CB400F2 - Headlamp options ?

[McCabe-Thiele (Ted)]

The headlamp shell on my bike is cracked in 3 areas where screws fit - its plastic so not worth repairing. DS have shells at £23.94, my headlamp is original so basically that needs replacing (£34.80) plus the rim has been damaged the rim price alone on DS is £70.80!!.
I'm guessing the light beam is pretty poor by modern standards so an outlay of £129.54 plus postage I will end up with an expensive candle.

I'm not to worried about originality in this area so am wondering if there is a decent aftermarket lamp that fits between the mounting brackets that measure as a width of 7.25" / 1840mm or thereabouts?

I guess an alternative might be to alter the mounting brackets to accommodate a bigger headlamp possibly a decent LED unit that will also give lots of light output for fewer watts of electricity, has anyone here gone down this route ?

[allankelly1]

Hi

I did this with mine if your are not after an original look

It’s an aftermarket headlamp that uses after market brackets and indicators but does not look out of place on a 1970’s bike






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[McCabe-Thiele (Ted)]

That looks pretty neat were the indicator brackets included?

Do you have a link for the supplier please?

PS I like the mirrors as well not to mention those twin discs!

[allankelly1]

Hi

I will dig thru my invoices tonight and let you know the details but I know the headlight brackets and indicators were from different suppliers

Best wishes Al


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[allankelly1]

Also added a RD350LC twin horn set up too

As love that look rather than a horn tucked under the tank






With a 3d printed custom horn cover to hide the custom brake splitter manifold







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[TrickyMicky]

The headlamp shell on my bike is cracked in 3 areas where screws fit - its plastic so not worth repairing. DS have shells at £23.94, my headlamp is original so basically that needs replacing (£34.80) plus the rim has been damaged the rim price alone on DS is £70.80!!.
I'm guessing the light beam is pretty poor by modern standards so an outlay of £129.54 plus postage I will end up with an expensive candle.

I'm not to worried about originality in this area so am wondering if there is a decent aftermarket lamp that fits between the mounting brackets that measure as a width of 7.25" / 1840mm or thereabouts?

I guess an alternative might be to alter the mounting brackets to accommodate a bigger headlamp possibly a decent LED unit

that will also give lots of light output for fewer watts of electricity, has anyone here gone down this route ?

If you have a look on E-Bay at Bertrums Bike Bits, they are selling replica light units but with the H4 bulb fitments. Many years ago I fitted a Hella 7" Halogen unit to my 750, it wasn't too long before I needed a new flasher/dip switch as I had not installed any relays. The contact points in the standard switches cannot take too much current, one of the reasons many people are going down the LED route.  If you want to keep original bits, there is someone on E-Bay selling LED headlamp bulbs with the BA20D fitment, which is the fitting used in the 400. Have just popped one in mine, bloody bright! but haven't been out on it yet to check beam alignment. If I can master the system, I will attach some pics, 2 with original 45 watt bulb and 2 with 35watt LED.

[TrickyMicky]

The headlamp shell on my bike is cracked in 3 areas where screws fit - its plastic so not worth repairing. DS have shells at £23.94, my headlamp is original so basically that needs replacing (£34.80) plus the rim has been damaged the rim price alone on DS is £70.80!!.
I'm guessing the light beam is pretty poor by modern standards so an outlay of £129.54 plus postage I will end up with an expensive candle.

I'm not to worried about originality in this area so am wondering if there is a decent aftermarket lamp that fits between the mounting brackets that measure as a width of 7.25" / 1840mm or thereabouts?

I guess an alternative might be to alter the mounting brackets to accommodate a bigger headlamp possibly a decent LED unit

that will also give lots of light output for fewer watts of electricity, has anyone here gone down this route ?

If you have a look on E-Bay at Bertrums Bike Bits, they are selling replica light units but with the H4 bulb fitments. Many years ago I fitted a Hella 7" Halogen unit to my 750, it wasn't too long before I needed a new flasher/dip switch as I had not installed any relays. The contact points in the standard switches cannot take too much current, one of the reasons many people are going down the LED route.  If you want to keep original bits, there is someone on E-Bay selling LED headlamp bulbs with the BA20D fitment, which is the fitting used in the 400. Have just popped one in mine, bloody bright! but haven't been out on it yet to check beam alignment. If I can master the system, I will attach some pics, 2 with original 45 watt bulb and 2 with 35watt LED.

The headlamp shell on my bike is cracked in 3 areas where screws fit - its plastic so not worth repairing. DS have shells at £23.94, my headlamp is original so basically that needs replacing (£34.80) plus the rim has been damaged the rim price alone on DS is £70.80!!.
I'm guessing the light beam is pretty poor by modern standards so an outlay of £129.54 plus postage I will end up with an expensive candle.

I'm not to worried about originality in this area so am wondering if there is a decent aftermarket lamp that fits between the mounting brackets that measure as a width of 7.25" / 1840mm or thereabouts?

I guess an alternative might be to alter the mounting brackets to accommodate a bigger headlamp possibly a decent LED unit

that will also give lots of light output for fewer watts of electricity, has anyone here gone down this route ?

If you have a look on E-Bay at Bertrums Bike Bits, they are selling replica light units but with the H4 bulb fitments. Many years ago I fitted a Hella 7" Halogen unit to my 750, it wasn't too long before I needed a new flasher/dip switch as I had not installed any relays. The contact points in the standard switches cannot take too much current, one of the reasons many people are going down the LED route.  If you want to keep original bits, there is someone on E-Bay selling LED headlamp bulbs with the BA20D fitment, which is the fitting used in the 400. Have just popped one in mine, bloody bright! but haven't been out on it yet to check beam alignment. If I can master the system, I will attach some pics, 2 with original 45 watt bulb and 2 with 35watt LED.

The headlamp shell on my bike is cracked in 3 areas where screws fit - its plastic so not worth repairing. DS have shells at £23.94, my headlamp is original so basically that needs replacing (£34.80) plus the rim has been damaged the rim price alone on DS is £70.80!!.
I'm guessing the light beam is pretty poor by modern standards so an outlay of £129.54 plus postage I will end up with an expensive candle.

I'm not to worried about originality in this area so am wondering if there is a decent aftermarket lamp that fits between the mounting brackets that measure as a width of 7.25" / 1840mm or thereabouts?

I guess an alternative might be to alter the mounting brackets to accommodate a bigger headlamp possibly a decent LED unit

that will also give lots of light output for fewer watts of electricity, has anyone here gone down this route ?

If you have a look on E-Bay at Bertrums Bike Bits, they are selling replica light units but with the H4 bulb fitments. Many years ago I fitted a Hella 7" Halogen unit to my 750, it wasn't too long before I needed a new flasher/dip switch as I had not installed any relays. The contact points in the standard switches cannot take too much current, one of the reasons many people are going down the LED route.  If you want to keep original bits, there is someone on E-Bay selling LED headlamp bulbs with the BA20D fitment, which is the fitting used in the 400. Have just popped one in mine, bloody bright! but haven't been out on it yet to check beam alignment. If I can master the system, I will attach some pics, 2 with original 45 watt bulb and 2 with 35watt LED.

[allankelly1]

Hi

Ok these are the parts that make up my assembly

Indicators (mine have an added homemade extension)



Headlamp from iron motorcycles on eBay



Headlamp brackets from eBay


The cost for all the parts seem a bit dear but the indicators and headlight are all metal and not cheap plastic rubbish

Best wishes Al


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[allankelly1]

That looks pretty neat were the indicator brackets included?

Do you have a link for the supplier please?

PS I like the mirrors as well not to mention those twin discs!

Yes the bar end mirrors really suit the bike as wanted to avoid that mirrors on stalks look

Yes the twin disc set up is cool looking too


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[allankelly1]

That looks pretty neat were the indicator brackets included?

Do you have a link for the supplier please?

PS I like the mirrors as well not to mention those twin discs!

Here are the mirrors if you wanted to go that way




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[McCabe-Thiele (Ted)]

Thanks for the information Al you're a star.
The lower photo is clearly brighter with a nice cut off - I will probably end up putting an LED bulb in the unit like I have with our older Jeep WJ. The seller on e-bay does a wide range of basically similar designed replacement bulbs with different fittings - they have a decent alloy heat sink with a cooling fan. Just need to be sure there is clearance at the back of the bowl. The cut off is good on dip with not too much scatter on main beam and they are nice and bright without being too blue in appearance. The wattage shown in the description is obviously wrong - something is lost in translation they are slightly lower than the Halogen bulbs they replaced. Before my next MoT I intend to have a word to see if I need to put the old bulbs in for the test. Luckily the bulbs on the old Jeep are really easy to install. The short wiring loom connectors/adapters fit perfectly. I'm pretty sure that Autofather make a suitable replacement Main/Dip type bulb.

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/2x-4-Side-LED-Headlight-660W-72000LM-Bulb-Kit-9006-9005-H4-HB2-9003-H7-H8-H9-H11/233294327251?ssPageName=STRK%3AMEBIDX%3AIT&_trksid=p2057872.m2749.l2649
Ted

[TrickyMicky]

Just in case we are talking at crossed purposes, the attached pic (hopefully) is the LED bulb which I fitted to the standard headlight unit. The fanless heat sink is inside the reflector, meaning that nothing protrudes into the limited space behind the bulb. Any help? Michael.

[McCabe-Thiele (Ted)]

Ah got it looks a good beam.

[robvangulik]

Just in case we are talking at crossed purposes, the attached pic (hopefully) is the LED bulb which I fitted to the standard headlight unit. The fanless heat sink is inside the reflector, meaning that nothing protrudes into the limited space behind the bulb. Any help? Michael.

Have you got a link for that lamp?

[McCabe-Thiele (Ted)]

Just in case we are talking at crossed purposes, the attached pic (hopefully) is the LED bulb which I fitted to the standard headlight unit. The fanless heat sink is inside the reflector, meaning that nothing protrudes into the limited space behind the bulb. Any help? Michael.

Have you got a link for that lamp?

Not sure but it looks like this one ?
https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/BA20D-H6-S2-S1-LED-Motorcycle-Headlight-High-Low-Beam-Bulb-White-12V-High-Power/133238788946?_trkparms=aid%3D1110006%26algo%3DHOMESPLICE.SIM%26ao%3D1%26asc%3D20200520130048%26meid%3D8ac953c500dd4c01a46abc89f53d4de3%26pid%3D100005%26rk%3D1%26rkt%3D12%26mehot%3Dag%26sd%3D133405751531%26itm%3D133238788946%26pmt%3D1%26noa%3D0%26pg%3D2047675%26algv%3DSimplAMLv5PairwiseWebWithDarwoV3BBEV2b&_trksid=p2047675.c100005.m1851