Installing Kuryakyn Front Lights without a Light Bar
for a 2005 Kawasaki Nomad 1600
by Trip Hilliard - April, 2007
Here is another light setup that uses the Kuryakyn Bullet lights. I'm very impressed with how they work and look. I got the idea from a friend who installed the same Kury lights on the front of a Kawasaki VN2000. So, I decided to buy the lights and hardware and install them on my 1600 Nomad. These lights mount to the blinker bar, but the weight of the lights doesn't *overwhelm* the bar and the same shock absorption that is built in for the blinkers is used for the bullet lights, so there should be no bulb burnout problem. Here are the particulars and installation instructions:
1. Log on to Kuryakyn at http://www.kuryakyn.com and order the lights - Part no. 2320. These are the large Silver Bullet Universal Driving Lights with 3/8" mounting bolts. Cost for the pair is approximately $99.00. Also get 2 - 1" Magnum Quick Clamps, Part no. 7940. Cost is $20.95 each. Some dealers have Kuryakyn products in stock so, you might try them before buying online.
2. There is enough wiring that comes with the lights, but you will need some extra washers, locking washers and some plastic ties to finish the job. If you don't already have one, you will need to purchase a 15-amp fuse.
3. Once your lights and brackets arrive, unpack them and get familiar
with their use before installing. Once bolted on to your blinker bar,
your lights will automatically be grounded however, since the blinker
housing is plastic and mounting the lights will be partially on the
plastic part, you will need to get some 5/8" diameter radiator hose
to aid in the mounting. Also, you will need a small piece of copper
wire. Also, it wouldn't hurt to find a small amount of thin rubber or
plastic lining.
4. At this point, wrap a small amount of the thin rubber lining or plastic
around the plastic end of the blinker. Then cut a small piece of the
radiator hose (maybe a 1/4" thickness), cut on one end and run the copper
wire through the hose to where it will touch both the mounting bracket
and the metal part of the blinker bar. Wrap the rubber hose around the
metal part and slide it up next to the plastic blinker housing. Now,
take your lights, thread the power wire through the brackets and mounting
bolt and mount your lights on the blinker bar. Make sure you don't tighten
too much, just enough to hold things in place for now.
Here is more of an explanation:
The problem with hooking up the bullet lights is that they do not have
a separate ground wire, they ground to your bike off the mount. When
you mount these to the front running light bar on the Nomad, you are
actually mounting them to the plastic housing of the running lights.
And as you know, grounding cannot take place on plastic, so I had to
come up with a little trick to get them to ground without having to
run a separate ground wire.
The running light may be plastic, but the actual bar holding the running
lights is metal. The key to grounding these lights is in the piece of
rubber hose that goes on the metal bar and butts up against the plastic
running light housing. Before you slip that piece of hose on the metal
bar, cut a piece of 16 gauge, solid, copper wiring about a half inch
long. Cut away the sheathing to where it's just bare copper, then cut
a small hole in the middle of the hose. Slip the copper wire up into
the hole about halfway and bend it on the top and bottom to where it
kind of "clamps" and stays on the top and bottom surface of
the hose.
What you are trying to accomplish here is a grounding mechanism. When
you mount the clamp for your bullet light, the clamp will touch the
bare wire on the top and thus send a ground through the hose to the
metal bar on the bottom.
5. There are several options in wiring your lights up to power and it
really depends on how you want your lights to operate. A good way to
hook them up is explained on Gadget's Page entitled, "Hooking
Up Driving Lights". Gadget's wiring affords you the opportunity
to install a relay and switch.
However, if you want the lights to come on with your headlight, only after the starter button has been pushed and released and go off when the bike is turned off, read how Todd installed his lights on his 2006 Nomad.
I chose to hook my lights up to the running
lights of the 2005 Nomad 1600.
I wanted the lights to come on with the
ignition and stay dim even when I had my headlight on bright.Plus,
I didn't want to have a power switch that I might leave on accidentally.
To do that, I connected the new lights to the 2 blue wires in the headlight
bucket. On the 2005 Nomad, the running lights in the bucket are the
solid blue wires. On the 2005 Nomad there is also an auxiliary power
wire in the light bucket (black wire located in an open, plastic protector)
directly connected to the battery. So, if you choose to hook your lights
straight to the battery and install an inline switch without a relay,
you are able to do that.
6. All that is left now is to adjust and tighten the lights on the blinker
bar and you're done.
I was able to complete this installation in about an hour and a half. - Trip
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