Looking for a better headlight

[Steve Ruddy]

I have a 96 XR250R and the stock headlight is a little wimpy. It also gets dimmer when I apply the break. Is there a better bulb I can put in it or should I go with an after market headlight? Also the bike came with a Baja designs wiring kit which has a headlight switch with low and high beam but the stock bulb is only low.

[oregon_rider]

If you want a hi-lo beam headlight then check out baja designs website. The stock headlight bulb is a 35 w incandescent bulb. You can get a glass headlight and halogen bulb that fits in the stock headlight case. Baja designs sells these as a unit. They can also be ordered through honda. The baja designs unit looks less expensive than going the honda oem route.

I would also look at getting more output from your lighting coil. Check out rickystator.com for a 150 Watt lighting coil. If you are on a budget you can add windings to the stator yourself - search on thumpertalk for references to do it yourself articles, etc.

jeff

[TwistiT]

your headlights dimming when you put your brakes on cause the brake lights taking some of the power. You will need to get a rewind if you want a higher wattage head light bulb.

[Red_Snapper]

You can put an LED 1157 bulb in the tail and free up some wattage for the headlight.

[Trailryder42]

You might also free up some wattage by getting an LED bulb with a 1157 mount.

http://www.customdynamics.com/motorcycle_led_bulbs.htm

[thumpasaurus]

...You can get a glass headlight and halogen bulb that fits in the stock headlight case. Baja designs sells these as a unit. They can also be ordered through honda. The baja designs unit looks less expensive than going the honda oem route....

jeff

I bought the Honda part. $22 IIRC, from Service Honda plus bulb from autozone - another $5. It is literally twice as bright as stock. I liked it so much I've put one in my 400, my 650 and my brothers 400.

[Steve Ruddy]

I bought the Honda part. $22 IIRC, from Service Honda plus bulb from autozone - another $5.

What Honda part you referring to? IIRC doesn't mean anything to me. Also what wattage is the bulb you bought and did you do anything to the coil?

[ob1quixote]

When my stock bulb went out on the XR4, I got an H1 55 watt halogen fog lamp bulb. With only minor mods to the halogen bulb, and using part of the old bulb's base, I was able to install it with no permanent mods to the bike, other than a small slit in the rubber boot that covers the base of the socket. That was easily covered with a bit of silicone sealant when it was done.

[thumpasaurus]

What Honda part you referring to?

courtesy of TT's search feature: Honda PN# 33123-MK2-671 - $22. It fits right in the plastic shell in place of the plastic lens piece.

IIRC doesn't mean anything to me.

"If I Remember Correctly"

Also what wattage is the bulb you bought and did you do anything to the coil?

55w H3 bulb from Autozone. stock stator. I also have a brake light wired in and the headlight dims just like with stock setup if you use the brake. Otherwise it's 10x better. For the money don't think you can beat it. One detail you should check is 250 compatibility. Not sure if the headlight is the same on the 250 as the 400/650R?

[crashhard_17]

I have 1996 XR 250 and i bought the aftermarket acebis headlight that sort of looks like the OEM part but it is really bright, easy to hook up and looks sweet. its also pretty inexpensive and i havent had any trouble with mine.

[oregon_rider]

courtesy of TT's search feature: Honda PN# 33123-MK2-671 - $22. It fits right in the plastic shell in place of the plastic lens piece. "If I Remember Correctly"55w H3 bulb from Autozone. stock stator. I also have a brake light wired in and the headlight dims just like with stock setup if you use the brake. Otherwise it's 10x better. For the money don't think you can beat it. One detail you should check is 250 compatibility. Not sure if the headlight is the same on the 250 as the 400/650R?

Yes. The headlight is the same between the xr250 and the xr400. The headlight shell is different on the xr650r, but I am fairly sure it uses the same lens.

I bought the glass lens assy you list and had it on my xr250r for many years - it was more durable than I thought it would be. I was surprised that I never broke it...

jeff

[Trailryder42]

Just for your info, the stock stator on a XR400 is rated at 80w, so it runs a 55w bulb ok. Isn't it 4w for the tail light? I forget what the brake filament wattage is. Don't know what the stock output of the 250 is but if it's less than 80w and you try to run a more powerful headlamp bulb on top of a tail light/brake lamp combo, you're gonna have dimming issues bigtime.

[Ed@Ford]

Don't put more than a 35 watt bulb in the honda reflector that has plastic lense. It might melt. Glass lense takes a single element H3 bulb, 55W. Tail light bulbs are all about 25W brake 4 watts running light. XR400 alternator is 80 watts, but at 5000 RPM or so. Output drops as RPM drops. Rewinding the coils actually REMOVES turns of wire. Use google to search on alternator rewinding Honda XR600...I think you'll find something. It's been written up many places..or send $$ to Ricky Stator.

[ob1quixote]

No melting problems with my 55w H1 bulb.

[Trailryder42]

I never had any heat issues with my plastic lens either when running the 55w. It wasn't til I decided to drop in a 100w that I figured I'd better get the glass replacement kit.

[Steve Ruddy]

I went with the Baja Designs 55w lighting upgrade. I'm only assuming it supplies everything you need. I looked at purchasing the parts separately from Service Honda but it would have been a little more expensive. Here are the part numbers for OEM upgrade

Glass headlight 33123-MK2-671 $24.33

55w bulb 34908-SAO-811 $18.71

Rubber Cover 33115-MG3-003 $8.45

I also liked the fact that if I ever want more light I can just add a 100w bulb and modify or buy a stator to handle the higher draw.

Thanks! ?

[MISSINGLINK]

baja designs has all the goods. thay will rewind your stator for a reasonabel price. I run a 35/85 bulb the baja designs head light has a glass lens if you run the stock plastic lens it will get to hot melt/distort

[d3crypt]

I bought the Honda part. $22 IIRC, from Service Honda plus bulb from autozone - another $5. It is literally twice as bright as stock. I liked it so much I've put one in my 400, my 650 and my brothers 400.

You got a better deal than I can find... servicehonda had it for $24.86 plus $9 for shipping... I called my local honda dealership and they got it for $30.77 shipped to my door... but I'm going to go pick it up and save a little more.

Question to everyone - what if I used a 100w bulb with a stock stator? Wouldn't it be dim but still brighter than a 55w? and when you were actually opening up the throttle wouldn't it brighten up (when you would actually need it to brighten up as well)?