Swap Rectangular for Round

[Unixkid]

I searched but didn't find a specific answer. This seems like a real basic (and stooooopid) question, but can I simply swap in a 7' round headlight in place of the rectangular one I have in my 78?

Any particular brands better than others?

Thanks!

[CatatonicBug]

Depends on how you plan on going about it. You can get the round headlight housing from a Special, but I don't know that the headlight ears on the Standard will mount to it correctly. Someone else should be able to chime in on that. Once you have the housing, you can use a standard round Halogen Sealed Beam bulb from an auto parts store. I got one for about $11 IIRC.

[BA80]

The standard ears are too short I believe, that is the mount part is too close to the guages, for the round bucket to fit.

Special ears are too long, the part that slides over the fork tubes, but can be trimmed down to fit. Getting a set of special ears and modiying them is the way to go in my opinion. There is 2 chrome collars and 2 square cut rubber o rings that you'll need also. I think the ones on the standard will work.

[fredintoon]

- - - can I simply swap in a 7' round headlight in place of the rectangular one I have in my 78? - - -

Hi Sean,
like they said, the ears are too short (also too wide apart) for a Special headlight to drop straight in.
You can get a shallow headlight shell that might clear the gauges but there's no way all that wiring would fit inside it.
Fitting cut down Special ears will work but first you gotta find them.
Or you can buy cast aluminum cafe-racer ears.
Or make Zee-shape extension pieces to forward-mount the round shell on the Standard ears.

[ManagerMike]

I swapped in the headlamp assy from a 1980 honda CB1000 using the hardware from the OE lamp, no mods. It also takes the H-4 bulb.
The wiring doesn't fit inside, but is hidden quite effectively.

[tom clisham]

vetter light

You can use the round vetter headlight setup. It fits the 78 ears & holds all the wires. Downside is it's a plastic housing instead of chrome. They're available on ebay.

[natemoen]

The Special headlight buck and ears are going to be the easiest swap. You do however need to cut something like 3/8" or so off the ears tubes so that they fit between the triple trees.

Here are some headlights and buckets:

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/HEADL...f#ht_939wt_730

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/HEAD-...#ht_1707wt_939

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/XS110...#ht_1036wt_939

Ears:

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/YAMAH...4#ht_647wt_939

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/80-YA...#ht_1495wt_939

[lee_dutcher]

i got a headlight bucket if u need on 20 bux plus shipping but it black with a chrome ring...just need a headlight

[Unixkid]

Thanks for all the replies. I'm looking for more of a cafe look, so a round headlight and a single speedo is in order. I'm just trying to figure out howshe's going to look and how to hide all the wiring.

Thanks again for all the responses. Awesome forum!

Sean