New member

[cliffh]

Good Morning. I purchased my 2010 NT700V a month ago and have been watching and reading this board a lot. Learned a bunch.
Had to do the latch upgrade, but other than that, my bike seems just fine. I only had time to put about 300 miles on it before it went into storage for the winter. I gave my 1993 Goldwing to my son. We take many bike trips together. The Wing was purchased new. 28 years later, and 113,500 miles later, I figured I needed something a little lighter to continue having fun traveling. Add up the mileage of all the bikes I've owned and I'm at a little over 400,000 miles, so I'm not new at this. That being said, I find the NT to be a fantastic bike. Perfect for my needs. I'm looking forward to many more years and miles of riding.

One question I have is has anyone changed the H7 headlight bulbs to H7 LED's? Any problems, or just plug and play. Some seem to have heat sinks on the base that might cause problems.

Just wanted to say hello and I am enjoying all the information I'm finding here.

 

[harryhendo]

Welcome to the forum! It sounds like you are an accomplished rider. You'll find the NT700V to be a fantastic bike that is reliable, satisfying to ride, and an all around capable machine. There is a lot of good information here.

One of my NTs has the LED upgrade, but I didn't do it myself, so all I can say is that it can be done, and others might chime in with the details. You might want to check the Technical section and do a search there in the meantime.

 

[Phil Tarman]

Cliff, I've got LED headlights on Horse (my 2nd NT). My mechanic installed them while he was installing some Clearwater Darla driving lights. They had a big heatsink and the rubber boots that are on the back of regular H7 lights wouldn't fit, but they are advertised as waterproof. I haven't ridden in much rain since they were installed, but I've washed the bike a couple of times and they don't seem affected.

Enjoy your NT! I had ridden an '83 GL650i Silverwing Interstated as my first bike, and then had 2 Kawasaki Concours before getting my first NT in March of '10. I rode it 139,000 miles before trading it for my current NT. The new one 7 serial numbers older, but only had 22,000 miles when I bought it. It was equipped almost exactly like #1 was -- lowered, top box, big pannier lids, OEM undercowl, wind deflectors, cruise control. I replaced my old Russell Heavy Duty Daylong with one of their new Sport Seats (lower by about an 1 1/2" and just as comfortable), replaced the McCruise vacuum-actuated cruise control with the new McCruise electrically-actuated cruise control, and don't think I'll be making any more changes.

 

[cliffh]

Hi Phil. I sure would have preferred the big pannier lids, but I'll live with the smaller ones. I do want to install LED headlights though. I often use my electric vest and will add heated grips....nice to have the extra power provided by lower wattage LED's. My first bike was a '64 Honda, so you can tell I am getting up there. That is why I was looking for a lighter bike. One of my past bikes was an '89 Pacific Coast. This NT700V reminds me very much of that bike. I hope to have this bike for a long time.

Sounds like you have made a lot of mods to your bike, all good ones for touring for sure.

 

[Brillot2000]

One question I have is has anyone changed the H7 headlight bulbs to H7 LED's? Any problems, or just plug and play. Some seem to have heat sinks on the base that might cause problems.

Welcome, Aboard and greetings from So Cal.

I have a thread where I cover this subject through a total of 3 different LED conversion iterations. The last iteration was the winning combination. Please go to Page 3 and Post #59 to start your journey converting your headlights to LEDs. NT700V LED Headlight Conversion For Under $30 - Brillot2000

Let me know if you have any further questions regarding this subject.

 

[cliffh]

A little more work than on the other bikes I've put LED's into. They were all H4's and were just plug and play. Surprisingly, the Goldwing only took about 20 minutes to change. I'll have all the body work off the NT next spring when I check the valves and change the coolant, so maybe I'll do the conversion then. I bought the bike used, so I have no idea when the valves were checked last or the coolant changed. I know it got an oil/filter change, new plugs and air filter just before purchase.