H4 headlight conversion

Thats good Topper, I'm glad you're happy with it. I havent had the chance to try mine at night yet. My old bulb was so dim its not funny.

Run power to the headlight bulb through relays, one each for high and low beam.

My wiring is all good, replaced half the harness during my rebuild. Doing a full rewire next winter wiht all proper colours, connectors, etc. That's going to be a lot of fun, and really improve the overall reliability of the bike I think.

I converted to the H4 a few months ago and am very happy I did. Much brighter for night rides. I haven't noticed any electrical issues due to new Light setup.I also had a hard time getting the new setup back in the stock bucket but like you said with a little work It finally fit. The depth was not directly the issue but the depth made it hard to fit all the wires back in.

If I could toss in my .02
At idle, get a voltmeter and see what your bike is putting out. Check at 1200/1500 and 2000 rpm
If you aren't putting out 11 volts at idle, the "upgrade" could really be a headache for you.
my kz pours out volts, but the honda I did the upgrade too (after I did the upgrade...) found it wouldn't produce 13 volts till 2500!

I'm going to stir the pot a little (more like kick the hornet's nest). I installed Otto's HID kit and had great success. The light is brighter than I ever would have imagined, is vibration proof, lasts significantly longer, and only draws 6 amps for 35 watts (opposed to 12 amps for a 100W halogen).

Check it out: kzrider.com/forum/4-electrical/348657-he...nversion-hid-halogen

I forget what I paid for the kit (you have to use a reflector designed for HID bulbs, Otto includes them with the kit). I ran into problems for a few days, turns out my voltage regulator and rectifier were shot. So I installed a modern one-piece unit and have been using it for the past year without any problems. My biggest gripe is that the reflector unit sometimes vibrates out of the headlight adjuster.

Medina wrote: If I could toss in my .02
At idle, get a voltmeter and see what your bike is putting out. Check at 1200/1500 and 2000 rpm
If you aren't putting out 11 volts at idle, the "upgrade" could really be a headache for you.
my kz pours out volts, but the honda I did the upgrade too (after I did the upgrade...) found it wouldn't produce 13 volts till 2500!

This is normal, virtually all engines produce less than 12 volts while idling. I had to get to 2,500-3,000 rpm before it starts putting any juice out.

mtbspeedfreak wrote: I'm going to stir the pot a little (more like kick the hornet's nest). I installed Otto's HID kit and had great success. The light is brighter than I ever would have imagined, is vibration proof, lasts significantly longer, and only draws 6 amps for 35 watts (opposed to 12 amps for a 100W halogen).

Check it out: kzrider.com/forum/4-electrical/348657-he...nversion-hid-halogen

I forget what I paid for the kit (you have to use a reflector designed for HID bulbs, Otto includes them with the kit). I ran into problems for a few days, turns out my voltage regulator and rectifier were shot. So I installed a modern one-piece unit and have been using it for the past year without any problems. My biggest gripe is that the reflector unit sometimes vibrates out of the headlight adjuster.

<- And look how bright my headlight is in my avatar!

Grab a voltmeter and measure the battery voltage with the engine running. Then measure the available voltage at the headlight globe plug.

The majority of motorcycle headlights receive less than 12volts. If your headlights receive full battery voltage, they are going to be much brighter than lights receiving 11 volts. That's simple maths.


Using the following wiring diagram and a pair of Bosch automotive relays, you can make a big difference quickly and cheaply. Don't use cheap relays, they are false economy and WILL fail one night.

A set of decent quality ratcheting crimping pliers are cheap and worth much more than what you will pay for them.