This is a how-to for the 7" headlight upgrade using Dave's nicely machined aluminum bracket.

This upgrade does require the bracket that only Dave makes and supplies as well as a Harley Davidson 7" bucket and lens, all of which are referenced in this marketplace thread from Dave: http://suzukisavage.com/cgi-bin/YaBB.pl?num=1495732822.


First, make sure you have all of the parts. You should have a 7" bucket with outer trim ring, lens, aluminum bracket with bolts, washers, and nuts.




Just for comparison, here is the 7" (left) beside the stock (right).




To get started, you don’t have to disconnect the battery, but if you are doing any other electrical work while you have this apart (such as tapping in a USB charger, etc. into the running light lead) you should disconnect the battery.  It may also be a good idea to put a blanket over your front fender to protect it.

First, locate the two JIS phillips screws on the rear underside of the stock headlight and remove them. It may help to turn the handlebars left and right to more easily access the screws. I suggest using a JIS screwdriver, but if you don't have any JIS screwdrivers you can use a standard phillips. Just be careful not to strip out the screws as they can be in there rather tight if you have not serviced the headlight in a long time. Once the screws are removed, pull out the headlight lens and wiring by pulling at the BOTTOM of the lens first and then in a downward motion as there is a recess tab at the top that will not let you just snatch the lens straight out. Once out, flip it over to see the wiring.




Unplug the black headlight bulb socket from the bulb  and also go ahead and unplug the other end from the wiring assembly as you will need this out of the way for a few minutes.




Bend open the wiring harness holder and remove the rest of the wiring from the lens assembly.  BE CAREFUL and HOLD INTO THE LENS ASSEMBLY as once you disconnect these two connections the lens assembly is free to drop on the ground and shatter into pretty little pieces!



Now you should be left with just the headlight bucket on the bike still with the wires protruding. Don't worry about removing them yet.  It will be easier with the bucket unbolted.

Look under the bracket mount and you will see the two 10mm nuts that you need to remove. Once removed, you can access the rear of the bucket where all of the wires need to be fed through.




NOTE that it is much easier to fish the wiring through the rear of the bucket if you also unplug all of the wiring connections. The small ones have a tiny little nib that I worked loose with a small pick. Just be aware that they will not come loose without manipulating that little nib...don't get frustrated and think it's just stuck and yank the connector apart.  The connectors should be color coded, though mine had two WHITE connections which I labeled to make sure they were reconnected properly. Simply fish all of the wires through the rear hole in the headlight bucket being careful not to yank any wires out of their connector.

Once removed, the headlight bucket is free.




Clean up any dirt from the fork cross brace and install the new bracket using the nuts, flat washers, and bolts.  There is a 'short' side and a 'long' side of the bracket so make sure you install it with the 'short' side to the front. If you get it backwards there will be extra bracket protruding past the fork cross brace. Note that in my image you will see neoprene washers under the flat washer on the bolts as well as black electrical tape peeking out from the underside of the bracket. This is not required or necessary...I was testing something out during an initial mock-up when this photo was taken.




Next, it is time to start fishing the wires through the new bucket. It usually helps to start with the largest connector and work down to the smallest.  NOTE that as described in Dave's post, the back side of the HD headlight bucket has to be modified to remove the existing wiring and also to drill a larger hole at the back. Dave recommends a Unibit as twist drills make a mess out of thin metal. As seen in the earlier comparison images, you can see that this has been done and a rubber electrical hole grommet has been installed. DO NOT run wiring through a raw hole with no grommet as you are at risk for your wires to chafe and short out and potentially burn up your bike!  




Once all of the wires are fished through, get them in somewhat of a sensible order and not all tangled up where they enter the rear side of the bucket.




Once they are all organized, reconnect all of your connectors and don't forget the headlight bulb harness that you removed earlier. Now would be a good time to put a little dielectric grease on your connectors for good measure.




Once your wiring is all tidy, it is time to connect the bucket to the bracket. It helps at this point to 'snug' the bucket to the bracket so it will hold itself upright while you work.




Once the bucket is on, remove the outer trim ring by removing the bottom screw. Like the stock headlight, there are tabs at the top so you need to carefully pull out on the BOTTOM and then up and off.




Next, remove the lens retainer ring by removing the three screws.




Before installing the new lens, I ran a layer of electrical tape around the rim as an anti-rattle. To make it clean, once you have the tape on you can hold the outer trim ring on the lens and trim the "excess" tape that is visible with a razor blade.  Also make sure that you clear the tape from around the three alignment tabs on the lens as they are a very tight fit on the bucket.




Install the bulb (careful not to touch it with oily hands...if you do, clean with a clean, dry cloth).




Install the bulb boot.




Connect the bulb connector but don't install the lens just yet. TEST IT FIRST.




Hold the lens and have a friend turn on your keys to make sure that both the light works on low and high beam and as well your running lights and blinkers work correctly (left and right).




Now it is time to put the lens in the bucket. Make sure you have the correct side UP and align the tabs on the lens with the tab recesses in the bucket. NOTE that the tabs on the lens are two-step tabs and they only sit back on the first depth. This leaves a gap around the circumference of the lens for air flow and heat dissipation. Once you have the lens aligned, place the lens retainer on with the three screws. You want this snug, but DON'T OVERTIGHTEN these screws and strip them out!





Next, put the outer trim ring on by placing it on the top first, making sure it goes over the two retainer tabs on the bucket. Mine took a little finessing but finally snapped into place. Don't forget the screw at the bottom, and like the previous you want this snug, but DON'T OVERTIGHTEN and strip it out!




Find a wall or garage door to set the vertical alignment of your new headlight, then snug up the bracket bolt and GO RIDE!


Before and after comparison photos.




Night-time comparison images of my before and after coming soon.

Stew:

Great post......much better than my written attempts at instructions.  The early bikes don't have the "clip" type connectors for the turn signals - they have the standard bullet type connectors.

I am not sure the rubber washers or tape are necessary or desirable - the stock headlight is mounted rigid and that may be better (although the stock plastic headlight does eventually break).

I have also found that taking photographs of headlight patterns is very misleading....as the camera does adjust to the amount of light that the camera is receiving - so even the brightest light looks the same as a dim one in a photograph.  The proof really is in the riding, and the brightness and pattern must work together to put the light where it is useful.