The introduction of LED lighting offers great upgrade options for incandescent lighting that was originally supplied with the Honda BIG RED ATC’s. I recently upgraded a 1985 BIG RED with an LED headlight and wanted to do the same to some of the older model BIG REDS. The objective of the upgrade was to have the headlight fit into the existing housing, use the existing lighting switches, and not alter the wiring harness. I met all these goals when I upgraded a 1984 BIG RED 200ES. This same upgrade can be used on the 1982 and 1983 Honda BIG RED 200E’s but it will require additional modifications to mount the headlight to the retaining ring. I bought the LED light from ebay. Here is the link to the one I bought
LED LIGHT for BIG RED. (if the link doesn't work search for a 4 X 6 LED Headlight)

1984 Honda BIG RED 200ES LED Headlight Upgrade

The LED headlight upgrade is easier to install on the 1984 as compared to all the other BIG RED models since the headlight is held to the retaining ring by spring clips. The existing spring clips can be used without modification.  First thing to do is remove the headlight assembly from the housing. There is two Phillips head screws that need to be removed from the bottom of the headlight housing and then the headlight and retaining ring can be removed from the housing by tilting the retaining ring. Once removed disconnect the three wires to the headlight bulb and remove the headlight assembly.

   

Original light and close up of spring that retains the headlight in the retaining ring
 
Original headlight and LED light


 

Pic of LED light

Wiring- The wiring on this LED will plug right into the connector for the 1985 – 1987 250ES BIG REDS but will not work with the 82-84 model BIG REDS without modification. I cut the 3 prong connection plug off of the LED light and crimped and soldered on 2 male bullet and one spade connector so they can connect up without modifying the original wiring harness.
   

The color coding of the wiring between the light and wiring harness will not match. Here are the connections I made based on the LED light I used:

The YELLOW wire from the LED light will connect to the GREEN on the wiring harness

The BLUE wire from the LED light will connect to the WHITE on the wiring harness

The BROWN wire from the LED light will connect to the BLUE on the wiring harness

Note that this information is for reference only. You will need to verify your own wiring.

The new LED light will fit into the headlight retaining ring and the existing springs can be used to hold it in. Note to make sure the LED headlight is oriented correctly. Some of the LED lights are marked top and some are not. What I found is that the top row of LEDS light up on low beam.

 
LED headlight mounted in original retaining ring

The headlight looks different but it performs a lot better than the original 45 watt incandescent light in my opinion.
 

   
Low beam

 

High Beam
 
Low beam original incandescent
 
LED Low beam

 
High beam original incandescent

 
High beam LED. Notice that you can see the garage in this pic.


1982 – 1983 BIG REDS

The headlight was mounted to the retaining ring using two screws (top and bottom)for the 1982 and 1983 models instead of using the spring clips. This will require some modification of adding a bracket to the LED headlight or to the retaining ring to secure the LED headlight. I have not done this modification myself but I am sure it can be done. Here are some pictures of the 1983 headlight for reference.

   

Note the tab on the retaining ring and the threaded plastic block in the headlight.

I have used this same LED light on the 1985-1987 BIG REDS. Here is a link to the article. 1985-1987 BIG RED LED Headlight Upgrade

Any suggestions or details of your own modifications are appreciated. Please consider sharing them on the forum.

Making brackets to mount my LED light. Copying the original, I bent 5/16 rod and threaded the top end. Had to machine some hard rubber bushings for the bottom. Used some modified Honda bushings on top with the metal inserts.

They'll be a pressure fit in the bottom with a nut on either side of the top bushing. This will hold it strong but let it wiggle a little so as not to self destruct.

Cut off the mounting tabs from the supplied bracket and welded them on. MIG welder died and left me with nothing but a stick welder. Hard for me to do tedious small stuff with a stick. BUT, an old man in a machine shop I used to work in once told me, "Son, you ain't gotta be a good welder as long as you're a good grinder."

 

Paint dried FAST so I went ahead and carefully locked it down.  

 

I've gone through the headlight shuffle and ended up with one of the later integral LED units also.


In order that is -

Stock bulb replacement
Installing a sealed beam truck headlight
Switching to a H4 housing and using a halogen bulb
Swapping that to a HID bulb
Ultimately ending with a complete LED assembly



Stock bulb is what it is. They're relatively tough, but not exceptionally bright. The truck headlight was on hand, $0 effort. The H4 housing was very promising in that a at least three lighting technologies (incandescent,HID,LED) can be used in it and in a pinch, an automotive bulb can be found at a local auto parts store or Wal-Mart.

The problem with the H4 housing, is that it's made for incandescent/halogen bulb light patterns. That means it's almost impossible to get a good light pattern with either HID or LED without trying several bulbs or someone else finding the magic combination of bulb in that housing and posting the information for free on the internet. 

Phillips is now selling H4 LED bulbs that are supposed to be ideal for those swaps. Phillips X-Treme Ultinon, with X-Treme pricing. That's a no-go for use on the Big Red.

Another thing on the H4 housing with HID or LED bulbs, is that both usually have pretty large backsides for cooling or other electronics and can be a really tight fit into the stock bucket. The HID requires a external box to make it work, so more wiring and stuff hanging out.



The absolute winner is the integral LED headlights. They provide the best light pattern, and most illumination with the lowest power consumption.


So many styles are available now, it's really a matter of what is preferred. The earlier styles with all the separate, no lens LED are being phased out in preference to ones with multiple focal technologies for low and high, like using projector lenses on the high beams LEDs and a flat Fresnel type lens on the low beams. These styles can use less power still, while retaining high lumens and good beam patterns. Many of them have 'halos' or DRL type functions as well, which are more of a novelty for off road use, but they don't have to be wired up if not wanted because there's typically a separate circuit for those functions.

The one I'm using:
 

The LEDs are mounted in a way that they are somewhat hidden and each has it's own reflector. The top row is high beam, and the bottom row with the wavy
reflectors is low. The center strip is a DRL function, which I don't have hooked up, but probably will because things that are there, but don't work, bug me.

The electrical draw is low enough that I can use high beam while idling and not drain the battery. Low beam is plenty bright and allows for gracious charging at low engine speeds and idling.

 


The LED spotlight on the rack was an impromptu thing when I still had the HID headlight. I was planning to go on a night ride, which was going to include a lot of slow speed and idling, meaning the HID drew too much power and would drain the battery. I made a quick trip to Wal-Mart for something that drew less power. It's space on the rack will be available again when I find a new home for it. I don't use the front rack much, so the LED spotlight can stay there for now.