Headlight Replacement

Gizmo

Gizmo

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Having a difficult time replacing the right headlight bulb, headlight has gone dark. My problem is removing the power plug from the old headlight. Service Manual says to remove the plug BUT I can't seem to be able to get the plug off. I can see and feel the plug from underneath the front shroud but no joy as to it's detachment from the back of the headlight. Could use some help here ... older gentleman could use some insight as to what I'm doing wrong! Thanks for any assistance.
 

Gizmo

Gizmo

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Was able to 'finger' it out with the help of a neighbor. I had attempted to do it from BELOW the front cowl when it was A LOT easier from the top, next to the steering stem. I now have the 'LOW' as well as the remaining "High' Beam to guide me thru my adventures (Day and Night).
 

T

Tonypil

Member
Gizmo said:
Was able to 'finger' it out with the help of a neighbor. I had attempted to do it from BELOW the front cowl when it was A LOT easier from the top, next to the steering stem. I now have the 'LOW' as well as the remaining "High' Beam to guide me thru my adventures (Day and Night).
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Hi! I'm an older guy too, and changed all of my Gold Wing front lighting to LEDs. I want to do the same to the DN-01. Did you use LED bulbs and if so, can you give a source & part number? Thanks, Tony
 

Gizmo

Gizmo

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Tonypil said:
Hi! I'm an older guy too, and changed all of my Gold Wing front lighting to LEDs. I want to do the same to the DN-01. Did you use LED bulbs and if so, can you give a source & part number? Thanks, Tony
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Sorry, replaced with a standard H7 bulb. It was a pain to do that as it was.
 

T

Tonypil

Member
Thanks, Gizmo. SoCalMotoGear makes (or distributes) some of the best LED bulbs for bikes. I bought a pair of their H7 bulbs for my Gold Wing and they're great. Now that I know that the Dino sues H7, I will check with SoCal. It's a pain in the Gold Wing, too.
 

Gizmo

Gizmo

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Tonypil said:
Thanks, Gizmo. SoCalMotoGear makes (or distributes) some of the best LED bulbs for bikes. I bought a pair of their H7 bulbs for my Gold Wing and they're great. Now that I know that the Dino sues H7, I will check with SoCal. It's a pain in the Gold Wing, too.
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The only pain was that I didn't know what I was doing. To be truthful ... it's quite easy ESPECIALLY if you do it from the top and not the bottom!
 


Gizmo

Gizmo

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Tonypil said:
Did you take off the front shelter and windshield to get at it?
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NOPE! Just unscrew the dust cap behind the bulb (you can see it looking down from the back of the cowling), release the retaining spring, bulb come out and then just reverse the process to install a new bulb. (Make sure NOT TO TOUCH the glass of the bulb when installing to prevent oil from your hand contaminating the glass ... could cause premature failure of the bulb)
 

T

Tonypil

Member
OK, Gizmo. If it ever warms up here, I'll check it out. Once I do, I will know which, if any, currently available LEDs can be substituted for the halogen bulbs. Advantages: longer bulb life, lower current draw, white light, possibly longer distance. Right now, the battery tender is doing a slow charge on the battery. I have to move the bike out of the garage to reorganize the stuff for winter. I better hurry up before the winter is over!!
 


Gizmo

Gizmo

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Tonypil said:
I copied this from my oil change posting:

Gizmo, here's a link for H7 LED bulbs that the vendor claims will fit the DN-01. Since you have done this, do you think that these would fit? Don't our bulbs have a collar that fastens the bulb to the light housing and would that collar fit over this bulb? This will keep you busy for a while. Thanks for your help, Tony

https://www.ebay.com/i/203120938467...yHBgCN4gK_ALOZIh-VvQ2DWpScOse-phoCxpMQAvD_BwE
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Looks complicated, expensive AND possibly TOO HIGH TECH for what we want. I'm afraid of WHAT might happen IF the fan fails ... that's a lot of heat being generated there AND a lot of plastic!
 

Gizmo

Gizmo

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Tonypil said:
OK, Gizmo. If it ever warms up here, I'll check it out. Once I do, I will know which, if any, currently available LEDs can be substituted for the halogen bulbs. Advantages: longer bulb life, lower current draw, white light, possibly longer distance. Right now, the battery tender is doing a slow charge on the battery. I have to move the bike out of the garage to reorganize the stuff for winter. I better hurry up before the winter is over!!
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I'm staying with the 'traditional' H7 bulb. My low beam bulb lasted me 11 years @ 40K miles and only takes about 10-15 minutes to change IF NECESSARY.
 
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T

Tonypil

Member
Gizmo, the LED not only lasts longer than a halogen bulb, but runs cooler (since it uses less amps) and is brighter than the halogen bulb it replaces. This is why people replace their old halogens with LEDs. I checked with the guys at SoCalMotoGear, and they say that their DF00H7 LED bulb is a perfect match and that the cooling apparatus in LED headlights (a fan or cooling fins) is to cool the circuitry, not the LED element. I have felt the bulb area of an LED bulb after it has been on for a while and there's almost no noticeable heat, far far less than a halogen bulb, so you don't have to worry about it melting your plastic. This is why virtually all new motorcycle models use LED, rather than halogen lights. You can check out the replacement bulb from the dropdown list at https://www.socalmotogear.com/PATHFINDERLED-DF-SERIES-LED-HEADLIGHT-p/df0000.htm
 

Gizmo

Gizmo

Active member
Site Suporter
Tonypil said:
Gizmo, the LED not only lasts longer than a halogen bulb, but runs cooler (since it uses less amps) and is brighter than the halogen bulb it replaces. This is why people replace their old halogens with LEDs. I checked with the guys at SoCalMotoGear, and they say that their DF00H7 LED bulb is a perfect match and that the cooling apparatus in LED headlights (a fan or cooling fins) is to cool the circuitry, not the LED element. I have felt the bulb area of an LED bulb after it has been on for a while and there's almost no noticeable heat, far far less than a halogen bulb, so you don't have to worry about it melting your plastic. This is why virtually all new motorcycle models use LED, rather than halogen lights. You can check out the replacement bulb from the dropdown list at https://www.socalmotogear.com/PATHFINDERLED-DF-SERIES-LED-HEADLIGHT-p/df0000.htm
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Thank you for the information. I do need to check my high beam bulb though ... it's a LOT brighter than my low beam bulb. maybe the prior owner replaced it with an LED years ago.
 



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