Crap Headlight!

Hi Guys,

Sorry if you have answered this before. My headlight is rubbish, I have a lot of country lanes which are unlit to ride home from work on and I find the light is pathetic, my bicycle lights are brighter! I want to be able to see wear I am going and need a much brighter beam. I am guessing that it's not just as simple as changing the headlight bulb to a higher wattage one? I would like to keep the bike looking fairly stock, any suggestions? Many thanks.

Kawasaki KZ 750 Ltd H1 1980 US spec

Be careful about going to higher wattage as you can cook some some wiring or a connector (ask how I know). Here's what I use, and it works well for me. Ed

www.summitracing.com/parts/WAG-H6024/

According to the diagrams, the 750-H1 came stock w a halogen bulb unit, which should be plenty bright (12V-60/55W bulb). I would inspect the bulb &/or try a new one to see if there's any improvement. Also, clean the lens unit on the inside if it's cloudy or dirty - mine was. I used denatured alcohol on a clean cloth taped to an improvised rod. If your bike has a non-halogen sealed beam for some reason, then switch over to a halogen unit.

I also use the H6024 halogen and it's about 3X as bright as the crappy one that came stock on my '79.

They are so cheap, you should probably just replace the old one anyway. Once the new one is in, check the voltage coming to the bulb at the connector when it's on. Make sure you are not getting some bad voltage drop at one of the wiring harness connectors, ignition switch, or fuse. I would also replace all the fuses if they are more than a year old. Their resistance increases with age.

Try a headlight with a replaceable h-4 bulb.

His bike should have come stock w the H4 bulb setup, but I guess it's possible it got a sealed beam instead. My 81 650 originally came w a sealed beam, so I got the lens unit & H4 bulb from an 82 750-Ltd-4... easy, direct swap.