Headlight conversion problems

[Willie712]

I'm having an issue with my headlight conversion on my 2001 GSF1200s. I put some dual headlights on it from the UK. It looks great, but it burns out the low beam filaments in the H4 bulbs. I think it's because the low stays on when I turn on the high beams. The heat is just too much... I'd like to figure out how to wire it so that the lows go off when the highs come on.
Also, it has "parking lights". I've seen where those come on when the ignition is turned on, and when the engine is started, it goes to the lows, and the parking lights go off. Anyone have any idea how to do that?

[Willie712]

Actually, anyone have any advice or idea on how to do either of these?

[rider123]

Pics? Model and Make of beams? Naked or fared Bandit?

[Willie712]

Well, It just plugs into the bike with a 3-prong Standard headlight plug, and the parking lights have two separate leads going to them. I wired the existing harness to the 3-prong plug.
I think where the problem lies is in the bike's harness itself. It's got that low beam wired to be on all the time, regardless of whether I have the highs on or not. Both bulbs are on for high and low, and they're H4 55/60W.

I can't seem to upload photos here, and I'm not sure of the make and model of lights.

[Willie712]

Oh, and it was an "S" model, which is faired, and I removed the fairing and put these dual 4" lights on.

[rider123]

I may be misunderstanding but on a standard bike the low beam does stay on all the time regardless if the high beam is on or not so I'm not sure if that is the problem. Do you have a make or a model of this lighting setup so we could have a look? Do you mean that you have a dual filament in the bulbs?(my guess) Ie there are two filaments one for low and one for high so when the high beam switch is on the two filaments light up inside the same bulb, similar to a brake light which has two filaments in one bulb. One for running and the second to show the brake lights are on. If its a dual filiment bulb you could theoretically just pop a single filament bulb in the low beam(left side). WHich year is your bike. I have a 2001-2005(Generation 2). It's different for which generation you are. The generation 1 96-2000 have a weaker generator. There was one year generation 3 in 2006. And now with the liquid cooled version we are on generation 4.


Oops I'm dumb, it says in the fine print you have a 2001. I would pop a "regular" or single filament bulb on the left side and see if that helps you out as an experiment. It would definatley run cooler. You won't get the full effect of both lights going to high beam however you could at least test to see if that is the problem. It's still going to be slightly brighter than stock.

[Willie712]

It's a dual headlight, both with dual filament bulbs...like a "dominator" setup...

[canyonbreeze]

On my Bandit 400 with stock headlight the low beam turns off when the high beam is on, and vice versa.  H4 bulb.

[Willie712]

Canyonbreeze...that's what I thought. I have h4 9003 bulbs, I think.

I'm thinking if I put a higher quality bulb in it (like a SilverStar), it'll fix the problem...