Headlight assembly

Searched, couldn't find. Surprised not asked before.
How do I get the headlight assembly out?

Are you trying to replace the bulb or the entire assembly?
Bulb is accessible under the dust cover from behind. Tight space but doable.
Complete headlight assembly is another story. Remove mirrors, windshield, and all side and front plastic. Best to have a Honda service manual to refer to. Not to difficult but will take time. Honda took the headlight assembly and then built the bike around it. LOL
Have never needed to do this. I looked at my service manual to try to help you.
Good Luck.

So if I found a better bulb I could replace it without removing any Tupperware? Has anyone found a better bulb than the stock bulb?

There are 2 headlight bulbs. Both are 55w halogen bulbs. One is for low bean and the other is for high beam. I am sure the 55w high beam bulb could be replaced with a higher wattage bulb, ie: 100w. If the plastic assembly could take the heat. Also in most states, 100watt bulbs are not legal for highway use. Having said that, the last 5 Harley Ultra Classics I owned, I did install 100w bulb for high beam. It made a night and day difference. (pun intended)

My high beam is passable but the low beam is awful
Is there a 75w?

Thanks guys. Already swapped the bulbs out, no issue over the top through the bars and the tupperware. Big hands make it difficult, but not impossible. Just farkling and need to remove the headlight assy....

Electraclyde said:

Honda took the headlight assembly and then built the bike around it. LOL

Click to expand...

Same with the ST1300 but I have shortcuts that don't require too much tupperware removal on that one. W/O a shop manual and more limited info here on the NT then like the ST site it's hard. I'll get it though.

Clay, (and everybody else) if your headlight isn't working well for you, the first thing to do is check the aim point. When I got my bike, I cussed the headlight. On my old Connies, which used an H4, I had long since switched to the 100/130 W bulb (which required a Honda automobile (Civic, IIRC) socket to keep from melting and also worked much better with a relay getting power from heavier duty wiring) the headlight had been pretty darned good. When I got the NT, its headlight was a big step backward. I quickly put on Denalis and they helped a lot.

Ft Morgan was a town without streetlights -- the city paid the electricity for every front-porch light in town (limited to 40W), but on my street most people didn't leave their porch lights on. One night I realized that my headlight was essentially pointing at the ground. I re-aimed it and before too long realized that I was getting flashed by trucks, but not by cars when I had my Denalis on. That's when I noticed on a dark night that my high beams were illuminating trees on my block. I then used my garage door and learned the low-beam was pointing about where the high-beam should have been. I re-aimed the light by measuring the height of the low-beam bulb above the ground and then measured the height of the low-beam cut-off and put it at the same height as the bulb. Since then, I almost never get flashed when I've got the low-beam and the Denalis (mounted on the fender and aimed straight ahead), plus my high-beam throws light a long way down the road. The NT's headlight, aimed right, is way better then my pumped up Concours headlight was.

I agree with Phil. I too was disappointed with my headlamp until I re-aimed it and now it's great!

Mike

Technically Phil, your low beam is incorrectly aimed.

1. On a level surface, measure the height to the centre of the bulb with you seated on the bike in full normal riding gear.
2. On the wall mark a horizontal line at this height that's easy to see.
3. 2" below this mark draw a straight, horizontal line that's easy to see.
4. Place your bike headlight 25' from the wall and sit on the bike in normal riding gear.
5. The low beam cutoff should be on the lower horizontal line.
6. The high beam cutoff should be on the upper horizontal line.

If you have Denalis, spots, fogs or riding lights, measure the height to the centre of the denalis and do the same (i.e. 2" below the centre of the Denalis).

John, technically you're probably right. When I'm behind a car with my low beams on, I can see that the cutoff line is somewhere below the top edge of its trunk. When I meet cars, they don't flash me with my low beams and my Denalis on. When I've got the high beams on, I can see a long way down the road: milemarkers show up between 0.7 and 0.9 miles away. So, they may be off by an inch or two, but not much. Thanks for the info on what is proper aim...I don't remember ever knowing how they should be aimed.

As John has mentioned the Denalies. THEY re the best bang for your dollar in lightingespecially if you spend a lot of time night riding! There are vheaper as well as more expensive but few withas little voltage draw / Drain that have ther warranty behind them AND WORK AS WELL.

Eldon