How to Change a Headlight Bulb on a Honda C90 Cub 12V

If you are the proud owner of a Honda C90 Cub 12V, and you need to change the headlight bulbs, you have come to the right place.


  1. 1
    Take off the fitted windshield/windscreen. The windshield fairing is attached at four points. You'll see two of the large attachment screws either side of the headlight on the front of the wind fairing, the other two are underneath, on the flat part of the fairing above the front wheel. These screws/nuts attach to brackets on the inside of the fairing near each handlebar.
  2. 2
    Hold each screw in place with a wide flat blade screwdriver, while you undo the 10mm nut on the other side of the bracket. Always do it this way, then you won't have the screwdriver slip off the screw and scratch the fairing.
  3. 3
    Remove the four 10mm nuts and four washers and put in a safe place (such as a jar lid). The screws will need pushing out to clear each bracket hole. There will also be wide black rubber discs attached either side of each hole in the fairing, but these normally stay put. If any do come loose though, put them with the nuts and washers.
  4. 4
    Bring the windscreen towards you, guiding it past the indicators and headlight, then with some gentle waggling, the lower attachments will come away.
  5. 5
    Put the windshield fairing to one side where it won't get scratched.
  6. 6
    Remove both of the medium-sized cross point (Philips) screws you will see on each side of the plastic headlight housing, and put in a safe place.
  7. 7
    Hold the chromed part of the headlight assembly (surrounding the glass lens) and gently pull towards you. You may need to pull the bottom edge of the headlight out first and waggle it a bit to clear the top of the housing. You should now have the headlamp assembly in your hand, and you will see the connection wires at the rear of the reflector. Try not to strain the cables by letting the headlamp dangle. If someone is available to help, get them to support the headlamp, or you could support it with some sticky tape.
  8. 8
    Look at the back of the curved reflector and you'll see the housings for the two bulbs and their wire connectors. The one in the centre is the headlight, the one off to the side is the parking light (sidelight).
  9. 9
    Peel-back the edges of the black rubber gaiter surrounding the headlight connection gently. It should just pop off when you get past halfway. Once this is clear, you will see a brass connector, this is fitted into a sprung bayonet clip. This means you need to push it in and turn it to release the bayonet. Once this connector is off you will see the bottom of the headlight bulb sitting in the recess.
  10. 10
    Remove the headlight bulb.
  11. 11
    Get your replacement bulb. If it's a halogen bulb, hold it with a clean tissue. Do not touch the glass, or the fingerprint will cause the bulb to blow!
  12. 12
    Look at the circular base plate of the bulb and you will see a 'key' which sticks out beyond the circle. This locates into a keyway in the recess you've just taken the old one out of.
  13. 13
    Put the new bulb into the recess. It will only go fully-in when the 'key' sits properly in the recess.
  14. 14
    Get the rear connector and place it over the base of the bulb and carefully push and twist it into the brass bayonet connection and check its properly attached.
  15. 15
    Ease the rubber gaiter back down over the connection so it sits flush with the back of the reflector.
  16. 16
    Put the headlamp assembly back in.
  17. 17
    Make sure the headlamp is the right way up. The head of the small beam-adjustment screw should be at the bottom of the lens.
  18. 18
    Hold the headlamp assembly by its chrome surround and guide it back into the plastic headlamp housing. You will probably need to locate the upper edge into the housing first, then gently ease it home until the back edge of the chrome surround looks level with the front of the housing.
  19. 19
    Get the two 'funny looking' cross-head screws.
  20. 20
    Look into the screw holes on the side of the headlamp housing and adjust the headlamp assembly's position until you can see the threads in the center of the hole.
  21. 21
    Put each screw in and do-up finger tight at first, to ensure you don't damage the threads.
  22. 22
    Tighten the screws with your cross-point screwdriver and check the headlamp is secure. At this point it would be sensible to check all is well with the new headlight bulb.
  23. 23
    Start the bike and run it up so the voltage is steady, now switch your headlight on and check both the dipped beam and full beam work properly.
  24. 24
    Get the windshield fairing, plus the four sets of attachment screws, washers and nuts. You can do this solo, but it's a little bit easier with help. If any of the rubber discs fell off the attachment holes on the fairing, glue them back on now.
  25. 25
    Lift the fairing onto the front of the bike and carefully guide the cutaways onto the headlight and indicators. You'll need to guide it onto the lower attachment brackets first, so slightly lean the top of the windshield away from the bike and push the lower two attachment screws through the fairing and through the holes in the lower brackets. Replace the washers and loosely put the 10mm nuts on finger tight.
  26. 26
    Bring the fairing onto the front attachments while looking into the holes to line it up with the bracket. Push the two front attachment screws through the bracket. Replace the washers and loosely fit the 10mm nuts finger tight.
  27. 27
    Do up the four fairing attachments properly by holding each screw in place with a flat-blade screwdriver and tightening the nuts with a 10mm spanner.

Things You'll Need

  • A medium-sized cross point (Philips) screwdriver.
  • A replacement bulb
  • For a fitted windshield, you will need a a fairly wide flat blade screwdriver
  • a 10mm spanner.

Article Info

Categories: Pictures | Headlights