What's a "Headlight Gizmo"? It's always troubled my sensibilities to know that my headlight would come on as soon as I turned the ignition key to "on". It meant that my battery was being drained of precious life until the engine had been started and this tended to make me feel a little rushed. More importantly, the headlight would remain on while I cranked the big twin over. It's true, I had never had any problem starting the bike but I had never tried to crank it after it had been sitting out in sub-freezing weather with thickened oil and reduced battery power either. I had also never tried to start it with a battery or wiring that had seen better days. I saw no reason why the battery should be asked to supply 55 watts to the headlight at the same time it was being asked to turn over the big twin. Then I learned about a device that would allow me to start the bike in neutral with the light remaining off until I put her in gear and rode off. Best of all, the device requires no user intervention or special consideration while it goes about it's duties reducing the demand on your battery. It's called the "Headlight Gizmo" and is relatively easy to install.

Now that I've had this slick little Gizmo installed on my ST4s for a few months I can say it's one of the better upgrades I've made to my bike. An unexpected bonus was that it can be used to manually turn off my headlight without stopping the engine. I make sure I'm in neutral and push the passing light button momentarily. This will fool the Gizmo into thinking I have just turned my motorcycle on. There is no danger of this happening as I am riding down the road because the neutral light must be on for the Gizmo to turn the headlight off. Many enthusiasts believe Ducati's come with batteries that are sized a little too small. I believe this is done to minimize space and weight requirements. I find the Headlight Gizmo a convenient way to help insure the small battery size doesn't bring me any grief as the battery goes through it's normal aging process. The battery will age more slowly since it is no longer discharged momentarily by the headlight immediately before each start and it is not strained as heavily during cranking. A battery is just an electro-chemical storage device and it's not surprising that it's ability to hold a charge is directly impacted by the number and depth of it's discharges. The Battery Gizmo should help keep battery cycling to a minimum. Additionally, I can now perform electrical diagnostics without worrying about the headlight draining the battery while the key is on.

In a marginal starting situation, with cold weather, thick oil and a battery near the end of it's useful life, the Battery Gizmo could make the difference between a succesful start and stranded, looking for a jump start.

The Gizmo comes with good instructions and is a breeze to install. I wonder why Ducati doesn't do this at the factory?

Unfortunately, the company that makes the Headlight Gizmo is no longer in business.