well leave them in there if I can... Can I? If not what is the best way to go about making the swap. I know there have been threads on this, but after searching for the past two days, I can't seem to find one that makes it clear enough and I don't want to waste a bunch of fuses trying to figure it out if I don't have to.
Can anyone shed a little light on this? Pun intended.
Ultimate HDF Member
Joined: May 2008
Posts: 6,642
Likes: 48
From: Ogden, UT
Could give you a better answer if I knew what the 5 wires actually went to, how are they connected in the headlight?
You need 3 wires for a stock setup, ground, high and low, if the other 2 are for passing lamps you can just put some heat shrink on the ends of the wires to insulate and keep from shorting.
Are these wires inside the bucket or out in a connector?
You need 3 wires for a stock setup, ground, high and low, if the other 2 are for passing lamps you can just put some heat shrink on the ends of the wires to insulate and keep from shorting.
Are these wires inside the bucket or out in a connector?
Thread Starter
|
Road Captain
Joined: Jul 2011
Posts: 626
Likes: 2
From: The Coma
Ok, I took a couple pictures to help make what I'm working with a little more clear.
I have no harness attached and was planning to use the stock one if possible. The wires consist of a bound set that has YELLOW, WHITE, one THICK BLACK and one THIN BLACK wires, along with a single unbound YELLOW with a spade clip termination. From looking inside, it seems like I have running and/or low beam which are YELLOW, high beam is WHITE, and ground is BLACK. Does this seem correct? What I am still unclear of, is will there be an issue with leaving the spade end YELLOW, as it's out side of the bucket? I figure if I have to, I can cut it off with a small lead inside the bucket, then heat shrink or otherwise insulate it so that I still have it for later use if needed. But will it be safer to just remove it all together?
From the pictures, you can see the THIN BLACK comes into the bucket and is riveted on as a ground, then loops back to the bulb, but the THICK BLACK runs directly to the bulb. Is the THIN BLACK intended for running light ground? And how should I terminate this wire if I have no running lights?
If what I have gathered is correct, then would I just attach the wires to the wiring harness as follows: W>2, bound Y>3, thick B>4, and then, what to do with the extra two wires (spade yellow and thin black)?
Again, thanks for your time and any help you guys can offer!
I have no harness attached and was planning to use the stock one if possible. The wires consist of a bound set that has YELLOW, WHITE, one THICK BLACK and one THIN BLACK wires, along with a single unbound YELLOW with a spade clip termination. From looking inside, it seems like I have running and/or low beam which are YELLOW, high beam is WHITE, and ground is BLACK. Does this seem correct? What I am still unclear of, is will there be an issue with leaving the spade end YELLOW, as it's out side of the bucket? I figure if I have to, I can cut it off with a small lead inside the bucket, then heat shrink or otherwise insulate it so that I still have it for later use if needed. But will it be safer to just remove it all together?
From the pictures, you can see the THIN BLACK comes into the bucket and is riveted on as a ground, then loops back to the bulb, but the THICK BLACK runs directly to the bulb. Is the THIN BLACK intended for running light ground? And how should I terminate this wire if I have no running lights?
If what I have gathered is correct, then would I just attach the wires to the wiring harness as follows: W>2, bound Y>3, thick B>4, and then, what to do with the extra two wires (spade yellow and thin black)?
Again, thanks for your time and any help you guys can offer!
Ultimate HDF Member
Joined: May 2008
Posts: 6,642
Likes: 48
From: Ogden, UT
If it were me, I would test it using the leads on the bike.
The White, Yellow and Black (thick) should be the ones you need.
Try connecting to your bikes harness/connector and see if it works properly.
The spade yellow should be able to be clipped and pulled back into the bucket and insulated. Same with the thin black.
If you still have your stock headlight, you can either clip the connector off with enough lead to solder to the new wires, or disassemble the connector and get new pins for the new wires.
Let me know if this makes sense, should be pretty straight forward.
The White, Yellow and Black (thick) should be the ones you need.
Try connecting to your bikes harness/connector and see if it works properly.
The spade yellow should be able to be clipped and pulled back into the bucket and insulated. Same with the thin black.
If you still have your stock headlight, you can either clip the connector off with enough lead to solder to the new wires, or disassemble the connector and get new pins for the new wires.
Let me know if this makes sense, should be pretty straight forward.
Road Warrior
Joined: Oct 2010
Posts: 1,554
Likes: 52
From: Ottawa Canada
Myself i would pull the existing wiring out of your stock light and install in the new light, doing this will keep wiring stock and also get to use the stock connector/Just my 2 cents
Trending Topics
Thread Starter
|
Road Captain
Joined: Jul 2011
Posts: 626
Likes: 2
From: The Coma
I actually ended up going another route. I did use the stock wires, but I took a trip down to Radio Shack and buying some Molex connectors and set it up for easier changes in the future (like adding passing lamps or swapping out to a different bucket, etc.).
Thanks for the info, it took some of the uncertainty out of the job.
I'm going to post a walk through with pictures so if in the future anyone comes along like myself, they won't have as many questions about it going in. It's about time I can contribute to the forums, rather than just sponging information from everyone!
Cheers,
Jimmy
Thanks for the info, it took some of the uncertainty out of the job.
I'm going to post a walk through with pictures so if in the future anyone comes along like myself, they won't have as many questions about it going in. It's about time I can contribute to the forums, rather than just sponging information from everyone!
Cheers,
Jimmy
HD Forum Stories
The Best of Harley-Davidson for Lifelong Riders
7 Surprising Harley-Davidson Products that Are Not Motorcycles
Verdad Gallardo
8 Best Harley-Davidson Motorcycles Ever
Pouria Savadkouei
10 Worst Harley-Davidson Motorcycles Ever
Pouria Savadkouei
Killer Custom's Jail Break Is The Breakout That Refused to Blend In
Verdad Gallardo
Crazy Bunderbike Build Looks Amazing, But Is It Impossible to Ride?
Verdad Gallardo
Harley-Davidson Reveals Super Cool Cafe Racer Concept
Verdad Gallardo
Engraved Rebellion: Inside Bundnerbike's Glam Rock II
Verdad Gallardo
10 Motorcycles You Should Never Buy
Joe Kucinski
10 Things Harley-Davidson Needs to Fix in 2026
Verdad Gallardo
Stage II
Joined: Sep 2017
Posts: 2
Likes: 0
From: Oregon
Headlight Replacement Walkthrough?
I actually ended up going another route. I did use the stock wires, but I took a trip down to Radio Shack and buying some Molex connectors and set it up for easier changes in the future (like adding passing lamps or swapping out to a different bucket, etc.).
Thanks for the info, it took some of the uncertainty out of the job.
I'm going to post a walk through with pictures so if in the future anyone comes along like myself, they won't have as many questions about it going in. It's about time I can contribute to the forums, rather than just sponging information from everyone!
Cheers,
Jimmy
Thanks for the info, it took some of the uncertainty out of the job.
I'm going to post a walk through with pictures so if in the future anyone comes along like myself, they won't have as many questions about it going in. It's about time I can contribute to the forums, rather than just sponging information from everyone!
Cheers,
Jimmy
Thanks.
Club Member
Joined: Oct 2011
Posts: 11,175
Likes: 2,483
From: Nor Cal
Hey, don't pressure him. It's only been 8 years
But I had to chuckle at this ...
Big 'ol soapbox announcement and still No follow through 
But I had to chuckle at this ...
I'm going to post a walk through with pictures so if in the future anyone comes along like myself, they won't have as many questions about it going in. It's about time I can contribute to the forums, rather than just sponging information from everyone!