Headlamp

[adeejaysdelight]

The dog hates the cold too. It's his lucky day... :lol

[Fazerider]

I don't know if anyone else has done this, but I ditched the dome of metal that stops the light getting out. The light spread on dipped beam is quite acceptable still, I've never been flashed by traffic coming the other way and nobody queries it at MOT time. Apart from more light it has the extra benefit of not having something rattling around on the friable material of the reflector generating piles of dust.

[Gnasher]

If you remove the dome will will reduce the range of the beam you may well feel there's more light but there isn't!  You will also run the risk of dazzling on coming traffic fact you haven't been flashed could well mean your reflectors are too low, MOT will only flag if there to high and a lot of    The cap is there to reflect all the available light back to the reflector granted the reflector on the early Fazer is crap and is mostly to blame for the bike having poor lighting, this isn't helped by the blub choice either.

Back to the cap, if you look at H4 or H7 bulbs you will notice they both have blacked tips to them, this blacken tip acts (all be it better) just like the cap.
       

[adeejaysdelight]

I kept the dome in there. No point taking it out in my opinion. The lamp has been designed by an engineer to meet legal and saftey standards, and it would be a silly MOT fail/ticket. I live about 1 mile from the Strathclyde police HQ, where they store the motorcycle unit, amongst other things...(Glasgow Airport bombers, Lockerbie Terrorists). So. on a daily basis, I ride by loads of bike cops. Most of them are nice guys and turn a blind eye to a small'sh number plate and so on. But some of them (one really) digs bikers for everything. He would love me to take that lamp out, I can almost see the smile on his face now 

When I come to refit the lamp to the machine, I have a new H4 & H7 Philips Motovision set to fit. I put one in my CBF and CBR and they work really well. Really. Really well. I would recomend them to anyone. I recived one as a gift for christmas, but the pair cost around £25. Well worth it. And with the added benefit of a clean relector, I can't wait to see just how much of a difference it will make.

[griff86]

Glad it worked out well for you, it makes such a difference them being clean.

[YamFazMan]

Hi
Glad it all worked well
What were the methods you used for cleaning the reflector and the lens.
ATB YFM

[adeejaysdelight]

When it was split I took the reflectors out. I then cleaned the main body and face in the sink with water and a soft cloth. The reflectors I cleaned first with a make-up brush, then rinsed with water and wiped, under running water, with a clean, soft cloth. Then dry with paper towel and a hair dryer to get the last wee bits. Finaly, I used glass cleaner on the face, greased the screws and reassembled. Back in the oven to set the glue. 

[Fazerider]

The lamp has been designed by an engineer to meet legal and saftey standards...

But, sadly, not by one who ever rode a motorcycle at night. :lol

[adeejaysdelight]

Yeah, your right there Fazerider. It is pish, but I am hoping my MotoVision bulbs (on full beam as I always do) and clean reflectors should increase it to 30 candle power  :lol

[bikerboys]

30 candle power :eek never  :rollin you 30 candles in there  :rollin

[Fuzzy]

Very helpful thread, I was cleaning my headlamp by swishing a rag in water & soap inside the unit but I ended up with too many streaks. Was going to try this, good to know it works!

I was going to fit Motovision bulbs too -  but I thought the Fazers (mine is a 2001) use a H4 & a H1 bulb not a H7? Is this correct? Or can you remove the adapter thingy to use a H7 instead?

[adeejaysdelight]

I removed an H4 and an H7 from the bike and will replace them with the same. I don't know if it came from the factory like this or not though. But for sure that is what was on my bike.

If you search for my "winter" thread you will see a picture of my CBF125 beside the Fazer, both with headlamps on, and the CBF is running a MotoVision bulb. They are really good.

Only thing I would say is have everything you need to do the job there, in the kitchen.

Good luck

[Fuzzy]

Thanks, will give it a go for sure.

I had a Cbf125 with a motovision too, it was red though! The bulbs that came out of my unit were H4 and H1 - there doesn't seem to be a clear answer to this, perhaps some of the later square eyes came with H7s instead of H1s. Got Philips Xtreme bulbs instead, not fitted yet but I'm sure they'll be pretty good too.

[adeejaysdelight]

The Xtreme bulbs are good, but I find the white light from them is more use in the countryside (pure dardness) at night. The Motovision bulbs are better when there is some light, like street use at night, or dusk/dawn, which works better for me and my type of riding. I tend to be out in the B roads during the day as I live near the city. I guess its down to preferance. Let me know how you get on with it.