Progress on hella headlights

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Alright hopefully someone can help me with the electrical a bit...

Here's the wiring diagram for oem setup with one low beam and one high beam:



Since I'm using two low beams with shutters for high beams, would I be ok to do this: (green is wiring for both low beams off the original low beam wire, purple is to the shutter for the high beams using the old high beam wire).



The stock lights were 55watt I guess, I think my new ones are like 60 or 65 watt. Will I be OK doing this? I'm running basically double the output off the oem wires. I don't want to overheat the wire or start a fire. If it's not OK, I will figure something else out, it isn't that hard to run a few feet of wire...just need some input from someone who really knows what they're doing.

Thanks.
 
Do not run both low beams on just the one wire.

Here's what I would do, splice the wires at the high beam switch (the hot and the switched wire) and disconnect at the flash to pass: this will cause the "high beam wire" to always be on ie- low beam.

I would then run ~16ga to the now disconnected high beam switch and the flash-to-pass to run the solenoid in the lights. The solenoids should take minimal power from that circuit.

I'll have to confirm in the wiring diagrams, but that would be the easiest method IMO and still look/operate close to stock and easily reversible.
 
watts equals volts X amps, so inversely watts/volts=amps. 55W on a 12V system equals 4.58A and 65W=5.41A x2 headlights = 10.82A I would rewire the power and ground leads from the headlight relay to the lights and the ground point to the lights with 12awg type MTW or THHN wire just to be safe. 16 awg would carry it but if corrosion starts building up on the ground or at the connector the resistance will go up quickly. Just being safe. I am the kind of guy that doesn't mind doing things a little overkill if it means I will only have to do it once. Make sure that the voltage supply wire to the relay (not the 12V+ to the relay coil, but the 12V+ to the contact driving the headlights) is upgraded also. I don't think the shutter wire should draw anywhere near what a high beam light would. Dont know what the stock wire gauge is on a XB, so it may be fine. Like I said I have a tendency to go a little overkill. LOL. I'm sure someone who has upgraded a set of lights on a XB will chime in.

sorry Sirius, I had to take a phone call while I was typing this post. Didn't see yours. That would work also snrusnak. Up to you. :black_eyed:
 
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^^ I tend to overkill as well...sadly on my current build (car, not bike) I thought the starter solenoid would run minimal current. Come to find out it runs close to 10 Amps (pretty much at the limit for 16ga). Luckily the load isn't continuous and I *should* be fine even though I don't like it.

I like your complete rewiring idea as well.
 
Thanks for the help. I think after reviewing the electrical diagram a while I'm basically going to do what Sirius said. I can use the original low beam line and high beam line (spliced at the switch) to run both low beams, then run one new wire to the switch for the shutters. Should be safe this way and is very easy...
 
I have the bracket remounted and am working on the wiring. I was considering using the orange/white whire that goes to the headlight harness as power to one of the low beams. It says it's for position lamps on HDI models, not sure what that is. The wire is in the main harness, and runs through the accessory fuse. If I did this I'd only need to add the o/w white from the headlight harness to the light (less than 1 foot) and would just need to add one of these pins:











I don't know that this is ok to do though.... for now I"m just wiring it up with the oem low and high beam lights hooked to the low beams (so one low beam will be switched for now). I won't have high beam shutters hooked up yet, but at least I'll be able to ride.

Can any one confirm either way it is or is not a good idea to use that o/w wire as a low beam?
 
Well I'm about 99% done other than the little electrical that needs finished (just need to sand the fairing to make it shiny...)















The dremelling wasn't quite perfect but it looks pretty good.
 
I need some help finishing up this wiring...

I'm leaving the stock low beam wire to one of the low beams, going to splice the stock high beam wire to eliminate the switch and have it constantly on so it will power the other low beam light. I will run a new ground for the high beam shutters, but I need a new hot/load to run to the high beam switch and flash to pass switch to power the high beam shutters. I was thinking about using the orange/white wire that goes to the position lamps (HDI only). It is powered through the accessory fuse from the ignition. I just want to make sure it won't be too much load on that circuit. I believe being ignition powered it will always be on, same as the lights. So should work properly. Can anyone confirm this will be a good route to go down before I start cutting wires? Or what other source for a load/hot can I use to power the high beam shutters?

Thanks. I can post wiring diagrams if need be...
 
Before going further, I would take a multimeter and see how much current is needed for the shutters.

If it is minimal (<1/2A) then you can use the same grounds for the shutters as the "low beam" and you can easily use the existing high beam power that is at the high beam switch as the "hot" for the shutters. Then just run a single wire down from the flash-to-pass and the high on/off switches to the shutters.
 
How would you suggest I temporarily wire it up to test the current draw?

Also, I was just searching and found that on the lightning headlight mod to have both lights on at the same time, people switch the orange and yellow wires. So the orange/white wire (ignition powered) is the hot for the light. This tells me I can use the orange/white wire to power one of my low beams, use the original low beam yellow power wire to power the other low beam, then leave the original stock high beam setup the same just rewire it to the shutters. What do you think? With this method I simply have to add a foot or so of wire from the headlight connector (orange/white) to the headlight. Hope this is making sense. I guess the only downside is that if I put the ignition in "park" it will turn on one of my headlights...
 
I would have to compare the two wiring diagrams to confirm. I don't recall this working, or being feasible, on the Firebolt harness.
 
The question is, is the orange/white wire that's powered through the accessory fuse from the ignition ok to power a low beam 65w bulb? Doing so would put an additional ~5.4 amps on the accessory fuse circuit. I would think if people are doing this on the lightning I could also do the same on the firebolt, right? If not, is it enough to power the shutters? (I will test the amp draw tomorrow).

Anyone with the lightning and the headlight mod where you switched your orange/white and yellow wires, if you turn the ignition all the way counter clockwise past lock, does one of your lights come on?
 
Alright so I charged up the bike yesterday and tested the amp draw today. Each high beam shutter is ~0.4 amps. So let's say 1 amp total for the pair. Each light bulb draws ~4.8 amps. The light fuse is 15 amp so I'm thinking I can power everything on that circuit (I would prefer to just from a cleanliness of install standpoint). This is not the easiest way to wire it, however.

The easiest way to wire it is to use the orange wire that goes to the headlight harness then dies (used for position lamps on european models). I can simply add the pin and wire to the headlight from the headlight harness to power one of the low beam lights. Keep the oem power wire to the other low beam light. Then use the oem high beam switch as is and just tie the wire from the light harness to the shutters. This is by far the simplest in terms of wiring as the only thing I need to modify is the short section of harness from the headlight plug to the lights themselves. I just don't know that I like one of the low beam lights on the ignition fuse (same exact thing as the lightning headlight mod). This method would also turn one of my low beam lights on when I turn the ignition counter clockwise past lock to the "park" mode.

Thoughts on this anyone? I'm leaning towards just doing a slight bit more wiring to have it all on the lighting circuit... I'd probably leave everything as is and just run one new wire from the 15 amp fuse to the new second low beam. Leave the original low beam wire and the original high beam wire as is.
 
In the end, it is your call. I'm finally finishing up the wiring in my '73 BMW (I redid everything from the front bumper to underneath the dash) - EVERYTHING! These decisions that you are faced with are yours to make. You have good plans for any method you choose. You used sound judgement by measuring the current draws and looking at the wiring. Which ever way you decide to go about it will be fine, as long as its what you want.
 
Thansk for the input, I think I'm going to do just that and do it all on the lighting fuse. I'm trying to get this done ASAP but unfortunately other priorities keep popping up. Hopefully I can get i done soon. The only actually physical part I still need is the connectors for the shutters. I still don't know what connector I need for those...
 
Yeah I found one on ebay but being international it's like $40+ and I'm not even sure if that's for a pair. That's ridiculous. I can't find anything in the US or affordable...been googling all the cross reference numbers as well. I'm tempted to cut off these connectors and use the ones cooter sent me, I could just repin them or heat shrink connect them...
 

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