Do I need a relay for headlight upgrade?

[john finneran]

I bought a Painless wiring kit 10403 (great kit but$$$) and it says if I run halogen headlights I need a relay kit 30815.
I am disappointed that they are asking for another 150$. My 81 bandit didn’t need it,but maybe my 70 can’t handle the halogens.They are just bottom of the pack Sylvania h6024. Has anybody ran these bulbs w/o a relay?

[Wallington]

You van probably get away with it but will require rearranging the wiring anyway. The relay transfers the full power of the upgraded headlights from going through the headlight switch in factory configuration and overheating it and the wiring. Otherwise you can save money sourcing the relays and rewiring yourself.

[N PRGRES]

Whats an 81 Bandit?  You mean an SE?

[b_hill_86]

Are you referring to this?

Better yet, what type of headlamp are you trying to use? I think there’s some confusion with nomenclature

[nas t eh]

The easy and cheap solution is to buy LED bulbs for your Halogen headlamp enclosures. The power draw is greatly reduced and the stock wiring without add on relays works just fine.

During my restoration I was in the middle of switching over to HID headlights for my 73, that required adding ballasts and wiring changes etc. Then LED bulbs hit the market and problem solved. Bought some replacement bulbs for my Halogen H4 housings, ripped out all the HID stuff and threw it away.

I have the original front wiring harness in the car it works great running the LED bulb headlights. And it is as easy as changing a light bulb.