anyone with a candlepower headlight installed ??

[lugnuttz]

i have a candlepower light that i have intentions of installing on my bike,however some things dont seem to line up with the stock holes/tabs and i am also having an issue with spacing (big gap around the outside) but i may have figured that out ...

does anyone have pics of the front/outside and the back side of the unit installed in the mounting ring that holds it all in the headlight bucket...

at first i thought i recieved the wrong light ,but now im wondering if it is right but just needs some modification,however i dont want to hack the light up if it may be the wrong light and i may try to return it

 

[Joel]

Once you work the candlepower light into position, it fills the space decently. It's not as nice of fit as stock, but it's a whole lot cheaper, it's brighter, and you can easily replace the bulb. Mine works well on my bike. I'll try to post a picture tomorrow.
As for modifying the light, I did grind down one of the tabs on the Candlepower light and I shortened one of the metal spring clips that locks the light in.

 

[HoughMade]

Got your PM. I have to change my bulb, so I will have it apart for pics at some point and I'll try to get pics.

What I can say now is this- I had a chome ring inside the outer chrome ring that fit snuggly around the original headlight. However, the Candlepower unit is a smidge smaller. I wrapped the headlight in hi-temp electrical tape right around the edge right where the rim fits until it fit on there well. On your pics, I don't see this rim. You can see in the pic below that there is a chrome ring right around the headlight itself inside the chrome housing ring. I think this visually takes some space up and makes it look like it fits better.

Also, I had to cut the tab that the adjusting screw fits in off the old headlight and attach it to the Candlepower headlight. I used hi-temp silicone and then wrapped it with hi-temp electrical tape. It looks ugly inside the housing, but it works.

 

[lugnuttz]

Hugh, thanks for the reply ya I originally thought the ring you described was part of the sealed beam and not removable but I did pry it off. And put it on the candlepower light I am going to try and space it evenly and superglue or maybe use a dab of solder to hold the tabs in place. Another concern I had is on the sealed beam the top ear/ bracket is longer than the bottom one where so the sealed beam is angled down but the candlepower light ears are the same length how did. Did u get around that?

 

[HoughMade]

Don't remember that issue- I'll have to check when I take it apart.

 

[OliverB]

Must be an issue with pre-eighty headlights as my son and I didn't have to do any of those mods on our '80 & '81 headlight upgrades.

 

[lugnuttz]

as an update ,after making 2 pretty crummy homemade brackets,cutting into the reflector with my dremel while trying to remove a metal tab on the back of the new light and cracking the glass lens in 4 places the light is installed and it lights up ...at this point i am so angry that i dont give a crap what it looks like

 

[HoughMade]

Well, sorry to here that. I took a couple of pics last night, but I haven't gotten them on the computer yet.

 

[OliverB]

Yeah, sorry it has been such a headache. Mine went in pretty easily except for the little bit I had to trim off an area to vertically align the glass markings. Wonder if you got a reflector that wasn't correct or not the newest version? Or, like I said, the pre-80 buckets are different.

 

[SilverTalon]

I put mine in yesterday, went in very easy.

I went with the 45/45 bulb to test something, but I will probably be buying a 55w next time.

 

[l3ry4n3]

I put one of these in thursday. It was working fine. I then was cleaning out the left side panel with brake cleaner to figure out where an oil leak is coming from. Light was still working. Now the Front headlight and tac/speedo lights are not working. I checked all of the connections and I can't seem to figure out why it is not working anymore. Any ideas? I have the low watt bulb from candlepower.

 

[lugnuttz]

check youre fuses there a fuse for the lights and if youre bike has the original fusebox that has metal tabs that hold 4 glass tube fuses in place..the metal tabs are notorious for breaking off or not making good contact with the fuse

 

[l3ry4n3]

so i checked the fuses, i even replaced some. no luck. I am not sure why i can't get any of the lights on i have checked all of the connections. I don't know probably what i should be looking for.

 

[drewpy]

does the engine need to be on for your lights to work? there is a latching relay that does this

 

[l3ry4n3]

Yes engine needs to be on. The strange thing is. Randomly the light will turn on when I start it but then several times after that it will not turn on. Tonight is one of those nights. Yesterday it was on and had no issues. It seems it is off more than it is on. I bought the low watt version of the candlepower. His is getting frustrating as I can't really ride without it due to legality. I miss riding my xs

 

[l3ry4n3]

Just doing some reading... Could this be my issue ? http://www.yamahaclub.com/forums/topic/21284-xs-400-stock-wattage-headlight

I'm running the 45/45. What do I do about my high beam?

 

[HoughMade]

Sounds to me like loose connections. When the light should be on, wiggle all the wires back to the fuse box and see if they lights come on (or off). If so, see what the problem is and fix it. It is very common for the fuse boxes to wear out with the connectors getting brittle and not making reliable contact.

 

[l3ry4n3]

The only thing is... Why does it run for the entire time from start up but then that next time I start it up it doesn't work anymore. Stupid electrical.

 

[Joshwuh]

Has anyone else had issues replacing their light with a candlepower? also hough how has that 60w/55w been working?

 

[OliverB]

It is not the Candlepower headlight unit causing your problems. Many have used this product for years. Something else is going on, as others have suggested. I recommend a SilverStar Ultra 55W60 bulb. Follow that up with two LED tail/stop bulbs. The 55W60 headlight will use more amps but the LED tail/stop bulbs use virtually no amps so you break even on a system with limited alternator output and your headlight will no longer dim when you apply the brakes.