Hey everyone!

So I'm home visting the fam for XMAS after not being back for a few years, and I was helping my dad install some new bulbs he got for his jeep. Anyways in the process it turns out he ordered the wrong ones, and can't return the original pair since we opened the packaging and nothing was faulty.

Anyways, for ****s and giggles i googled what bulbs work with the CBR600F2, and it appears they're H4 bulbs. Turns out the bulbs my dad incorrectly purchased are H4.


So anyways, the questions:

1- Am I correct in beleiving that any old h4 bulb will fit in our bike?

2- They're 130w/90w bulbs. That's mighty damn bright! Am I going to need to upgrade any wiring, or upgrade to a higher fuse, or will this survive?

3- Is there anything I'm not considering? Is it really just as simple as slapping this extremly bright bulb in and conquering the planet?

 

The power draw is way too much for your bike. Heavier gauge wiring and healthier fuse would make it work but I'm doubtful the alternator for your bike could handle that load. Could end up with battery and regulator/rectifier issues down the road.

I had a jeep and to be honest I'm surprised that power draw isn't a bit much for a jeep's electrical system. Did the kit come with some retro wiring with leads back to the battery?

 

Some people on forums (not this one! ) like to call people stupid for considering certain modifications. I'm not going to say that, what you do is what you do, but i wouldn't recommend this. You are consuming double the watts for the headlamp so that presents issues. Your stator should be fine but it's the regulator rectifier that commonly fails. Putting extra stress will most likely cause it to fail and require you to replace it with refurbished unit that's beefed up. Those cost around $120. The good thing is our carbureted bikes have little power consumption. The extent of electrical use is the ignition system and light bulbs versus fuel pump, ECU and others on EFI bikes.

Another thing to consider is the battery condition. If you've had the bike for a few years and never replaced it, maybe it's time. The battery of course allows us to start the bike but once it's running it acts as a big buffer between the rectifier and the load. Check resistance between the chassis and negative terminal if you have a multimeter. Ensure it's 1.0 ohm or less. Make sure the terminals are clean too, the usual maintenance...


As for the wiring, it is not designed for that much current. Your headlight switch and starter switch can safely handle the current setup, but doubling the current is asking for trouble.

You can overcome the higher amp draw by getting a simple relay and then run a new wire from the battery to an inline fuse holder, to the relay to the headlight. I guess you'd need to purchase two for hi/low.



130 watts / 12v = ~11Amps

Running 11Amps at 12vdc I would recommend using 16ga stranded copper, crimp and/or soldier terminal lugs, heat shrink and an inline buss fuse.

I don't want to assume anything about your electrical skills but let me know, i do it for a living. Random factoid: Never use electrical tape unless absolutely necessary on a vehicle. That is why i said heat shrink above.

If you want to perform this modification, let me know if you need any assistance. As long as you understand the potential risk to your bike.

 

If it was a successfull instillation,would the oncoming traffic be subject to a nuclear flash riding toward them?

 

Oh helllll yeah! Cagers will know I'm coming now! Nah I can't imagine this will alter the beam pattern, just the intensity. My current headlight is so gosh darn dim anyways I'm looking forward to this jump in intensity


I've done a fair bit of electrical work. I worked as an electrician before the housing crash caused my prior boss to ditch his electrical company in favor of others. I couldn't find anyone else to pick me up as an apprentice so I reutrned to college. I also built sound systems for many years for electronic music stuff. The lame way of rating the power of your system was the peak capability of all your cabinets, bringing me at something like 25,000 watts, although only had 14,000w worth of amplification available to me(also peak).


Anyways more questions:

-Since the regulator rectifier is the weak link on this bike, any recommendations for a super beefy one? I recall reading the R/R off other sport bikes ore than did the trick. I have access to a pretty rad assortment of salvaged bike parts at a friends shop, so I'm betting i could dig whatevers the burliest up!

-Would relacing the current wiring for the headlight really be so much of a headache that running new wiring is recommended? (I'm still visiting the parents, so I can't look at my bike given that it's 3,000 miles away).

-What's the stock wattage on our bikes?

 

That's exactly why assuming makes an *** out of me... lol

I'll look through my books and try to find it. I read the rating a week or two ago, and if I recall it was quite a bit like 300-500 watts.

 

If you're just looking for a lot more light, you could try some true xenon HIDs. They run at 35W and put out around 3200 Lm. There are some that run at 55W and put out close to 5000 Lm. A normal 55W halogen puts out 900 Lm but I've never been subjected to a 130W type.

Some of the latest HIDs use a very slim ballast and are much more reasonable in price. I've seen them for under $100. My current bike uses an H4 and I put in a bi-xenon H4 HID that gives true lo/hi beam HID at a little over half the power consumption.

 

Heh I mean on our bikes LIGHTS, not off the alternator. I'd ask for amps off the alternator

Anyways I don't think we've got too much on these bikes so I can't imagine there isn't the power for it. People have heated grips and heated vests on bikes all the time, so I'm sure it could handle some high intensity lights no problem. I'm inclined to try and slap on hand warmers as well

 

This place has some geeks with light knowledge.

Don't assume your electrical system can handle a sustained increase in power draw. Ya, you have carbs, but Honda has historically used chincy electrical generating or regulating hardware. My '81 CX500C was a quick intro to Honda's only flaw

 

I did notice the wire from the stator to the regulator was quite small gauge. I'm guessing it was 18 gauge which doesn't provide much current capacity. I would consider that the bottleneck of most problems. We can thank Honda for trying to save 10 cents per motorcycle.