VT500C Round Headlight Modification

[Usualdosage]

One of the first cosmetic changes I wanted to make on my '84 Shadow was to replace the square headlight with a round one. People either love or hate the square headlights, so if you're a lover of that style, take no offense to this (this means you, still_bluenoser). The problem with the replacement is that later year VT500C round headlights don't really fit on the 83-84 Shadows. My goal here was to use as many of the existing parts from the bike as possible without wrecking any of them, so I could easily put the OEM parts back on at any time if I was so inclined.

This headlight mod will work even for folks who don't want to bob their bikes but still want a cool round headlight.

So, here we go:

Cost: about $55.00
Tools: Hacksaw/cutoff wheel, metric ratchet/wrenches
Time: about 2 hours

I bought a bobber headlight from Demon Cycles (link here, yes, I was partially influenced by the model, way to advertise, guys!). Nothing fancy about it, just a simple headlight and bracket.

I removed the original headlight mount from the bike. When I started, I removed the aluminum brackets on either side of the OEM headlight as well to clean them. While the headlight was off I took the time to bind and wrap the wires, replace any bad contacts, etc. Since the OEM headlight holds a lot of the wires, you'll want to try to organize the rat's nest using cable ties and wraps, otherwise, when the new light is on, it'll be really noticeable.



Next, I went to Home Depot and bought 4 things:

1" square steel pipe
3/8" x 1.5" fine thread hex bolt
3/8" fender washer
3/8" lock washer

All this was about 10 bucks total.

If you remove just the OEM headlight from the mounting brackets, you can measure the distance between the old brackets. I cut about 5 inches off of the steel pipe to span the gap.

The old brackets are actually 7/8" (if you can find 7/8" square steel tubing, good on ya) so I had to hammer the ends of the 1" down a bit to fit the old brackets. You can also use 3/4", but you'll need to stack some washers on either side.

Drill out holes on either end of the pipe for the bolts to go through, and you have the start of the assembly.



Remove the assembly and drill a hole in the center of the steel tube large enough for the 3/8" bolt to fit through, and mount the headlight bracket to it using the fender and lock washer on the opposite side. Once this was done I painted it with flat black enamel.



Almost done. All that's left is to reconnect the headlight (green, blue and white to green, blue and white) and wrap the wires. I made sure to use heat shrink tubing over all connections since the wires are much more exposed now.

Here's the final product.



The turn signals are after market, but you can use the OEM ones with no problem since you'll be using the same brackets.

Hope it helps!

[AeroCapDave]

Nice job. Really changes the look of the bike (for the better). What did the headlight mount look like before it was modified to hold the square stock?

Looks like now you could center-mount the horn (perhaps from the underside of the place the headlight is mounted) with some sort of cool cover to clean up the front-end further still.

[Usualdosage]

Originally Posted by AeroCapDave

What did the headlight mount look like before it was modified to hold the square stock?

The mount looked exactly the same. The only actual modification was done to the square stock. The brackets (vertical and horizontal) are all original parts. The brackets mounted to the back of the old OEM light via those vertical hex bolts you see in the picture. I simply removed the headlight and replaced it with that square stock so I could mount the light on it.

Originally Posted by AeroCapDave

Looks like now you could center-mount the horn (perhaps from the underside of the place the headlight is mounted) with some sort of cool cover to clean up the front-end further still.

That's not a bad idea at all. I'm actually making a walnut covering that will mount just below the horn (where the old plastic Honda logo was). May just extend the cover up over the horn. I'll post pics when I figure out what to do there.

[chevyman]

Nice look, I am looking at doing the same to my 83 VT500c. I am looking at going with the 3 headlight system though, but could use the same technique that you did. (My winter project)

[Usualdosage]

Originally Posted by chevyman

Nice look, I am looking at doing the same to my 83 VT500c. I am looking at going with the 3 headlight system though, but could use the same technique that you did. (My winter project)

Nice, I like that look too but doesn't fit with the bobber style I'm working on.

You could definitely use the bracket mounts to add the 2 other lights. The nice part about that steel stock is that it's really heavy duty, mounts to the original mounts and you can attach all sorts of stuff to it if you wanted to.

[vukhoa_le]

Cool looking, man. I bet you got brighter headlight now (compare to the stock). Also, I see you got new front signals .
Are you going to make your bobber ? Can you take a picture from a side like your signature ?

[Usualdosage]

Yeah, I got low profile front signals online to replace the bulks "ears" the last one had. Light definitely seems brighter, but that may be due to the clearer glass since I think it's the same wattage as the old light.

Right now the bike is all apart (replacing the fork seals and the speedo drive gear), but once I have it back together I'll take a pic and post it. Right now just "bobbing" the front, but plan to start working on the rear here before too long.

[Aced It]

Nice work! Really looks great! I'm not a fan of the rectangle headlamps ... falls in the same category for me as when Jeep changed the Wrangler's classic round headlamps to rects. Wasn't long before they changed 'em back.

[Kingshead]

I too like the round better, the rectangular is just so................square.

[CrashOverride]

Great work. I like my square headlight cause it makes me stand out, but I like the work you put in.


Crash