Guido said:
I would like to retain the stock lens if I could.
There are replacement Halogen light bulbs that fit the original headlight lens. Clubman Racing Accessories as well as other resources sells them in 60/55 Watts. If you're using the original alternator and also electronic ignition I would recommend a lower wattage bulb. Paul Goff sells them in 45/40 which is what I am using in my Norton. I must say it's pretty bright!
http://www.norbsa02.freeuk.com/goffybulbs.htm
If you are using the original lens you may want to consider using your pilot light as a daytime running light. Paul Goff sells a 23 watt bulb for this application and it's incredibly bright as well. The only problem that I had was that it didn't last very long. It might have been that I had a faulty bulb, I don't know. Later I replaced mine with a 20 watt Sylvania bulb which is bright but doesn't have the pizzazz as that 23 watt bulb however, this bulb has lasted a long time and is still going strong. When using a 20 or 23 watt pilot bulb you will need to have it's switch off when the headlight is turned on. Apparently when both lights are on at the same time it puts out too much heat. You can get around this easily if you have the original headlight switch (P/N 34660) by simply moving your pilot bulb wires to the unused terminals on the headlight switch. If you don't have that original headlight switch Holden Vintage & Classic sells a nice quality replacement switch that will do the job.
You would also need to buy the special bezel nut and threaded washer to go along with this switch.
http://bit.ly/297in1m
Below is a wiring diagram that uses two relays. The drawing uses 5 pin relays however 4 pin relays will work just fine and the pin call out will be the same. Most relays have a resistor shunted across the coil winding so that they are not polarity sensitive. However, some do have diodes instead of the resistor and those are polarity sensitive. Those relays will tell you which terminal's would be plus or minus.
Basically the wires that are connected to the headlight are redirected to the relay windings and your high beam bulb wire is tied in with the new high beam light. Then there are just a few additional wires to complete the system.
On my Norton I had a little fun and decided to wire my bike with three headlight relays. The neat thing about relays is that not only are they designed to handle higher currents allowing you to use small switches, they also allow for complex switching as well. With my bike wired this way when the Master Switch is in the PARKING LIGHT position the pilot light will illuminate regardless of the headlight switch position. When the Master Switch is in the OFF position everything is off. When the Master Switch is in the IGNITION position the headlights do not illuminate however when you push the High Beam Flash the high beam will illuminate. In the IGNITION and LIGHTS position either the headlight or the pilot light will illuminate depending on your headlight switch position, high beam flash will work in either headlight switch position.
This is definitely not a required way of wiring, I just had fun and it has been working fine on my bike for almost 10,000 miles now. The relays that I used are the automotive micro sized relays. Below is the diagram of how I wired my motorcycle. In my case I installed an ammeter so that my relays are connected directly to the ammeter.
Peter Joe
