[bfrecon]

I notice at night when I turn on my high beam there is a sort of dark spot created in my visual area. The high beam works well, but leaves a large dark area where the low beam would shine if it were on.

I found a lot of posts and a lot of mixed information so I thought I would clarify it the best I could.


I did mine exactly like this and it works great. The high beam only comes on when I turn it on and when it does come on the low beam stays on with it. When I turn off the high beam it goes off and the low beam stays on.


$15 and some change including tax for the parts needed. All the parts I got at Radio Shack off the shelf (no special ordering needed).

Time:
About an hour or less

Here is how to do it:
The diagram is attached. It is in PDF format.


Parts list:

Relay: Radio Shack part # 275-001 (this is the smallest one they had, measures 1”x 1” x 1”, it is rated at 40A which is way more protection than you need) Quantity: 1
Diode: Radio Shack part # 276-1661 (is about the size of your pinky fingernail) Quantity: 1 pack (comes in pack of 4, you will only need 2)
Inline Fuse Holder for 1 ¼ x ¼” Fuses: Radio shack part #270-1281 Quantity: 1
1 ¼ x ¼” 10A fuse: Radio shack part # 270-1072 Quantity: 1


Tools:
Wire cutter
Needle nose pliers
Electrical Tape and/or heat shrink tubing
Solder gun and solder

Notes about the diodes: The diodes have a gray band on them. The gray band on both of the diodes used should be wired so they lead towards your low beam. On my diagram you will see a straight line at the end of the diode arrow, that straight line represents the gray band on the diode

Notes about the relay: It is a four pin relay. Each pin is labeled on the bottom of the relay. The labels are: 30, 86, 86, 87. The wiring diagram shows which one goes where.

 

[AOW]

very nice:thumb:
but..... if you remove the left side cover and install a barrel splice onto the blue and yellow wires, you accomplish the same thing for about $.35

 

[bfrecon]

very nice:thumb:
but..... if you remove the left side cover and install a barrel splice onto the blue and yellow wires, you accomplish the same thing for about $.35

I had come across a posting about that and was going to do it that way, but I also had found some postings on other Harley forums saying the factory wires are small and already operating at max. from the factory so if the lights are run simultaneously off the battery using a relay they will burn brighter. I do notice that when the when the relay is activated and the both lights are running off the battery the low beam is a little brighter than when it is running off the factory wire. Is it worth it? Maybe, maybe not.

Bottom line, it I couldn't decide which way to do it. In the end I couldn't resist tinkering around with wires and solder and creating something that either works or blows fuses and melts wires. I got lucky, it worked on the first try.

Also when I was reading all those postings everywhere, I didn't find anyone who has had any problems with doing it one way or the other (relay or using a jumper). Some postings speculated that the factory wiring would overheat using a jumper, others speculated that running both lights at once would overload the bike's electrical system, etc... I could not find any post or any information that supported these theories. It is fine to do it either way, with a relay or with a jumper.

 

[Nathang]

You are making your headlights twice as bad on high for oncoming traffic,

minimun road manners would require being double diligent on dimming them.

Might get hit head on otherwise.

.

 

[AOW]

You are making your headlights twice as bad on high for oncoming traffic,

FALSE he's not re-aiming the low beam at all, it's still pointing in the same direction as always. The difference is that he will no longer have a dark spot between the front wheel and the high beam. No worse for oncoming traffic than high beam alone.

 

[bfrecon]

FALSE he's not re-aiming the low beam at all, it's still pointing in the same direction as always. The difference is that he will no longer have a dark spot between the front wheel and the high beam. No worse for oncoming traffic than high beam alone.

True that

 

[Karzza]

You can see better to far in dark, if you don't have bright spot just in front of your nose.

Do you think you made an invention which automotive- and lamp-industry didin't note. I made the same 24years ago

 

[bfrecon]

You can see better to far in dark, if you don't have bright spot just in front of your nose.

Do you think you made an invention which automotive- and lamp-industry didin't note. I made the same 24years ago

I don't think so. I think the problem is that you can not fine tune the adjustment of the headlight on the bike. On a car you can adjust both headlights individually which allows for better coverage. I haven't noticed this problem on other motorcycles, it is just something that could have been done better. I don't think the V-Rod was intended for touring so I don't think they spent much time worrying about it in the design. Anyway, a lot of people customize their Harley's and when they do it is often adding lights or light bars.

 

[Karzza]

Anyway, a lot of people customize their Harley's and when they do it is often adding lights or light bars.

That's true. I'm using Xenons.
A dark moment when change LowB/HighB is especially unconfortable with Xenons.

 

[AOW]

and by splicing the high beam & low beams, you will never have that dark moment again

 

[bfrecon]

That's true. I'm using Xenons.
A dark moment when change LowB/HighB is especially unconfortable with Xenons.

Are those Xenons expensive? Where did you get them and do the parts take up a lot of space?

 

[AOW]

Are those Xenons expensive? Where did you get them and do the parts take up a lot of space?

true Xenons require ballast like HIDs

 

[bfrecon]

true Xenons are HIDs

The real ones are an arc light source that requires a ballast and things like that. That is what I was wondering, where to get the real ones for a V-rod and how much space the ballast and things take up.

 

[AOW]

yeah, I meant to type they needed ballasts like HIDs. Lots of folks getting suckered into buying Xenon lights that are just blue tinted lamps (bulbs).
The ballasts I've seen on the Xenon fixtures are about the same size of the HID ballasts. They may a mm or 3 thicker, but pretty damn close.