Found a Halogen headlight for CA77 with replacable bulb

Cheburashka · Post by **Cheburashka** » Thu Feb 09, 2012 6:55 pm

I'm not sure if anyone else came across these, but a place called "Charlie's Place" has started selling complete headlights with a halogen bulb. I picked one up and it's pretty nice. Much brighter than stock, and they claim it has less draw than a stock bulb. It has a broader pattern and better focus than stock. Comes with wiring that mates up with the stock harness.

Jethro · Post by **Jethro** » Thu Feb 09, 2012 10:17 pm

Nice one. That's a pretty good find I suppose.
Here's a link for it.
http://www.charlies-place.com/PAGES/Sto ... dlamp.html

pknopp · Post by **pknopp** » Fri Feb 10, 2012 7:16 am

That's a pretty cool option. I'll just note a couple things......I must have got a rare bike as the battery never drains on mine with the light on (and it's always on).

Also, you could do this yourself for a lot less.

KellieLyyne · Post by **KellieLyyne** » Fri Feb 10, 2012 10:50 am

I have one and it is AWESOME!!!!! Much brighter, and anything that helps others notice you/and you seeing others, makes this light worth it's weight in gold!!!! My hubby drove to Charlies Place and bought one when he realized I was riding with my light on all the time (I like people SEEING me)

Cheburashka · Post by **Cheburashka** » Fri Feb 10, 2012 11:12 am

I started with the idea that I could make my own. I've been watching Ebay for a used bulb, preferably burned out, so that I could add a halogen bulb. I'm cheap as they come, but in the end I decided this was a better plan because:

1. Everyone wants $50 and up for a used headlight on Ebay.
2. With a retrofit, you never know if the bulb will be in the right place with regard to the reflector.
3. With a retrofit, you have to hold the bulb in place with RTV or the like, while this one looks a lot cleaner.
4. It's hard to find 20/25 halogen bulb.
5. The reflector in the original headlight is raw metal and it tarnishes once you open it up and expose it to the air, whereas these are "semi-sealed" which I believe refers to the metal of the reflector being encased in glass.
6. If this one burns out, I can just replace the bulb, or I can go back to my original light.

I don't think it's meant to be a fix for battery drain. The point is that it's significantly brighter than the original with around the same battery drain.

I applaud any company that's going to do a manufacturing run of parts for the CA77, and I've been replacing questionable parts with newer ones that work better, like the rectifier that Retrobikes put out which uses silicon diodes but looks just like the stock one. I like anything that keeps my Dream on the road.

pknopp · Post by **pknopp** » Fri Feb 10, 2012 2:58 pm

I agree it's great for someone to come up with this. When I retrofitted mine, it was my bulb that burned out so I didn't have to buy a headlight. I already had it.

If I wanted a brighter bulb, I likely wouldn't cut up a good working one either.

Bob750 · Post by **Bob750** » Tue Nov 11, 2014 4:14 pm

I'm bummed that Charlie's Place appears to no longer sell those!