Headlight wiring help

[redhenracing2]

In an effort to make my bike a little less 'ghetto', I have decided to try and wire my dual headlights to the stock wiring circuit. Currently, they are rigged to a switch and have to be switched on and off. This switch goes right to the battery, so the lights can be left on with the key off. This has resulted in several dead batteries. My question is, will the duals be able to wire in in place of the stock headlight?

The facts:

1. Three wires come out of the stock headlight,  Black/White, Yellow, and White.

2. Both dual headlights (which are actually foglights meant for a car) have two wires coming from them, positive and negative.

3. From my understanding of the diagram in the Haynes manual, Yellow is the power wire for Hi-beam and White is for low-beam. Black/white is ground.

The plan:

1. Connect the grounds from the duals to the ground wire.

2. Connect the positive wire for one headlight to the yellow wire, and the other to the white.

Would this make it so that one headlight is on with the switch set to low-beam, and both on when switched to high?

Would there be any issues with the current sent to the lights, i.e. being different than that sent to the stock headlight?

[Paulcet]

The plan:

1. Connect the grounds from the duals to the ground wire.

2. Connect the positive wire for one headlight to the yellow wire, and the other to the white.

Would this make it so that one headlight is on with the switch set to low-beam, and both on when switched to high?

No, you would only have one at a time.  See the Wiki for the desired wiring: http://wiki.gstwins.com/index.php?n=Upgrades.DualHeadlights

Would there be any issues with the current sent to the lights, i.e. being different than that sent to the stock headlight?

There will be higher current total when both lights are on.  Not a problem though, IMO.  Oh, one more thing; the low beam will get about one volt less when powered through the diode.

[jeremy_nash]

when I was running dual lights, I wired the low beam to the orange accessory wire  from the old headlight bucket, and the other light to the highbeam. one always on, then both of them on high

[annguyen1981]

Paulcet is right...  the plan you've got now will result in one headlight lit up at a time.

[redhenracing2]

Yeah, I just figured this out. However, without you guys, I would have set it up without the diode. So it would have been both on all the time. Anyone know where to get a 12v diode from? Radioshack?

[Paulcet]

Yeah, Radio Shack.  And it doesn't have to be 12V.  Voltage ratings on diodes are maximums, and over a couple of volts, there is no minimum.

[jeremy_nash]

http://gstwins.com/gsboard/index.php?topic=46516.msg521757#msg521757