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Will an aftermarket headlight bucket work on a 2002 Honda 919?

8K views 39 replies 10 participants last post by  SPDSKTR 
#1 · (Edited)
I'm in the pursuit of getting a better headlight setup and I started thinking about the aftermarket buckets that typically come with the cheap, knockoff 7" LED kits. If you're not sure what I'm referring to, it's this...





I've been reading that 7" LED headlights will not bolt directly up to the stock bucket without breaking out the Dremel and added special bolts and spacers. If this bucket would work (meaning swap out the stock bucket with this one using the stock mounting points rather than clamp this bucket on the forks), I'd like to get one and drop in the 7" Morimoto bi-LED setup rather than hack up my perfectly good bucket.

Any and all help is appreciated!
 
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#3 ·
It may need something a bit deeper than that for the electrics inside the stock bucket, but there wouldn’t really be any other technical reasons for an aftermarket bucket not to fit.

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Is it not just the H4 connector going into the back of the bucket?

Assuming that bucket is too small, are there any kind of adapters to make the 7" LED headlight work in the stock bucket? Or do they make a drop-in 7" LED headlight for the 919?
 
#4 ·
My aftermarket headlamp is H4 but has an extra cable for the halo. However, I really mean space in the back of the bucket for cables.

There are a lot of cables in there, more than you’d expect just for a headlamp and indicators.


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#5 ·
My aftermarket headlamp is H4 but has an extra cable for the halo. However, I really mean space in the back of the bucket for cables.

There are a lot of cables in there, more than you’d expect just for a headlamp and indicators.

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What aftermarket headlight do you have? And how did you get it to mount up properly?
 
#7 ·
Why not modify your stock bucket?
Want to keep it intact, why?
You just need a cheap headlight bucket like this one. It has more room like the stock bucket.
https://rover.ebay.com/rover/0/0/0?mpre=https://www.ebay.com.au/ulk/itm/352888593980
But these cheap buckets have thin shitty plastic. Stock is better.
You'll need a headlight rim.
https://4into1.com/7-chrome-headlig...ly-honda-cb450-cb500-cb550-cb750-gl1000-1200/
I used this type of led headlight.
https://rover.ebay.com/rover/0/0/0?mpre=https://www.ebay.com.au/ulk/itm/143384294690
Loads of cable and connectors in stock bucket. Some can be repositioned under tank.
 
#8 ·
It baffles me that there isn't some kind of adapter on the market to solve such a seemingly simple problem.

I may just do the stock bucket modification and be done with it. I'm not really looking forward to doing so, but I guess you gotta do what you gotta do to make it work.
 
#11 ·
Something to keep in mind re automotive 7"s in motorcycles.
SAE governs the lights, as would JAS and others.
The point is that SAE and others specifies the light distributions based on a standardized height above the road way.
Cars have much lower positioned headlights than motorcycles.
Hence SAE and others having different specs re light distributions for cars as compared to motorcycles.
The idea is to have a common difference between the change to high beam from low, in terms of high beam projection.
If you put an automotive unit in a motorcycle, one has to angle it down more to get the low beam correct, thus also depressing the high beam accordingly.
This is not to say that an automotive lamp can't be fitted and successfully used, but it won't be ideal.
Some day I will do the LED swap, but it will be a motorcycle spec unit that gets fitted, not an automotive one.

By the way, the funky old school headlamp mounting rings that Islandboy found for us all, have SAE standardized lamp lug locating points.
 
#12 · (Edited)
Ahh...it all make sense now. I have noticed this very thing in regards to low/high beam. To get my low beam correct I feel the high beam also gets lowered. Too much IMO.
I might have a look for a dedicated motorcycle LED unit.
As yes the old school headlamp mounting ring works cause the older motorcycles used similar headlamps as jeeps.
 
#14 ·
That's a slik bit o' kit for sure.
I wonder how reliable the angle sensing is, in terms of expecting the unit to see a service life of decades.
No listings for Honda anything as I could see, but that matters not, as a known good adaptive solution already exists.
 
#15 · (Edited)
I pulled the trigger on the Morimoto Sealed7 1.0 since it was cheap enough and seemed to have a good beam pattern. I fully intend to properly aim my headlight once I get it installed. Sure, the high beam may be a little low, but I have a solution for that. Granted, said solution is not quite legal...

I bought a 7" LED light bar with a spot and flood combo beam. My plan is to mount it "upside-down" so the brackets are clamped high up on the forks and the light bar itself sits just below the headlight. The relay will trigger with the headlight high beam, resulting in a supplemental high beam. Combined, they ought to be the equivalent of the sun blasting out from the front of my bike.

My only real concern at this point is the extra draw on the battery. I believe the LED bar I picked up draws 36W of power (3A at 12V) and the LED high beam draws 70W (5.8A at 12V). Combined, that's roughly 106W of power (9A of current) being pulled from the battery. Granted, it won't be for very long periods of time, so there's some reassurance.
 
#16 ·
So you'll have a 7" Morimoto headlight that has a high beam that's too high, that you'll fix by mounting it up higher and aiming it lower (that could work great). Then you have a 7" LED light bar with spot/flood combo.

So what 7" LED bar do you have?

https://www.theretrofitsource.com/morimoto-sealed7-bi-led-headlights-7.html


Maybe something like this:

https://www.amazon.com/Rigidhorse-1...07-20&linkId=11d6d18d20324760fdbea885584bc0ce

As far as the impact on the battery, I was left stuck from what I believe is my iPhone charger.

I bought a new battery and then added a QC3 phone charger/mount. It has a switch but connects straight to the battery. I was left stuck because the battery didn't have enough to crank the engine.

I thought LED light used less power than regular bulbs. Isn't stock light around 65 watts?
 
#18 · (Edited)
Yeah I used long bolts and spacers to mount a led headlight but I changed to using a mounting ring instead. The bolts and spacers was a PITA and deformed the bucket slightly. Also the headlight ring gave more adjustment.
If your new led headlight has mounting lugs on its back then I recommend you go the mounting ring.
 
#22 ·
Pic shows the mount lugs. These key into the headlight rim assembly.
See post #7 for the link to the cb500 headlight rim assembly.
There are some issues with using bolts and spacers like in that video.
No issues with using the cb500 headlight rim. It all depends on if your led light is suitable and your willing to work on your OEM headlight bucket.
 

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#23 ·
I'm going to sell the headlight to a coworker. I got frustrated during the install attempt yesterday and figured it's just not worth my time, effort, or extra money, especially since I rarely (I mean RARELY) ride at night.

My light bar plan also didn't pan out. I don't have a good place to mount it, so I'll be returning it along with the hardware. LED pods are now on the table, though...
 
#24 ·
Update.

I found something that seems somewhat promising. The bucket is much deeper than that of the one I posted originally, so it should be able to accommodate most, if not all, the wiring that hangs out in the stock bucket. Unfortunately, I didn't think to get the stock bucket dimensions, so it's hard to tell exactly how different they are.







I'm unsure if the ring holds the LED in place or if it's held in place by the bolts on the sides. If the former, then a simple bolt, washer, and nut setup would be perfect for getting it mounted. If the latter, I guess it's back to measuring out spacers or something.

And I'll admit... the X cover would look fantastic on my bike.
 
#25 ·
So this is a whole new light? Can you post a link or maybe some more info?

Seems like an easy fix is to replace the ring with one that's known to work or make a spacer.

I'd like to know about the pattern, I could really use something that helps with late night rides where you never know what's coming at you.
 
#28 ·
Nice find! I assume the screws on the top and bottom just screw right into that, no modifications needed?

I'll have to see how this pans out with the full headlight assembly. Trying to negotiate the price a bit since they're in the UK and I LOVE the look of the X on the lens. When I was shopping for bikes, the first picture I saw of my bike on Craigslist showed the bike with a black X over the headlight, but it was electrical tape. I don't rightly know why I liked the look of it, but it roped me in pretty good.

This new one is all metal and the X doesn't seem to block any of the light.
 
#30 ·
Hey! I've gone through the same thing as you. If you're looking for the easiest way...buying a whole new bucket assembly probably isn't going to be it.
I ordered this from Amazon for $52.
In order to mount it, I ordered this ring from 4into1
I then purchased one extra headlight bucket screw from BikeBandit SCREW, SPECIAL (5X12) 90114-KFK-000
After you have all these parts, you'll take off the stock bulb assembly and ring, take a pair of side cutters and snip off the weird clip at the top of the bucket, and place the ring as it would sit inside the bucket, mark where the holes are, and drill for the screws. I was able to retain one original hole placement at the bottom right of the bucket, the bottom left I had to move up a little bit, and had to drill a new hole at the top.
After you test fit using the 3 screws, then you just have to put the new bulb in the ring, and mount it all up.

I would say that would be easier than getting a whole new assembly and trying to make it line up and fit and trying to tuck in all the stock wiring and messing with turn signal ears and the bolts that hold the bucket on.

TL;DR, buy new headlight ring, snip a piece of plastic, drill 2 holes, and you can fit an aftermarket 7" LED headlight.
 

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#32 ·
I would say that would be easier than getting a whole new assembly and trying to make it line up and fit and trying to tuck in all the stock wiring and messing with turn signal ears and the bolts that hold the bucket on.
I'm only replacing the bucket. Everything else will stay in place... it's just swapping out the bucket with a new one.
Fortunately, said new one seems to be VERY similar in size to the stock one, so getting things "lined up" won't be an issue.

Here's the bucket I'm after...






It comes with the necessary hardware to mount 7" LED or other sealed beam headlights, so it SHOULD be a direct swap with almost no modifications necessary. There is a large opening in the rear of it, so fitting wires through won't be an issue. Getting them all tucked in might be somewhat of a challenge, but I've been looking at ways of wrapping and waterproofing said wiring in the event I can't get it all to fit.

Another concern I had was the heat from the LED heat sink damaging the wiring. I doubt the heat sink would get THAT hot, though.
 
#33 ·
SPDSKTR let us know how ya get along with that aftermarket bucket.
I was concerned about heat which is why I moved some of that wire loom out.
Part of the thick bundle got pulled back and folded under the tank/frame.
Several connectors got put into the frame cavity that used to house the pair valve solenoid.
 
#35 ·
I did this; put a LED truck headlight in there. Amusingly, the bucket that was on the bike wasn't stock to begin with, and I just ordered a new stock bucket from Partzilla. I found modifying that to have a couple more mounts pretty easy, and haven't had any issues in shit weather or anything. It is true that the beam is weird, in my case there's a pretty strong vertical line of brighter light in the output, but I actually prefer this. A moving line that's tipping up and down seems to get the attention of cagers when I'm splitting, which is always. No trouble fitting the electronics in the stock bucket; for me the trick was to remember to put the wire-holding brackets in FIRST, then mount the light, then screw in and tighten.
 
#37 ·
Yep, not a good feeling.

Once bought a $500 Aimpoint off Amazon (but 3rd party seller).
Tracking showed it all the way to out for delivery, but never delivered.
I’m guessing someone at the Post Office had sticky fingers.
In the end got my money back, but until it hit the account had a sick feeling.
 
#38 ·
The day after my wife stopped by the post office (I was busy!), the package was delivered to my doorstep. Whatever. At least I got it.

I then went to install it, only to discover that the new headlight bowl itself was a good 3/4" too deep! It was hitting the connector on the underside of the instrument cluster! The factory headlight went right back in. Looks like I'll be buying the CB500 ring and modifying my existing housing.

All this work for a cool looking, bright headlight. What am I doing?

Silver Lining: I know how to rip apart my motorcycle's headlight faster than I can say my ABC's. :D
 
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