GSF1200S K4 2nd Generation Headlamp Repair and Mods (Common Faults)

[linuxrob]

Suzuki GSF1200S K4 Bandit Headlight Repair.

If you look anywhere on the internet regarding the headlights on the 2nd Gen Bandit S models 1200 and 600 you will find numerous instances of the problem I have with mine. Namely poor light output, dust inside the lens and buzzing. Admittedly 90% of the buzzing will be coming from the windscreen and other loose fitting in the front fairing. I noticed an big increase in buzzing around 3000 rpm lately so had a good look round the area and discovered the low beam projector unit had dropped in the housing. While it’s out there are a few other jobs to do in this area.

As with most Japanese bikes the main cause of dim headlights is the thin wire used to wire the bike. These lamps as STD are around 55w so at 13.5v will pull around 4 amps. The power for these lamps has to come from the battery of course, via the main 30a fuse on the starter relay, ignition switch, dimmer switch on the left handlebar, back to the fuse box in the tail section and finally to the headlight bulb. A route of around 2.5 metres.

I measured the difference between the battery voltage and the voltage across the either headlight bulb. It was almost 1.4V. This is around a 10% volt drop due to the resistance of the small bore cables having to flow a current of 4 amps over a 2.5 metre run.

I used a volt drop calculator to find the size of cable required to give a maximum 2% volt drop from a load drawing 4 amps at 13.5V over a distance of 2.5 metres. A cable size of 1.5mm cross section would be just adequate so I chose 2.5mm cable. A point to remember is that a volt drop occurs on the positive run and also on the negative route to the battery. On the Bandit the negative wire (black with white tracer) is of a slightly larger size than those of the headlamp wires, but this has to be used for all the other circuits as well. I will run a separate 2.5mm negative wire from the headlamp wiring loom to a suitable bolt on the main spine of the bikes frame.

The following parts were ordered:

10 metres of 2.5mm Red and 2 metres of 2.5mm Black cable

2 x 12V 40A fully waterproof automotive relays with connectors.

A 4 Gang fuse holder

Headlamp removal.

Fairing removal.

Mirror removal is very straight forward with them being held on with 2 Allen bolts each.

To remove the front cowling the 2 bolts on the top are removed first.

Then the 2 cross headed self tappers on the rear inner clock shroud.

The cowl is lifted at the top to pull out the tabs on the side then it is removed by pulling forward from the front.

The windscreen is held with 2 screw at the bottom.

It is removed by lifting the screen over the 2 tabs on the upper fairing where the mirrors are mounted too.

Before you remove the bottom cowl it is a good idea to first remove the bolts holding the fairing side panels. This allows a bit of wiggle room necessary to get the cowl out.

Start with the top back bolts to the side of the tank,

then the 2 side screws.

 

and finally the one above the headlamp unit which was hidden by the top cowl. Then disconnect the indicators.

When the 2 Allen screws have been removed from under the bottom cowl the 4 plastic rivets can be removed. To do this press in the middle part of the rivet and pop out the entire rivet.

With all the panels removed both the main and dip bulbs were disconnected. The entire headlamp unit is held on to the fairing bracket with 4 M6 nuts and 4 large M6 washers. With these removed the unit is pulled forwards and released. The pilot light bulb and holder can now be removed from the headlamp unit.

With the unit fully removed and on the bench it was easy to see one of the projector unit mounting screws laying loose in the bottom of the cover.

After removing the low beam bulb, rubber collar and plastic adaptor you can see 3 of the 4 projector mounting self tapping screws have fallen out and the remaining screw is loose.

The projector unit for the main beams screws were still tight but they all are going to be replaced with bolts and nuts.

Headlamp unit Disassembly

The easiest way to remove the front lens is to heat the unit up in an oven at around 80C for 15 mins to loosen the glue. All the vent pipes and plastic fittings together with the mounting rubbers were first removed before heating.

Before removing the projector units I measured the thread length of the mounting bolts to maintain the rough alignment when reassembly.

The 4 self tapping screws in the main beam unit and the remaining bolt in the low beam unit were removed and the all components washed in warm soapy water.

Below you can see the damage. you can see now where that black dust came from.

Each projector unit’s lens is held in place with a circular ring clipped to the body.

Although they look similar the units are subtly different.

Low beam unit fully disassembled, note the beam deflector on the underside as the projector lens inverts the beam.

The beam deflectors are a similar shape so I made a mark on each to aid the correct reassembly.

Here are the parts after cleaning.

 

Projector Units Reassembly

The low beam unit required the most attention as 3 of the 4 self-tappers had dropped out. This caused the locating dowels to shear off and elongated the mounting holes.

The mounting plates.

In addition to nuts, bolts and Loctite a small thin layer of foam was glued to the mating surfaces.

 

Projector Units Refitting

The mounting holes on both the low and high beam units were drilled and tapped M4 before M4 X 16mm screws were loctited into place.

To make doubly sure M4 nuts were also fitted.

Low beam unit reassembled and fitted to the mounting plate.

The final job after the main beam unit was modded was refit them to the housing and reset the plates into their original position using the measurements taken on disassembly.

 

Headlamp Relay Conversion.

The standard headlamp wiring on a 1200S K4 Bandit has the dip beam on all the time with the ignition in the on position.

The circuit was modified to use 2 waterproof relays, one for low beam and one for high beam.

These relays are operated by the standard low and high beam wires. New larger wires run from the battery side of the starter relay, via a new fusebox, through the main contacts of the relays to power each headlamp. A new larger negative wire was also used to provide a better return path to the battery via the frame. A small on-off switch was added to the low beam relay circuit, reducing the load on the battery at startup.

Main 2.5mm cables crimped, soldered and insulated to run from new fusebox to relays

Wires ran from Battery side of starter relay to new fuse box

and then out and routed to the front of the bike.

Relays test fitted

Headlamp temporally unit fitted, there is just enough space.

Thant's as far as i have got, wiring up next.

Watch this space

[Chuffyshunter]

That's an excellent write up.

It makes me want to buy a Bandit so that I can mod it.

[raesewell]

I agree an excellent how to, it must have taken some time to keep stopping to take photos. Well done.

[linuxrob]

Thanks all for the encouraging words. I love doing all this and hope to help and inspire others to do work on their machines. Hope to get the oil heater on tomorrow in the shed and do some more. After this mod will be doing the fork oil change, 4 years since have flown. Want to try hydraulic oil this time. Roll on spring.

[Stu]

Excellent write up @linuxrob  

The TL1000 suffers with the same issue as crappy wiring and dim lights 

The same mod is done to those which results in brighter headlights brighter dash lights and believe it or not a more powerful bike due to better voltage at the coils producing a stronger spark! around 3-4 bhp increase IIRC  

The charging system suffers on the TL too in that the wiring is too thin to carry the load and they charge at barely 13v 

I guess Suzuki still haven't learnt 

[linuxrob]

52 minutes ago, Stu said:

Excellent write up @linuxrob  

The TL1000 suffers with the same issue as crappy wiring and dim lights 

The same mod is done to those which results in brighter headlights brighter dash lights and believe it or not a more powerful bike due to better voltage at the coils producing a stronger spark! around 3-4 bhp increase IIRC  

The charging system suffers on the TL too in that the wiring is too thin to carry the load and they charge at barely 13v 

I guess Suzuki still haven't learnt 

thanks Stu, Will mod my coils to run of relays too as i did on my Z500

[WD-40]

Just now, linuxrob said:

thanks Stu, Will mod my coils to run of relays too as i did on my Z500

Another top class write up @linuxrob Measuring the length of the mounting bolts to get the alignment close to where it was before was clever thinking. I wouldn't have thought to do that.

[linuxrob]

19 minutes ago, WD-40 said:

Another top class write up @linuxrob Measuring the length of the mounting bolts to get the alignment close to where it was before was clever thinking. I wouldn't have thought to do that.

I nearly didn't. Will fine tune the aim of the beams before i put the fairing panels back on as i can get to all 3 bolts. As it was i did not feel safe at night with the way the Std setup was. I feel a YouTube slide show coming on!

[iangaryprice]

Excellent post, well written.

I have a GSX600F, although it has twin headlights, road illumination is poor. It is a later one so only one light on for dipped beam, high beam just turns the other light one as well, uses H7 for dipped and H1 for main beam. Earlier ones had 2x H4 bulbs and run both headlights on dipped.

I recently replaced the H7 bulb with a +150%, this has made a noticable improvement.

Having read your post, I am going to look at relays with thick wires like you have done. I'll let you know how I get on.

[linuxrob]

1 hour ago, iangaryprice said:

Excellent post, well written.

I have a GSX600F, although it has twin headlights, road illumination is poor. It is a later one so only one light on for dipped beam, high beam just turns the other light one as well, uses H7 for dipped and H1 for main beam. Earlier ones had 2x H4 bulbs and run both headlights on dipped.

I recently replaced the H7 bulb with a +150%, this has made a noticable improvement.

Having read your post, I am going to look at relays with thick wires like you have done. I'll let you know how I get on.

I am so glad it is of use. I look forward to reading about it. GSX600F "teapot"? 

The Bandit uses HB4 for low beam and HB3 for High beam. Dip is the low bulb only, high beam just adds the high beam bulb. If the new H7 bulb you are using draws even more current (higher wattage) the voltage to it will drop more with the std small wires on your bike. Here are the links  for the bits i used.

Waterproof relays

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/4PIN-12V-40A-Automobile-Relay-Waterproof-Integrated-Wire-Relay/114512386713?ssPageName=STRK%3AMEBIDX%3AIT&_trksid=p2057872.m2749.l2649

Wire

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Automotive-Auto-Cable-Wire-Wiring-12v-For-all-Vehicle-Applications-All-Sizes/124224780510?ssPageName=STRK%3AMEBIDX%3AIT&var=425078768022&_trksid=p2057872.m2749.l2649

4 way fuse box, this uses the same small blade fuses the bandit has.

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/4-Way-Blade-Fuse-Box-Holder-with-LED-Warning-Light-Kit-for-Car-Boat-12V-24V-UK/203018362981?ssPageName=STRK%3AMEBIDX%3AIT&_trksid=p2057872.m2749.l2649

 

you may want to find new H7 and H1 connectors with larger gauge wires as I did with the HB4 and HB3 ones. the std ones should be ok as you will only use a very short length of original wire. I replaced mine to be 100% sure. 

 

I am sure that the K6 and above bandits use thicker wires i the headlamp circuit but they will only be just good enough. 

 

Regards

 

Rob B

[iangaryprice]

5 minutes ago, linuxrob said:

I am so glad it is of use. I look forward to reading about it. GSX600F "teapot"? 

The Bandit uses HB4 for low beam and HB3 for High beam. Dip is the low bulb only, high beam just adds the high beam bulb. If the new H7 bulb you are using draws even more current (higher wattage) the voltage to it will drop more with the std small wires on your bike. Here are the links  for the bits i used.

Waterproof relays

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/4PIN-12V-40A-Automobile-Relay-Waterproof-Integrated-Wire-Relay/114512386713?ssPageName=STRK%3AMEBIDX%3AIT&_trksid=p2057872.m2749.l2649

Wire

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Automotive-Auto-Cable-Wire-Wiring-12v-For-all-Vehicle-Applications-All-Sizes/124224780510?ssPageName=STRK%3AMEBIDX%3AIT&var=425078768022&_trksid=p2057872.m2749.l2649

4 way fuse box, this uses the same small blade fuses the bandit has.

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/4-Way-Blade-Fuse-Box-Holder-with-LED-Warning-Light-Kit-for-Car-Boat-12V-24V-UK/203018362981?ssPageName=STRK%3AMEBIDX%3AIT&_trksid=p2057872.m2749.l2649

 

you may want to find new H7 and H1 connectors with larger gauge wires as I did with the HB4 and HB3 ones. the std ones should be ok as you will only use a very short length of original wire. I replaced mine to be 100% sure. 

 

I am sure that the K6 and above bandits use thicker wires i the headlamp circuit but they will only be just good enough. 

 

Regards

 

Rob B

Yes GSX600F "Teapot" although mine has the newer better styled rear light unlike the earlier ones that got the bike the teapot nickname.

I was thinking of using the existing headlight connector to connect via short leads to activate the relay. Then use new wires for the battery via fuse and relay to new headlight connectors.

I found a H4 bulb connector in the garage (bought it to repair a burnt out connector on a Landrover) the wires on that are much thicker than my Suzuki. I will measure the voltage drop tomorrow. The bulb I have (+150%) is still standard 55W.

[linuxrob]

6 hours ago, iangaryprice said:

Yes GSX600F "Teapot" although mine has the newer better styled rear light unlike the earlier ones that got the bike the teapot nickname.

I was thinking of using the existing headlight connector to connect via short leads to activate the relay. Then use new wires for the battery via fuse and relay to new headlight connectors.

I found a H4 bulb connector in the garage (bought it to repair a burnt out connector on a Landrover) the wires on that are much thicker than my Suzuki. I will measure the voltage drop tomorrow. The bulb I have (+150%) is still standard 55W.

Annoying that everything "automotive" has a higher spec than our Japanese motorcycle equivalent.

[Mr Fro]

Nice write up @linuxrob.

Couple of questions though. The diagram shows trailing wires back to battery -ve. Can you not ground on the frame?

Also, could the start-aid-light-off-switch be replaced with a NC relay?

[linuxrob]

4 hours ago, Mr Fro said:

Nice write up @linuxrob.

Couple of questions though. The diagram shows trailing wires back to battery -ve. Can you not ground on the frame?

Also, could the start-aid-light-off-switch be replaced with a NC relay?

@Mr Fro. Thanks. The new Negative wires are indeed ran back to the main spine of the frame, the old PAIRS valve mount post actually. With all my bikes i link a few frame earth point together for a good solid return (share the load so to speak). I would love bike builders to run dedicated earths in the loom fro all circuits other than starter stuff. Never liked the thought of a steel frame carrying current, the way i was taught it would promote corrosion. 

You know that's a great idea. if i got a 5 pin relay i could, or just add another normally closed relay to the circuit. Wire it so when the starter button was pressed energising the start relay (black and yellow) that headlamp relay dropped out for cranking and back in again when the button was released. 

Thanks for the input

 

[Stu]

@linuxrob I am guessing you know a thing or two about electrikery  

What's your thoughts on running LED's on the standard wiring? would this create less load and reduce the need to re wire the whole lighting loom? 

[iangaryprice]

5 hours ago, Stu said:

@linuxrob I am guessing you know a thing or two about electrikery  

What's your thoughts on running LED's on the standard wiring? would this create less load and reduce the need to re wire the whole lighting loom? 

LEDs will draw less current, hence less voltage drop. Poviding you don't use "Canbus compliant" types, these have a load resistor so that they draw the same current as a normal bulb.

The trouble with LEDS is over the legality. They are not "E" marked so technically not permitted to be used on the road.

[Stu]

9 minutes ago, iangaryprice said:

LEDs will draw less current, hence less voltage drop. Poviding you don't use "Canbus compliant" types, these have a load resistor so that they draw the same current as a normal bulb.

The trouble with LEDS is over the legality. They are not "E" marked so technically not permitted to be used on the road.

That makes sense about the canbus types, its the same as fitting a resistor in the indicators to make them flash the same rate! 

I was wondering more on if you did use them (none canbus) would the less draw solve issues with what some bikes have or would it still be borderline for the wiring 

 

I know all about the legalities and the main issue with LED bulbs is that where the LED sits its not where the filament sits on a normal bulb so causes a lot of stray light and off beam patterns but I have just fitted some LED's to mine that are made to be the same as filament bulbs and I am really impressed with them as per this topic 

 

 

[linuxrob]

3 hours ago, Stu said:

@linuxrob I am guessing you know a thing or two about electrikery  

What's your thoughts on running LED's on the standard wiring? would this create less load and reduce the need to re wire the whole lighting loom? 

LED lights by there very nature will give more bang for you buck so to speak and yes a lot less load. Already have LED indicators (with an led compatible flasher), tail, stop and pilot light. The clock lamps are all LED as std on the K4 Bandit.. LED headlamps are OK with a matching reflector and lens arrangement. There are so, so many LED headlight "bulb" shapes, to get a bulb to work with a good and legal (safe) beam pattern will be the challenge Most of teh time you will get a glarey blob of light without the cut off on a dip.. Also the colour temperature of the light. 4500K is about right anything above i.e 5000-6000K will be too bluish -  white. Always though an LED retrofired was an MOT fail? On single headlight naked bikes an aftermarket full unit should work well but to mod an excising unit designed for a filament bulb is almost impossible. A final point is the heat issue, not from the LED chip but from the driver circuit to get the chip to draw the right amount of current to give its rated light output. It does this by regulating the voltage/current as automotive battery voltages change with load and charge. excess power is wasted as heat so a heat sink is required to extend the life of the unit.

Sorry for the waffle, but when i get started i find it hard to shut up

Rob

 

[Stu]

19 minutes ago, linuxrob said:

LED lights by there very nature will give more bang for you buck so to speak and yes a lot less load. Already have LED indicators (with an led compatible flasher), tail, stop and pilot light. The clock lamps are all LED as std on the K4 Bandit.. LED headlamps are OK with a matching reflector and lens arrangement. There are so, so many LED headlight "bulb" shapes, to get a bulb to work with a good and legal (safe) beam pattern will be the challenge Most of teh time you will get a glarey blob of light without the cut off on a dip.. Also the colour temperature of the light. 4500K is about right anything above i.e 5000-6000K will be too bluish -  white. Always though an LED retrofired was an MOT fail? On single headlight naked bikes an aftermarket full unit should work well but to mod an excising unit designed for a filament bulb is almost impossible. A final point is the heat issue, not from the LED chip but from the driver circuit to get the chip to draw the right amount of current to give its rated light output. It does this by regulating the voltage/current as automotive battery voltages change with load and charge. excess power is wasted as heat so a heat sink is required to extend the life of the unit.

Sorry for the waffle, but when i get started i find it hard to shut up

Rob

 

See the thread I have linked to above for the LED's that I have fitted 

The beam pattern is spot on and I will worry about mot when it arrives but I'm sure tester will be OK

As for the heat the ones I have are fitted with a fan in the rear of them to keep them cool 

A mate at work linked me to them and he rates them highly 

[linuxrob]

I decided to run the low beam relay from a switch to give me the option to start the bike without the additional load of the headlight when the starter motor spins. I also wanted to run my Day Running Light on the oil cooler via a switch. The ideal place to mount 2 switches is the gap just below the clocks.
I started with an old plastic bolt draw and made cut outs for the small switches to fit into.

The housing was then painted and switched sealed underneath with silicon sealant.

 

The switch waterproof caps were then fitted.
 

 

Housing test fitted and labelled

This is with the pilot light and DRL on

 

Next job while the fairing is off are the headlamp alignment checks

 

 

[linuxrob]

 Headlamp Aiming for MOT
The last job before the fairing panels are refitted is the low beam pattern and height check.
Different tolerances apply depending on the bulb height. Up to 850mm and ones that are over 850mm from the ground. The MK2 1200 Bandit low beam bulb is 830mm and therefore in the RED tolerance band.
The beam height must be between 0.5 and 1.25% below the headlight height and the “Kick Up” should be no closer that 2% of the headlight height to the left of the centre of the low beam bulb
The bit of ground where the shed is slopes slightly downhill so the best place to set this up on level ground is the path at the side of the house. I placed my lazer chain alignment tool on a spirt level atop of my tripod set at 830mm from the ground. 

 

The bikes headlamp is 830mm from the ground with the rider onboard, so the low beam height needs to be between 820mm and 825mm approximately from the ground when the headlamp unit is 3800 - 3810mm away.
I marked where the beam struck the gate then using a longer spirit level I drew a line 10mm below this headlamp height. This will give the approx max lower line to pass the MOT. I also marked a line 16mm to the left of the headlamp centre line to give the correct place for the dip “kick up” required. 

 

With The sun now well over the yardarm I took the bike off the main stand. With me sat aboard in full riding gear (minus gloves for obvious reasons) and two full 5ltr containers resting on the top of the engine to simulate 2 gallons of fuel the initial low beam was a bit above the lines. Using only the two lower adjustment screws (in - raises and out lowers) I moved the beam down and left until it lined up with the marks on the gate.

 

 

Finally I checked the aim of the high beam. No adjustment was required and now I can refit the fairing.

 

Fairing refitting

I could just say that refitting is the reverse of the dismantling procedure but I won’t as there are a few things to consider when refitting the fairing panels.
There are 3 different screw types to secure the panels to the bike, these have to be used in the correct place.

Three bolts are used to fit the each fairing side after the plastic dowel is engaged with the rubber gromit at the side of the headlamp unit. The 2 larger headed ones in the side the smaller headed and shouldered ones at the top front mount near the headlamp unit and top trim mount to the side of the tank.

 

Then the underside faring piece is secured with two of these bolts and the 4 plastic rivets.

 

 

Finally the top screen cover is placed to the front of the heallamp unit and the dowel engaged, fitting the locating tabs in the  sides and getting the top part to fit over the mirror mounts is a bit of a ordeal but has to be carefully done. The cover is held by these 2 bolts. 

These are the only large shouldered bolts

 

 

Finally fairing fitted

 

 

[Tommy136]

Hi mate looking for major help I brought a k5 bandit 12 and it had the standard single headlight on it I have removed that and put a twin headlight on all working however I didn’t like how it comes on permenant the low beam and side light so brought a on off switch to wire into it and I’m not sure what wires I mess with but figured it was the white wire coming from my wiring loom to the headlight as there are white yellow and a black with white tracer wire so I cut the white wire and joined the switch in the middle and it worked how ever the wire on the switch got very hot quickly so i turned it off and also only works in off position so you know what iv done wrong or what I need to correct it thanks for any help really appreciate it 

[linuxrob]

12 minutes ago, Tommy136 said:

Hi mate looking for major help I brought a k5 bandit 12 and it had the standard single headlight on it I have removed that and put a twin headlight on all working however I didn’t like how it comes on permenant the low beam and side light so brought a on off switch to wire into it and I’m not sure what wires I mess with but figured it was the white wire coming from my wiring loom to the headlight as there are white yellow and a black with white tracer wire so I cut the white wire and joined the switch in the middle and it worked how ever the wire on the switch got very hot quickly so i turned it off and also only works in off position so you know what iv done wrong or what I need to correct it thanks for any help really appreciate it 

use a relay to run power to the headlight. Use the wires that do high and low to energise the two relays and run bigger wire to the bulbs from bat or live side of starter relay via an inline 10A fuse. 

refer to the pic in post repeated here for wiring. The relays will have to be mounted out of the weather.

 

any more i can help with ??

 

Rob B

 

[Tommy136]

The white wire I have cut here is that the correct wire to wire my switch to for a start and then if I put relays in how do they stop the on off switch wires getting so hot ? I thought relays was more power so would result in Evan hotter switch wires ? I’m new to all this can you tell lol 

[Tommy136]

And also is that the only way to put a on off switch in by using relays had it in my head I could buy a switch and just wire it in and that would be all lol