H4 Conversion Headlight Relay Kit Installation

Modulators: Make sure you connect any headlight modulator directly to the bulb. The Relay Kit connects to the modulator.

Description:

This kit connects to the existing H4 Socket with an H4 Coupler. Please make sure your old socket is wrapped to prevent a short.

The Kit also attaches to the leads from your new headlights, and attaches to the bike’s battery posts at the other end. The positive (red) wire nearest the fuse on the kit connects directly to the bike battery’s positive post. The relays locate in the fairing or under the front of the fuel tank. Please read and understand these instructions fully before proceeding with installation. Take the kit and instructions out to the bike and identify everything first, while reading these instructions carefully.

If you have difficulty understanding any of these instructions, maybe you should ask an electrically savvy friend to do the work with you.

Tools and supplies needed:

- Wire stripper – you must strip 3/8 inch of insulation on your bulb leads.

- Philips screwdriver and wrench or whatever tools are needed to remove the wires from your battery.

- any other tools necessary for removing bike parts that are in the way

Recommended but not necessary:

- Service manual - Clymer, Chilton and Haynes produce manuals for many motorcycle models. Your dealer may be a good source for these or a factory manual. Not necessary but it will make things easier, especially if you need to remove parts to get at your headlight unit or battery. You may need to remove your gas tank as well.

Preparation:

The instructions here will assume that the installer knows nothing about wiring and has no experience with bike wiring. If you do have experience and think you know exactly how to install this kit, you should still read through these instructions fully before beginning any work.

You will need to gain access to the rear of the headlight area, and you may need to remove your fuel tank if your bike has no fairing. Do not remove any parts until you know what needs to be removed to access the headlight. This could involve removing the headlight housing shield, or some fairing parts. Check your service/owners manual.

You might have to take off other parts and the gas tank to route the wiring safely back to the battery. Sometimes you can tuck the wiring up under the tank into a good position, but it’s very important that the wiring be protected from any pinching or rubbing. All Kit wiring should be well tied up with the included cable ties. Pay particular attention around the steering moving parts.

Headlight Wiring Installation:

 1. Disable the Battery - Remove the wire(s) from your bike’s negative battery post first. Leave the red positive wires on the battery attached for now. Make sure the wires you remove will not touch the battery negative post during your work. Leave the fuse out of the fuseholder on the Kit until you are finished.

 2. Connect the H4 Coupler to the bike’s H4 Socket- Simply plug the coupler into the socket and tape them both up and apply a cable tie to hold the tape in place. Many H4 Sockets have exposed terminals and you don’t want them to short out later. Applying silicone over the back of the H4 Socket is another way to do this.

3. HI Beam (White/Black Kit Wires): First make sure you know which bulb is HI Beam, then determine the lengths you’ll need and trim the Kit’s bulb leads and sheathing back to where you want them. You may want to trim the bulb leads too. Be careful not to cut any wire strands when stripping them. Practice stripping on some scrap wire if you are new at it and examine your stripping with a magnifier until you can strip without cutting any strands.

Then with all wires stripped, connect the wires using the Posi-Locks. Tighten the Posi-Locks snugly with your fingers only, do not over-tighten. The black wire is ground and should be connected to the bulb lead ground. These ground leads are usually black but may be green or brown. The Posi-Lock on the kit’s white wire goes onto the bulb hot wire end, and the Posi-Lock on the kit’s black wire goes onto the bulb ground wire. See the Posi-Lock section of the webpage for help installing these.

Note: Put all sheathing and shrink tube onto the wires before attaching the Posi-Locks.

4. LO Beam (Yellow/Black Kit Wires): These wires connect the same as the HI Beam wires above, but to the LO beam bulb.

Now carefully cable tie up all the wires in the headlight area. Extra sheathing and some shrink tube are included to cover the Posi-Locks and help hide the wires.

Relay Installation:

Fairing Install: The relays can be tied up to existing bolts or structure with cable ties or they can be bolted in place. They can also be cable tied to existing wiring. Just make sure they won’t move around too much or get pinched.

Under Gas Tank Installation: Try and place the relays to avoid anything else rubbing them or hitting them or pinching them or their wires. If possible try and bolt them in place.

In either case take the time to carefully place and secure the relays. Plus of course take time to carefully route all wiring.

Battery Wiring Installation:

Route the main wiring harness back towards the battery. If necessary, remove your gas tank in order to carefully route and tie-wrap the wiring under the tank. Pay special attention to the area around the steering head. Make sure the wires will not be pinched when the bars are fully turned from side to side. Make sure no wires are pinched between something like the gas tank and the frame.

The wiring around the battery area should also be tied up neatly with the fuse holder easily accessible. Remove the screw (bolt) holding the wire(s) onto the positive battery terminal, being careful not to lose any nut on the other end of the screw (bolt). Clean all terminals, the battery post, and the screw (bolt) and nut with fine sandpaper. The battery terminal on the red wire of the kit goes onto the positive terminal of the battery, with all of the existing wires you just removed and cleaned. Tighten snugly, but do not over-tighten.

Now do the same with the negative battery post, screw (bolt), nut, and terminals.  Replace these wire(s) together with the kit’s black wire battery terminal, onto the negative battery post. Tighten snugly, but do not over-tighten.

Caution: Do not put a larger than 15 amp fuse in the kit. If you blow this fuse, you have a problem. Please contact me if you need help. 

Final Checks and Testing the Installation:

Final Check: Before reinstalling the fuel tank or any fairing pieces you have removed, go back over all your work carefully. With the fuse still OUT, turn on the ignition. Operate the Hi/Low headlight switch. You should hear a soft click from the relays as you switch from LO to HI. Turn off the ignition. Install the Kit’s fuse. Turn on the ignition, and "see the light". Operate the headlight controls and verify the lights operate properly in both positions.

Posi-Locks: Posi-Locks can be re-used, and you can open one up to check that the wire strands are all well spread for good contact. The Posi-Locks make an almost water proof connection on the wire and hold very tight. You can apply silicone seal around the wire if you want to completely waterproof it.

Check all Wiring: It’s not uncommon to find some serious wiring problems if you have a used bike. But even a new bike can have problems from the factory, or a shoddy dealer’s work. Most mechanics are not electrically competent. Please take a little extra time to check everywhere around where you are working, and if you see anything suspicious, investigate further and be sure that your wiring is proper and sound.

For the Experts: This installation is not that difficult if you can easily identify the headlight wires and find the plugs. Here are just a few important tips to help you out. Make sure you attach the right kit wires to the right wire ends you cut. Be extra careful stripping the wires. And take the time to properly route and tie up all the wiring for a permanent installation.

Disclaimer: I fully stand behind all of my products, but I can’t be responsible for your installation. Please stop and get help if you don’t understand what you are doing, or if these instructions don’t make sense. If a relay gets cracked because it was hanging down and the steering stop broke it, that’s not my fault. If you install wires incorrectly, that’s not my fault. I have written these instructions to help you, but only you can decide if you are doing it right. If you do break something or need replacement parts, I will be here to help you and rush the needed parts or information to you. I have wired and labeled this kit very carefully in the hope that you will find it easy to install. Please feel free to comment to me if you had any problem, or if you think any of these instructions should be changed. I appreciate your feedback!

Thank you for purchasing this fine product.

Jim Davis, the Eastern Beaver Company