Changed my headlight bulbs.......

Aikidoh

Aikidoh

Joined
Aug 3, 2014
Messages
10
Location
Nova Scotia, Canada
Bike
2012 ST1300 ABS
...successfully, thanks to the forums!

My left side high beam burned out on the weekend :(.

So I decided to try a set of Sylvania SilverStar bulbs (We'll see how long they last!) and do it myself :eek:.

So then the fun began. Thankfully my hands are small enough to fit in past the bars (yes, girly hands), from the top and were able to squeeze the connector tabs. The whole process took 15 minutes, for both bulbs. The first one was the hardest/longest.....

I had read many lightbulb posts after I joined ST-Owners, so was smart (lucky) enough to throw in a set of headlight shims from MCL when I ordered my highway pegs. I wasn't sure if I'd ever have to use then or not, but it was cheap insurance. I can state for a fact that the 2012 Canadian model ST1300A uses the "special" Honda H4 bulbs, so I had to use the shims.

Much thanks to all who suffered and shared before me, so that my first bulb change was relatively painless.
 
No special shims needed. Cut or bend up the bottom left and right tabs. I cut mine off. The top one will align the bulb
 
Yep, but it seemed awful loose when I seated the bulb, so I went with the shim. Fit was a lot better.

Have you tried the "brighter" bulbs in yours? Much difference?
 
The shims were for the ST1100 not the ST1300. Adding shims changes the focus point for both the low beam and the high beam. The high beam will be less focused and will be too high. The low beam will be more focused but will loose the effect of the glare shield and you will end up with more glare for on coming traffic... you are better off removing the shims or try putting the shims behind the bulb.

It is easier to get to the bulbs from the front of the bike. Reach under the faring by the front forks...

Yes, the newer LED bulbs are brighter than halogens and have a decent pattern. Look for the G6 and G7 led threads on this forum. You will not have a left side failure with LED bulbs, they "should" outlast your bike.
 
I've ran the SS bulbs. Loved the brightness, hated the fact that they only lasted 10,000 - 15,000 miles which is 6 months for me and hated the price. I went thru a couple sets in the ST and 3 or more sets in a Valkyrie. I use the regular bulbs now and can't remember the last time I had to replace one.
 
Can't help but get good at changing the 1300 headlight bulbs. The Left Side one on mine goes out every 6-8 mos.! Time is down to about 5-7 minutes, and that's almost without looking ! Not that U can see much anyway. I like the SilverStars beam and light quality, but they go fast on that left side.
I just break off the 2 lwr. tabs, and the install is easy. The right one lasts a long time. No idea the last time it went out.
Any tech. articles and/or fixes for this??
 
The ST1300 headlights work on two separate circuits. The right is on main fuse A, ignition switch, Fuse D/E, Starter switch, Dimmer switch, bulb. The left is on main fuse B, Fuse G/I, Lo/Hi Relay, bulb.

the right side has more switches, more wire, more losses so the voltage at the right bulb will be less than the voltage on the left. Even a 0.25 volt difference will make a big difference in the life of the bulb.
Someone will have to measure the voltage on the center terminal (low beam) of each bulb and tell me the numbers and I can calculate the correct resistor to put in line with the left bulb to equalize the currents.... measure with the motor running.
 
ESB said:
Can't help but get good at changing the 1300 headlight bulbs. The Left Side one on mine goes out every 6-8 mos.! Time is down to about 5-7 minutes, and that's almost without looking ! Not that U can see much anyway. I like the SilverStars beam and light quality, but they go fast on that left side.
I just break off the 2 lwr. tabs, and the install is easy. The right one lasts a long time. No idea the last time it went out.
Any tech. articles and/or fixes for this??
Click to expand...

Here is a reply I made some years ago to a thread about the left side bulb. AS of today and 60,000 miles later I have had no problems with my left bulb since I changed the relay. Hope this helps..

"""In previous threads of this headlight issue i've had posted some facts that i found in pursuing this issue. The results and conclusions that i came up with are to replace the high beam relay. this would be on the right side of the bike. (refer to service manual). Again this is what i found on my bike. Yours may have other issues. It appears vibration on the bike has an effect on the contacts of the relay. Thus causing major fluctuation on the voltage supplied to the bulb. Honda designed the wiring for some redundancy to prevent an all lights out situation. The left high beam is controlled by a high beam relay, the low beam is also controlled by a low beam relay. The right is controlled (per wiring diagram)directly by the dimmer switch from which i can tell by the wiring print. With the use of an occiloscope i was able to determine significant voltage fluctuation that is NO good for this type of bulb by tapping on the relay lightlly. A close examination of the relay contacts on my bike showed significant arcing on the surface. As this surface deteriotes the problem worsens into a snow ball effect. I am planning on changing the relay in my bike, just haven't gotten to it.

in short, I am betting on this to be 100% of the problem.
if anyone out there has moved towards changing their relay and have had success. Post up.
the relay appears to be standard automotive parts. could be aquired at any auto parts store with same pin configuration. ""
 
OhioDeere said:
Here is a reply I made some years ago to a thread about the left side bulb. AS of today and 60,000 miles later I have had no problems with my left bulb since I changed the relay. Hope this helps..
Click to expand...

Did you replace with OEM?

Would think OEM could fail same as what you observed and alternate may be better?

Thanks
 
I found some old H4 55/60 halogen bulbs so I made some measurements. Voltage at battery 14.2 V.
Left bulb is 13.4 volts, 4.2 amps, 56 watts (3.2 ohms).
Right bulb is 12.2 volts, 3.5 amps, 42 watts (3.5 ohms).
The ground side lost .4 volts on both bulbs.
The hot side the left lost .4 volts, where the right lost 1.7 volts!
The right is loosing 1.3 volts more than the left. Your results will be different. I have 70,000 miles on my bike.
To equalize the voltage on both bulbs, for longer life, you will need to add a 0.3 ohm ten watt resistor in line with the left bulb.
But this will lower the light output. A better solution would to try to reduce the left side a little bit and try to improve the right side.

A simple fix would be to put a 0.1 ohm 5 watt resistor in line with the left side and see what happens...

I might have believed the relay fix but changing the HIGH beam relay has no effect on the low beam power.
If you swapped the low beam relay it would have made more sense...

(I did swap bulbs and made the same measurements so the differences are in the wiring not the bulbs.)

I found this somewhere on the web a long time ago. It helped make sense of the crazy Honda wiring diagram.

HeadLightWireing.jpg
 
Last edited:
OhioDeere said:
Here is a reply I made some years ago to a thread about the left side bulb. AS of today and 60,000 miles later I have had no problems with my left bulb since I changed the relay. Hope this helps..

"""In previous threads of this headlight issue i've had posted some facts that i found in pursuing this issue. The results and conclusions that i came up with are to replace the high beam relay. this would be on the right side of the bike. (refer to service manual). Again this is what i found on my bike. Yours may have other issues. It appears vibration on the bike has an effect on the contacts of the relay. Thus causing major fluctuation on the voltage supplied to the bulb. Honda designed the wiring for some redundancy to prevent an all lights out situation. The left high beam is controlled by a high beam relay, the low beam is also controlled by a low beam relay. The right is controlled (per wiring diagram)directly by the dimmer switch from which i can tell by the wiring print. With the use of an occiloscope i was able to determine significant voltage fluctuation that is NO good for this type of bulb by tapping on the relay lightlly. A close examination of the relay contacts on my bike showed significant arcing on the surface. As this surface deteriotes the problem worsens into a snow ball effect. I am planning on changing the relay in my bike, just haven't gotten to it.

in short, I am betting on this to be 100% of the problem.
if anyone out there has moved towards changing their relay and have had success. Post up.
the relay appears to be standard automotive parts. could be aquired at any auto parts store with same pin configuration. ""
Click to expand...


Guys some clarification.
Had to look at the factory wiring diagram to refresh my memory on this wiring. Its been years since I've fixed this problem.

- The left side headlight is controlled by 2 relays. one for high beam, one for low beam.
- the right side headlight is controlled directly through the high/low beam switch on the handlebar. why??? don't know. probably because the handlbar switch can't handle the current for 2 bulbs, just one.
- The high/low beam switch on the handlebars also controls the 2 left headlight relays. This means that if you can't switch either bulb to low/high, the handlebar switch is bad..<-- just for reference.

Change both relays for high and low when you do.

Hope this helps
 
spiderman302 said:
To equalize the voltage on both bulbs, for longer life, you will need to add a 0.3 ohm ten watt resistor in line with the left bulb.
But this will lower the light output. A better solution would to try to reduce the left side a little bit and try to improve the right side.

A simple fix would be to put a 0.1 ohm 5 watt resistor in line with the left side and see what happens...
Click to expand...

Interesting. Thanks. Sounds worth giving it a try. I cannot see any difference between the left and right light output on mine, so will go with the 0.3. Can always swap with a 0.1 if 0.3 seems to cut off the left output significantly.

Have never done anything electrical on the bike, so suggestions on how to best implement are more than welcome!

Was hoping to find a ready made assembly, resistor + wires, but no luck.

Looks like this resistor on Amazon should do the trick?

What gauge wire should be soldered to it (+ shrink tube I guess)? Use Posi-Locks to connect in line into the wire from the battery before the relay (red/white wire)?

Any suggestions on most accessible place to install?

Thank you.
 
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