Ducati Monster Forum

I’ve been searching the forums on upgrading my headlight to LED or something better than OEM. I see that most options are $200+ from search here, and I’d need to figure out how to mount a headlight...on my 15 FZ1 I literally paid $60 for HID’s including ballast for great lighting.

Any ideas on what can be done on a more budget friendly option(s) including mounting a round headlight?

How big is the headlight? Check out Truck Light? Search the net.

Have you tried replacing the bulb with an LED unit? I replaced the standard H4 on my 821 with an OPT7 Fluxbeam and it's amazing. Less than $100.

Any issues with the way the light is thrown by the reflector?

Do you have info on this to see if it would fit my 2009 1100 Monster? Where to purchase this bulb?

Dude, google...it's rather easy.

https://www.google.com/search?client=ms-android-sprint-us&ei=LEEgW7HDAs7qzgLJvZfADA&q=opt7+fluxbeam&oq=opt7+fluxbeam&gs_l=mobile-gws-wiz-serp.3..0l5.4392.9537..10099...0....174.1894.0j13......0....1.......3..41j0i131j0i67.OXnDomJQceM%3D

Of course I could use google, but I want to know if this is a direct fit item or if I need to make some mods to the headlight bucket to have this fit. As mentioned in my original post i found some LED’s for some FZ1 and they went on no mods, only thing I had to do was hide the ballasts in the fairing with some industrial Velcro and boom done!!

There is at least one 796/1100 owner here who put on a classic headlight. It looks great  [thumbsup]

Modern reflector design with a proper quality bulb - fantastically much better than stock - FHE.

Be very careful when trying to “improve” the head light.

If you are replacing a bulb or a headlight you are messing with the original DOT submission. The stock Bosch headlight assembly has reflectors built in to direct the light down and to one side (in US, to the right side) to prevent you from blinding on-coming traffic. What many of you don't take into consideration when you start trying to make your light ultra bright, and white, is that you are most likely going to blind on-coming traffic which is probably the most dangerous thing you can do with a headlight. There are very specific requirements when placing a headlight on a motor vehicle, it's to protect you and the other road users. Just as you don't like it when someone drives with their hi-beam on all the time, that's exactly the douche move you end up doing.

If you plan to do some sort of a swap, at the very least look up the DOT requirements of how far the light can cast, at what height, and to which side it must dip in your country. Then notice that your factory lighting had to meet that criteria and consider that you might make it brighter, but to make it cast farther the compromise is to create a dangerous situation for the cars that are now driving directly towards you in the dark while being blinded by your headlight.

The reason you think stock headlight sucks is, that Ducati use inadequately thin wire for headlight circuit. (18 gauge)
The stock Bosh headlight (reflector and the lens cut) is actually pretty decent, IF you use relay, heavy duty wiring harness, and quality H4 bulb.

Years ago, I wrote about this.
http://www.ducatimonsterforum.org/index.php?topic=69572.0

The best 7” round headlight I have tried is CIBIE 82440.
I have them in my DD (NA6), with 10 gauge wire custom harness, relay and Wagner BP1210 80/100w.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oWbPIoay72Q&t=3s

Before CIBIE, I had Hella E-code.
The difference?

The CIBIE put a lot more light out to the sides on low beam. I see so much better through the corners.
The high beam is also better (CIBIE lens has better cut-off), putting less light up into the trees, and more importantly, into the reflective road signs.

Yes, the reflection from those signs are dangerously dazzling, so your super bright head light may be less useful than it should be, IF the lens doesn’t have proper cut-off.

On the Monster, I still keep the stock BOSCH, mostly because, well, because it is slightly bigger than 7-inch, so I would need something like this if I want to run CIBIE.
https://motowheels.com/i-7935658-corse-dynamics-7-inch-headlight-with-adapter-ring.html

Stock Bosch headlight, with heavy duty harness + relay, and slightly high wattage bulb, AND a pair of Cyclops Long Range Optimus ramp, that’s the set up I have on my bike (now).

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YKO_pmNfzI0

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WVWfIS6bGto

Both set up are for riding / driving through tight, twisty backroad in the night time.
If you are only riding in the city / freeway, the set up you’d need may be a little bit different.

Phillips have a halogen globe that is about $40-$50 each which increases light output substantially. Straight replacement option if you dont want to go too radical. It has greatly improved my old 900's headlight. My local bike shop said that of all the H series globes this one is the best, but buy it from a car shop as you get two for the price of one packaged for a bike! I also repaired my headlight wiring using part of an old Honda loom, so remember that any globe is only as good as the wiring behind it.

I don't know if it will fit the 1100. The ballast is quite small and fit inside my headlight housing behind the reflector. I bought it off of Amazon, so I would go there to see if anyone has used it on an 1100.

For whatever it's worth, I upgraded my 2001 900 to the OPT7 Fluxbeam LED for around $60 and it's a much brighter/whiter light. I don't ride all that much at night but I can see the road signs really lighting up, even in daylight.  My goal was to be a bit more visible during the day. Mission accomplished.  I did the alignment so I'm not blinding drivers of oncoming cars or when following traffic after sundown. My 2 cents.

I’ll look into this one, my problem I think is the weird shape of the headlight to make ballast fit and what not. I wish someone with my style bike had a round headlight or point me in the direction of parts to get to make that change. Round headlight is better styled but to pay $200 and up just doesn’t make sense. Older bikes with round gauges and round headlight are just awesome in my book.

Next stop I gotta find me a sports classic in decent shape, hunting begins!!

FYI   I found my OEM quality round headlight from here :   https://www.ebay.com/itm/362087764043   for $105 with shipping from Germany.    It seems to be of good quality and looks great to my eye.   The bike came with the bug-eye lights but I was going for more of the classic Ducati Monster look.   The wiring was plug-n-play simple for the H4 bulb.  I've had both LED bulb and headlight for less than a month. So far so good.  Maybe it'll fit your bike too?

What year bike did you mount it to? Are you using stock mounting bracket or did you have to make your own? Hopefully someone here knows as I have limited tools and want something I can bolt on and go. Or if some brackets can be sourced to fit my bike to mount if go that route also.

09Aircooled ~

I have a 2001 M900 and I used the bracket that came with the bike. It's a small carbon fiber bracket that's able to hold the aftermarket bugeye lights as well as the stock headlight. I believe the CF mount I have is, dimensionally, pretty much the same as the stock one. The headlight diameter measures just about 8 inches  [200mm], measures about 5 inches [130mm] deep and has 2 hex head bolts on the left and right sides to secure it. The only stipulation is that the bucket needs to have 1 or 2 holes to help with cool, fresh air circulation inside the headlight. The Fluxbeam has a micro fan that helps to keep the LED bulb cool by moving fresh air around. The bucket on the new replacement headlight came to me with an extra hole so I didn't need to drill anything.

Hope this helps.

https://mattgeckoleds.com/shop?olsPage=products%2Fducati-monster-led-headlight

 Have you seen this light?

Looks cool, but not $370 worth of cool. I mean I spent under $100 for HID’s before on my FZ including wiring and ballasts...am I missing something? Only thing I got was some industrial strength Velcro to mount that ballasts to the fairing.

 I like this option because of the plug and play factor. I highly dislike the cutting, drilling holes trying to fit automotive sized lighting into a small moto light body.

You got a point there...might just to bite the bullet and get one. Just not at the moment.