[Rex Coil 7]

So as the title says, how good is the stock headlight on the 1998 to 2002 "Terblanche" SS? I'm considering a retrofit of the quarter fairing from that year group of the SS to my 1996 900 SS/CR (see attached pics).

Is the headlight pretty good, or is it crap? I live in the northern tip of the Sonoran Desert. The highways out here have zero lighting, and become very dark. Especially some of the two-lane highways such as Hwy 95 between Yuma and Parker Arizona, and pretty much all of the highways/roads around here.

I've been thinking about adding an LED lightbar right under the ~chin~ of the quarter fairing, just beneath the headlight in the fairing. There are many (MANY!) styles and types of lightbars that can be retrofitted to motorcycles. I may even go with a "Pierre" quarter fairing that has no headlight hole and use only a light bar under the chin all by itself. Much thinkings ...

Many options .....

LINK = https://duckduckgo.com/?q=led+light...hp&atb=v107-1&iar=images&iax=images&ia=images

I'd have to check into how much current the alternator puts out compared with the current draw of various light bars, added to the rest of the electrical requirements of the bike.

I've attached a couple of pics of the "Pierre" to give your imagination something to play with.

Thoughts?

 

[hawkgt]

Lets just say it isn't the greatest.
You will probably find a voltage loss between the battery and the head light.Punch has a good solution for this using relays and some wiring to reduce the voltage loss.
I updated mine using a HID ballast and bulb,plus a projector.This involves dissembling the headlight to install the projector.
There are many posts involving the upgrades on the SS Forum.
Just be aware that many of the straight HID Conversion kits will give the illusion of a brighter head light,but in many cases the beam pattern is poor and will probably blind oncoming drivers
Here is one of many
https://www.ducati.ms/forums/57-supersport/607514-headlight-problems-hi-lo.html

 

[Punch]

Lets just say it isn't the greatest.
You will probably find a voltage loss between the battery and the head light.Punch has a good solution for this using relays and some wiring to reduce the voltage loss.
I updated mine using a HID ballast and bulb,plus a projector.This involves dissembling the headlight to install the projector.
There are many posts involving the upgrades on the SS Forum.
Just be aware that many of the straight HID Conversion kits will give the illusion of a brighter head light,but in many cases the beam pattern is poor and will probably blind oncoming drivers
Here is one of many
https://www.ducati.ms/forums/57-supersport/607514-headlight-problems-hi-lo.html

Agree with all that.

The issue is not necessarily with the optics, but the tortuous wiring route that eventually gets crap voltage to the headlight and hence crap lighting.

I really agree with the illusion, pattern etc. for HID. Been there, tried that, but admittedly many years ago, so things may have changed.

I am still waiting for my son to drop off the Narva LED kt and will report back when I finally get to try it.
In his defence, he has bought a house a thousand km away, sorted a new job etc, so I guess his old man's headlight is not a priority.

 

[Rex Coil 7]

Hmm ... I may just go ahead with a "racing" quarter fairing (no headlight cutout) and mount an LED lightbar under the chin of the fairing.

Clearly, more research is needed. It makes little sense to me to go through all of the hassles of attempting to upgrade an already crappy headlight (which I'm guessing is made of glass, and heavy) when I can go straight to a far better light straight from the jump. I mean, if I'm going to have to rewire the factory headlight, and deal with modifying the light itself, I may as well start from zero and install something better while the opportunity exists.

Ok ... thanks fellas ... I'll do as suggested and look further into this.

:wink2:

 

[RockAZ]

The chin of the fairing comes down very close to the fender under heavy braking, something to plan for.

 

[Shawn of the Dead]

If its anything like the headlight on my 1098 was it is about one step above "candle in front of tinfoil"

 

[Rex Coil 7]

The chin of the fairing comes down very close to the fender under heavy braking, something to plan for.

I figured.

There are SO MANY of the LED/lightbar setups available. It's clear this will take some time to work it all out. I have some ideas about a few things ... I think the best place to start is to obtain the metal tubular fairing mount for the quarter fairing I'm considering, and go from there. Stuff like this can take me a while to figure out how to go about it all.

A few years ago (5, 6?) I converted a 1984 Honda Magna into something akin to the Superbikes of that era. It took a while to go through several mockups, but in the end it worked out. The pics aren't ~internet stock~ they are of the actual bike. I paid $700 (seven hundred) for the Magna, it ran very well but needed a crapload of work. So I just totally reconfigured it into a (more or less) street racer. It took some doing, and a number of reconfigurations, but in the end it really worked out nicely. Forks and seat from a 1983 Sabre, front wheel/brakes from another Honda, Supertrapps for a late model Chevy Camaro, fabbed up a subframe to raise the fuel tank and mount the seat, de-chromed the wheels and sand blasted them, clip-ons from a Kawasaki GPZ .... Bla bla bla.

I'm hoping to get through the same trial by fire (and torch, mill, and lathe) with the 900SS/CR.

Patience ...