Is it plug-n-play to fit US Spec headlights to my UK Spec Spyder? Or are there mods needed?

[lord lucan]

Hi there, is there anyone who could help? I'm going to fit US spec upper headlights on my UK spec bike, does anyone know if this would be plug and play or are there any mods I would have to do to achieve this?

 

[Peter Aawen]

I must admit that I don't KNOW about your proposed UK to US Spec headlight swap, but it doesn't work well/easily to try and swap an Australian Spec (& supposedly EU Spec too) Spyder to US Spec headlights. Do you really need to ask me how I do KNOW this?!

AFAIK, the UK headlights are very similar to our Oz Spec headlights - your Low Beam is provided by the lower light assemblies that the USA Spec Spyders call their 'Fog Lights', while your High Beam is provided by single filament globes in the upper light assemblies when High is activated on the Left hand Control. In the US, IIRC both High and Low Beams are enabled using a mechanical shutter system in varying the light beam from the single filament globes in the upper light assemblies. To do what you are asking, I believe that at the very least, you'll need to acquire & fit those mechanical shutter assemblies and their controllers (or source US Spec headlight assemblies - which I believe will be pretty expensive for you - they were for me... ) but even then, those mechanical shutters are activated by software managed by the Country setting in the computers, triggered in response to the signal sent from the Left hand Control, and I don't believe you can readily change just the ONE light setting in the computers to vary just that control signal, it's generally an all or nothing thing triggered by changing the Country Code!

So you might want to be careful doing what you're asking, or even attempting to do it, as there are MANY features of the Spyders that are changed along with the Country Code, for example, the sprocket & belt selection parameters and the dash read-out, altho you still use miles instead of kilometres in the UK, don't you? Anyhow, trying to change any one or even a few of those features generally isn't too successful &/or possible unless you change the Country Code, and doing that usually brings a whole lot of other issues along with it that just don't match the way the rest of your Spyder has been set up; things that can end up putting your Spyder into permanent Limp Mode, if not making it completely fail to operate!

If you're trying to get better/higher/more visible & useful Low Beam lights by bringing them into the upper light assemblies, I reckon that you'd be better off simply adding some extra wiring to your Spyder's light wiring loom to allow you to operate twin filament globes in the upper light assemblies - here in Oz, the twin filament plugs on the back of the High Beam globes are already used, just with one terminal left empty, so effectively, it's just a matter of extending the wires from the lower assembly so that the necessary extra terminal in the existing plug on the back of the upper lights can be inserted, the terminal to trigger the Low Beam filament, and then you just fit the twin filament globes - job done, both High and Low Beam available from the upper light assemblies...

BUT WATCH OUT!! Running higher wattage twin filament globes in your Spyder's headlight assemblies, upper or lower, or even just running normal incandescent or halogen globes for extended periods, is not really recommended, especially if you ever run High Beam for anything much more than just a couple of hours straight/at a time, due to the potential for excessive heat build up and the risk of melting holes in the polycarbonate lens covers!! (I can't find the pic atm, but it HAS happened! Again, do you really need to ask me how I KNOW this?! ) Simple fix for that one tho, just install LED Globes! I'm sorry, but I can't recall off the top of my head what the LED globes that fit/work actually are, but it can and has been done here in Oz by at least a few people.

Good Luck!

 

[Mikey]

Wow Peter, by the sounds of it, it would be almost easier to have a US bike shipped over!!!

 

[Peter Aawen]

Wow Peter, by the sounds of it, it would be almost easier to have a US bike shipped over!!!

Well, in my case, I wasn't planning on doing just the lights, or even just what @lord lucan seemingly has in mind - I had grander schemes and more to think about; but I must say that when I saw the $$ signs and problems growing with sourcing the growing range of US Spec parts locally that it looked like I might need, I did think about and even looked into buying a complete and running 2nd hand Spyder of the appropriate vintage and then getting it shipped here, but it turned out that doing that would've raised even more problems, delays, and the overall cost significantly, so it's not quite 'easier'...

I did end up sourcing and shipping a set of US Spec headlight assemblies over, complete with shutters etc, but it turned out that they really didn't help ME in the long run -the Country Code thing got in the way and just messed up waaaayyy too much other stuff, making it a complete waste of time, money, and effort! Well, maybe not quite a 'complete' waste... After all, I have ended up with a couple of pretty big and expensive shelf mounted dust collectors for the shed, and I now know for a fact that it's bloody expensive getting bulky stuff sent here from the States, even if it is relatively light! Mind you, I've recently heard that they make entertaining targets for plinking at with a .22... As long as they're not mounted on your Spyder, anyway!

Still, after a few failed attempts, MY headlight concerns & desires were ultimately resolved fairly easily with a little time, few feet of twin core wire, a couple of terminals, some solder, and a few LED Light globes; and I reckon that if @lord lucan is after the better/higher positioned Low Beam lights that I mentioned earlier, then he'll likely come to much the same conclusion... eventually.

 

[lord lucan]

Hi Peter I already have a pair of the US spec light units for my bike, they came with a lot of other stuff when I purchased it. I only ask as the bikes main loom to aforementioned upper lights seem to have more wires than the current lights are using, eg 5 wires to the left side and 3 to the right and the US spec light units have the same corresponding amount of wires, or is that just a standard loom for all RT bikes regardless of country/region they were meant for? I already have the LED conversion done, just thought having the upper ones on as well would give me even more light without blinding oncoming drivers. lol I should probably have said its a 2016 RT Ltd, also, the mph part can be altered to kmh in the on screen menu, but I'm prob misunderstanding, as the better half often tells me. lol

 

[Snoking1127]

Well, in my case, I wasn't planning on doing just the lights, or even just what @lord lucan seemingly has in mind - I had grander schemes and more to think about; but I must say that when I saw the $$ signs and problems growing with sourcing the growing range of US Spec parts locally that it looked like I might need, I did think about and even looked into buying a complete and running 2nd hand Spyder of the appropriate vintage and then getting it shipped here, but it turned out that doing that would've raised even more problems, delays, and the overall cost significantly, so it's not quite 'easier'...

I did end up sourcing and shipping a set of US Spec headlight assemblies over, complete with shutters etc, but it turned out that they really didn't help ME in the long run -the Country Code thing got in the way and just messed up waaaayyy too much other stuff, making it a complete waste of time, money, and effort! Well, maybe not quite a 'complete' waste... After all, I have ended up with a couple of pretty big and expensive shelf mounted dust collectors for the shed, and I now know for a fact that it's bloody expensive getting bulky stuff sent here from the States, even if it is relatively light! Mind you, I've recently heard that they make entertaining targets for plinking at with a .22... As long as they're not mounted on your Spyder, anyway!

Still, after a few failed attempts, MY headlight concerns & desires were ultimately resolved fairly easily with a little time, few feet of twin core wire, a couple of terminals, some solder, and a few LED Light globes; and I reckon that if @lord lucan is after the better/higher positioned Low Beam lights that I mentioned earlier, then he'll likely come to much the same conclusion... eventually.

Like the steering would be on the wrong side.

 

[Peter Aawen]

Like the steering would be on the wrong side.

Nah, it's a motorbike, the steering itself would be fine; but the bike'd keep on veering onto the other (wrong) side of the road all the time!

 

[Snoking1127]

Nah, it's a motorbike, the steering itself would be fine; but the bike'd keep on veering onto the other (wrong) side of the road all the time!

Hey, my riding buddies daughter is here for a week and I have eye surgery so she is going to be riding it. I forgot to tell her that freeway on ramps it blast thought the gears at full throttle!

 

[Peter Aawen]

Hi Peter I already have a pair of the US spec light units for my bike, they came with a lot of other stuff when I purchased it. I only ask as the bikes main loom to aforementioned upper lights seem to have more wires than the current lights are using, eg 5 wires to the left side and 3 to the right and the US spec light units have the same corresponding amount of wires, or is that just a standard loom for all RT bikes regardless of country/region they were meant for? I already have the LED conversion done, just thought having the upper ones on as well would give me even more light without blinding oncoming drivers. lol I should probably have said its a 2016 RT Ltd, also, the mph part can be altered to kmh in the on screen menu, but I'm prob misunderstanding, as the better half often tells me. lol

@lord lucan, I couldn't get the US Spec lights to operate in my Aus/EU Spec Spyder without changing the Country Code, which meant the computers/controllers then assumed that the Spyder had ALL the US Spec gear, including a different sized rear sprocket and belt, meaning different gearing, and a bunch of other stuff besides... So if I changed the Country Code to get those lights to work, whenever I tried to ride/move the Spyder under its own steam with those US Spec lights fitted and working, the rest of the Spyder instantly spat the dummy and stopped!! Basically, I could get the US lights to work if I didn't ever want to actually move/ride it; but if I wanted to ride it, then I had to refit the Aus Spec lights, reset the Country Code, and ride... Mind you, after having tried them myself, albeit in a rather limited way, and having seen the number & type of problems and questions raised about them here on the Forum by those who do have them, I'd suggest that those mechanical shutters are a tad problematic anyway, somewhat prone to issues, never really work all that well, and are basically another one of the BRP Engineer's 'Great ideas, piss poor execution' type failures!

To put it as clearly as I can and at its simplest - The US Spec lights were NOT useful to me and I doubt they'll be useful to you, I could not operate my Spyder with them fitted.

But if your UK Spec Spyder is anything like my Oz Spec Spyder, the original UK Spec upper headlight assemblies WILL take a twin filament LED Globe, and the plug on the back already has a vacant terminal position, so I'd suggest that you simply tap into the lower light loom at the plugs and extended the necessary wires from the Low Beam lights in the lower assemblies enough so that they'll reach the upper light assemblies (I did it via a fused relay, just to be sure), install the necessary extra terminals in the plugs on the back of the upper lights to allow those plugs to power a low beam filament, fit the appropriate twin filament LED light globe, and you'll have all the light you could wish for at a noticeable/useful height, instead of being down so low that no-one can see it &/or never notices it cos they think it's bleedin' under-glow lighting!!

If you want to make your lighting even better, simply add a switch to the extension wires (you can get/use the OEM Fog Light Switch) and set the lights in your lower light assemblies up as Fog Lights, with both High and Low Beams operating in the upper light assemblies. It's not hard to do this; in fact, it's WAAAYYY HARDER to explain it than it is to do it! So I'd suggest that you stop faffing around with the 'not really all that great anyway' US Spec light assemblies, toss them (or put them on a shelf in the shed to collect dust - they will do that very well! ) and just add the necessary couple of feet of wire, LED globes, and switches, etc to make your UK Spec lights do what they (and our Oz Spec lights) should've done in the first place - and use the upper light assemblies for both High and Low Beam, as well as your choice of leaving the lower lights on all the time as additional lights or adding a switch to allow them to turn on & off separately so that you can call them Fog Lights or whatever else takes your fancy.

But as I've said before, as far as I'm concerned with this, trying to do anything with the US Spec lights outside of the US &/or any other country that actually uses those mechanical Hi/Lo shutters is most likely going to be a waste of time and money and if you do try do use them, getting them to work will very likely cause your Spyder to fail to operate otherwise as a Spyder in any useful way...

Just Sayin'