TOPIC:

After 26 years and 48,700 miles of trusty service my original headlight finally died! Where are these still available?, and can I put in a halogen without having any problems with my electrical system? Sounds like a lame question I know, but I never had to buy one until now... Thanks...

Post edited by: Bluemeanie, at: 2006/12/23 18:42

There are many options available. If you search in the forum you will find suggestions ranging from finding an original to switching to high intensity or halogen.

i tried using a car bulb...don't do it! the light
dispersion pattern is different. i couldn't see worth a crap.

I put a halogen light on my old Kz650 and it worked fine.

Tom
MI

Get a good one here, tinyurl.com/ns2yo

I put a car halogen sealed beam in several KZ's that I have owned, and they all worked great.

I'm with steell on this one.

Go to your local automotve supply store and ask them for a Sylvania dual beam headlight that has a low and high level of brightness. They look like the headlights found on most seventies Chevy's.

If I remember correctly I paid less that $20 for the headlight and picked up a spare. Combined these were still cheaper than buying a headlight through Kawasaki.

Cheers-Colin Firth-Ontario Canada
1977Kz650 Custom with 810 Wiseco, Kz750 cams, 750Gpz intake valves, Dyna ignition/coils, MAC pipe, Mikuni 28's-switching to Mikuni 28 smoothbores. Lottsa other upgrades, getting tired typing and remembering:)

So basically the bike uses an automotive headlight? Another post meantioned light diversion?, are bikes different than cars or the same? Will take old one down to local auto parts store and check on halogen replacement. Thanks guys...

As I heard somewhere, cars have two headlights and the beam pattern is supposedly different than a cycle headlight. The cuts in the glass spread the light different for a bike with cycle headlight.

Now, I never ran a car headlight in my bikes so I can't say there is a difference. If steell says it's fine then I believe it.

Post edited by: OKC_Kent, at: 2006/12/24 14:58

I can't say anything about any different dispersion patten because I simply don't know anything about it

But I can say with confidence that every KZ I own gets a new halogen headlight from the local auto parts store before I ride it at night. They work excellent for me

I could be wrong but I was also under the impression that motorcycle headlights are more resistant to vibrations and shocks. It is necessary to isolate them from these things with rubber mounts.

I read that in JCW too, about vibration. Kinda like bulbs in the garage door opener. Regular bulbs burn out quick but a rough service bulb lasts for years. Hmmmm...