Motorcycle lighting

Motorcycle lighting does two jobs worth keeping apart: letting you see the road and letting everyone else see you. This section brings together headlights, auxiliary lights, number plate lights and headlight guards from Puig, Highsider, SW-MOTECH and Customacces, whether you are replacing a broken part, changing the character of the bike or getting it ready for touring after dark.

Every light has its job

• Headlight: it lights the road on dipped and main beam, and it is the part most often swapped on customs, café racers and one-off builds; the motorcycle headlights range from classic round units to very compact LED designs.
• Additional lights: fog, long-range, daytime running and position lights. Auxiliary lights are the classic upgrade for adventure bikes that cover long distances.
• Number plate: the rear plate must be readable at night, and a shortened tail often loses the original lamp. That is what number plate lights are for.
• Signalling: motorcycle indicators and the tail light tell others what you are about to do; with a cut-down tail they are usually changed together.
• Protection: a clear headlight guard stops gravel chipping a lens that, on modern bikes, is replaced as a complete unit.

Type approval: what is road legal

To ride on public roads, each light must be approved for the function it performs. You can tell by the E-mark: an E inside a circle with the number of the approving country, moulded into the lens or the housing, next to letters that identify the function. A lamp approved only as a position light cannot act as a dipped beam, and a fog light cannot stand in for the headlight. In this section several product names already state it, such as the Customacces central and twin headlights or one of the Highsider plate lights; for the rest, look for it on the product page.

Installation counts as much as the part: colour, height, symmetry and each light working from its own switch. If you change the original lighting, roadworthiness tests such as the MOT, ITV or TÜV may treat it as a modification, so check the rules in your country before fitting anything.

LED, power draw and battery

An H4 halogen headlight draws 55 W on dipped beam and 60 W on main beam; an LED unit gives similar light for far less power, switches on instantly and lasts longer. That eases the load on the battery and alternator, which helps on a small or older bike and, above all, when you add auxiliary lights. The trade-off: an LED module has no bulb to replace, and some bikes with a monitoring ECU read the low current as a blown bulb and light the warning lamp. A load resistor or an adapter for your model sorts it out.

Wiring without surprises

A replacement headlight usually plugs into the original connector, often a three-pin H4 plug, although with LED units it pays to check the wiring diagram. Lights you add are better on their own circuit, with relay, fuse and switch, rather than hanging off the headlight wiring. For plate lights and indicators there are adapter leads for each bike make that save cutting into the loom. Once everything is fitted, set the beam height with the bike loaded the way you usually ride it, so you do not dazzle anyone. To keep kitting out your bike, browse the rest of our motorcycle accessories.