Alternative indicators and headlight

[Planx]

Stupidly, I let my TRX fall over on the driveway the other day which drove the RH front indicator in and cracked the fairing quite badly along existing weld lines, showing that a previous owner had obviously done the same thing.
I'm getting the fairing repaired (unless someone has one they want to sell) and would like to replace the very solid and sticky-out original indicators with something smaller and less likely to cause damage in a fall - not that I make a habit of it you understand.
Can anyone suggest a neat replacement that will fit without modifying the fairing?

One more thing, I've seen that people have replaced the original headlight with an FZR400 unit. Anyone know if this is a straight fit, and if it's any great improvement on the original?

[Overlord Neil]

I've got a FZR400RR unit in mine, though it might be from an import bike. Definitely a big improvement, you get twice the bulbage for a start and the beam pattern (on mine) is much better. The bulbs are a bit funky so you can't just nip into Halfords for spares but they are readily available online, I did intend to graft an HID kit into them as they are projector headlights so won't glare with the additional light output.

I think the FJR1200 unit fits as well, I remember a few members commenting, plus you get that odd ball 'Patrick-Moore-alike' which nearly every BMW seems to come with a standard these days. I'm sure there are others that will fit, Yamaha seemed to be maximising common parts around the 90's.

[cobbadiggabuddyblooo]

Plenty of small LED indicators on line but you need to also replace the relay too which costs about $2-$5. Easily bolts in the rear and on the front there is a small base section on the front indicator and you seperate this and mount the LED indicator into this.

[Bostel]

I changed to small, cheap aliexpress led blinkers, they work fine but I needed some adapter-plates to make them fit, maybe you can make it fit like cobba says
I also bought a cheap led-blinker-relais with it, it was plug and play and it still works too.

On an online motorcycle scrapyard i bought this headlight unit, they sold it as an FZR400RR headlight. The headlight fitted in nicely but you need to adjust the wiring since the TRX is fitted with a H4 socket. It's not that difficult cause the colors are the same.
The bulbs on mine are a H3 & H2 if I'm not mistaking.
I wanted this headlight cause I like the looks of it, but you also get much more light on the road.

[Overlord Neil]

Mine doesn't look like Bostels, I've got the 'right' (in the image) eye on both sides, hence why I think mine is an import.

[Bostel]

Mine doesn't look like Bostels, I've got the 'right' (in the image) eye on both sides, hence why I think mine is an import.

Do you have this one maybe?

[dicky]

This ^ is the FZR400RR SP headlight.
It is the same size and uses the same mounts as the TRX headlight

BUT

the bulbs are NOT H series and are expensive. You also need to make a wiring loom adapter.

The other headlight is from an FZR600 or FZR1000 and as far as I know it does take standard H series bulbs

[Mincehead]

The bulbs are not so expensive if you use the discount I brokered for TRX850.COM members many moons ago.

http://www.trx850.com/phpBB_forum/viewt ... bs#p113969

[Overlord Neil]

Yep, thats the puppy. Works well you can actually see where you are going, LED/HID upgrade would be good though. As Mince said, bulbs aren't obscenely expensive and they are available if you know where to look.

Getting back on topic, it bolted straight in. The wiring loom 'is' different as it uses a smaller three pin connector, as far as I can remember; I de-pinned the connector and clipped them into a standard H4 3 pin, that then picks up on the original TRX loom, jobs a goodun, dip and main through both bulbs.

[Mincehead]

HID upgrades can be found cheaply on Fleecebay too.

[Tarwetijger]

On an online motorcycle scrapyard i bought this headlight unit, they sold it as an FZR400RR headlight.

It is not, it is from a FZR600, type code 3HE.

The headlight fitted in nicely but you need to adjust the wiring since the TRX is fitted with a H4 socket. It's not that difficult cause the colors are the same.
The bulbs on mine are a H3 & H2 if I'm not mistaking.

H1 for projector low beam, H3 for reflector high beam.
The projector is perfect for xenon.

I wanted this headlight cause I like the looks of it, but you also get much more light on the road.

I like the look of it too.

BTW: in het nederlands over de TRX kletsen?
http://www.motor-forum.nl/forum/list_me ... 10-69.html

This ^ is the FZR400RR SP headlight.
It is the same size and uses the same mounts as the TRX headlight
8<

And it is very rare!
The FZR600 3HE is also a straight bolt on.

[Bostel]

On an online motorcycle scrapyard i bought this headlight unit, they sold it as an FZR400RR headlight.

It is not, it is from a FZR600, type code 3HE.

Indeed, i bought the headlight at motorsloop.com and when I checked my emails I found '1 x Yamaha FZR600(3HE) Koplamp'

H1 for projector low beam, H3 for reflector high beam.
The projector is perfect for xenon.

I made a test-fit with a Xenon-kit I had in my garage and it works good. But you haven't got much room for the ballast since the wiring is so short, so make sure everything is put in nicely. Not like me, when I took it for a testdrive one of the wires got stuck behind another and it pulled out of the socket. It was dark then but luckily I was not far from home and I drove home with my high beam on.
I wanted to fit an LED unit in there but there is not enough space.

BTW: in het nederlands over de TRX kletsen?
http://www.motor-forum.nl/forum/list_me ... 10-69.html

Als ik tijd heb zal ik eens kijken!

[Tarwetijger]

I think a H1 LED might fit for the H3 high beam.

Inspired by the FZR400RR headlight, I made one myself:
http://www.trx850.com/phpBB_forum/viewt ... =6&t=10749

[Planx]

Wow! Thanks everyone for all the responses.

I thought mine was the original headlight, but it's actually the same as Bostel's which, if I'm getting this right is from an FZR600. I should have guessed it was not original because the wiring to it is a bit of a dog's dinner and definitely need tidying up. Also, it is missing the rubber cover on the right-hand (from the front) unit. Now I know what headlight it is maybe I can get the rubber from a breakers.

So, without attempting the conversions to xenon/LED/HID (not sure if I have the skills for these) is the light from the FZR600 unit about as good as any of the other alternatives (FZR400, etc.)?

[Overlord Neil]

Its probably about as good as you are going to get on standard halogen bulbs. Don't be put off by xenon/LED/HID conversions, they are often as easy as just replacing the bulb, the tricky part is finding somewhere to hid the additional wiring. Based on my own experience:

Xenons: are basically your standard headlight buld with xenon rather than halogen gas inside them, they burn brighter but faster, so lifetime can be low, the brighter the bulb generally the lower the lifespan. Very easy to 'convert' just swop them out in place of your original bulbs, just don't touch the glass in the process.

LED's: have come on in leaps and bounds, its a bit of pot luck if you are buying off eBay/Amazon etc, just make sure you can send them back if you need too. Light output can be very good but beam pattern can be hit and miss, I put some in my Blade (which has very good standard lights) and couldn't see a bloody thing in front of me! There are two basic types (probably many more) with ballast and drivers as a single unit or as multiple. The single unit is just that a plug and play self contained unit, but the unit can be much bigger, some have fans in the base, some have an aluminium mesh as a heat sink. The multiple unit type have a much smaller bulb which will fit pretty much as a halogen bulb, but has the ballast and drivers in a second/third unit which you'll need to be able to hide somewhere.

HID's: are my personal goto, its a gass filled bulb like halogens but uses a much higher voltage (1,000's of volts) to create a much brighter light, the down side is all the gubbins that goes with them, some are more self contained than others, but they all have the bulb and atleast one other box (the ballast) to hide as well as the additional wiring. For me the big downside to HID's is the 'on time' they take a little time to warm up, not a problem for running in normal conditions, but if you convert all your bulbs to HID's and try to flash someone chances are the bulb won't have fired up by the time you've let go of the trigger!

Legally, in the UK, you can fail an MOT is your lights produce an incorrect beam pattern or there is too much light over the cut-off of the beam pattern. Standard reflector headlights generally can't handle the additional light output of brighter bulbs and it just gets thrown out all over the place, ever see an old Citron Saxo with insanely bright blue lights? The guy has 'upgraded' his headlights without considering the fact that most of that blue glow is just dazzling the guy driving towards him. Projectors (which have a glass domed lens) are a different animal as they focus the light into a pattern, so a brighter light will just be focused into a brighter pattern, but they still need the bulb to be in the right place to work properly.

For the cost of them, get a set and give them a go, LED or HID you can pick up (a single bulb) for 15-20 quid. You won't need to modify the bike and if you do, I'd send them back and try another seller instead. Theres a wash of cheap chinese stuff on the market, some of it is actually pretty good, alot of it is pretty shoddy. Early one morning blatting down a country lane on the trx, went over a bump and lost all lights... that kit got thrown away pronto!

The only word of caution, is once you have tried them you can't go back to halogens, the difference is night and day literally, you'll feel like someone is holding a candle in front of the bike with the halogens back in place.