Headlight Upgrade

[Mrg]

the set off led light are nice and small and neat ,,, but the price wow but i do like them 

and the same goes for the headlight unit i see all bikes being fitted with that type of head light unit and it make sense for all bike to have them but ... as you have said its the price

[VladTepes]

I tried the Phillips Xtreme, a big improvement.

Are they the same wattage as the standard bulbs?
(Come to think of it, it's been a while I don't even know what the 'standard' ones are? 60/55 ?


Do our bikes headlights draw power via  relay to the battery OR just from the same circuit going through the switch?  My concern in the later instance would be melting the switch if too high a current draw occurs.

( LR Defender owners will understand... )

I have to do something about mine pronto as low beam failed the other day on the way home, and I only have high beam left. Someone has already pointed the brightness (glare) out to me..... and technically it's illegal to ride around the city / suburbs with lights on high beam.

[VladTepes]

Hmm Autobarn has the Phillps Xtreme in +100 and +130 varieties
+100 (twin pack) $70
+130 (twin pack) $100
(those are the online prices too, not in store prices)

That seems like a lot of money for a bloody bulb....

[grog]

Vlad, ive tried all the phillips etc. now using a repco plus 50 intense. its awesome. good or better than the rest. not sure on price. not a lot. plus 30 in car also good. still 60/55 so no more current draw. dont pay big bucks, these are good. prob. made by narva i reckon at much less price.

[KiwiCol]

Vlad, ive tried all the phillips etc. now using a repco plus 50 intense. its awesome. good or better than the rest. not sure on price. not a lot. plus 30 in car also good. still 60/55 so no more current draw. dont pay big bucks, these are good. prob. made by narva i reckon at much less price.

I've got +120's in mine - different headlight & it has a bulb for low & a separate one for high.

[VladTepes]

Thanks grog.

[moshiach]

Boy's, I sell an LED headlight bulb at my work and have one in my bike. It's bloody sensational and I'll be getting a second for my other bike when it goes on the road.

https://gearbrake.com/products/h4-led-motorcycle-headlight

$100 in OZ

Ps not a sales pitch, i just reckon it's the shit for what I want

[VladTepes]

@moshiach
No doubt the LED bulb is brighter, but fitting it to a reflector headlight shell is surely not going to give the ideal beam pattern, and will increase 'glare' to oncoming vehicles.
Also is this actually a direct swap in the GSX1400 shell - no clearance issues, no heat issues etc?
What part of Brissie you in - I wouldn't mind having a look one night.

@grog  with those bulbs what is the difference between the +30, +50 and +120? Is it basically just the colour temperature?

[RossP]

None of those globes are as effective as a Hid kit, and @ $27 it's certainly a lot cheaper than some globes listed here.

[RossP]

Delete

[grog]

Vlad, not sure. +50 works fine.  intense its called, would work well in landrover. HID, i know nothing about. +120 i havent seen.

[Kiwifruit]

On high beam i find myself being dazzled by the road signs. This can be quite off putting, anyone else have the same complaint. Its the same in the car.

[VladTepes]

@Kiwifruit what bulbs are you referring to?

@RossP  I have tried an HID kit on my 1400 and it was a bad experience. (Wrote about it on the old forum) In short, it was a kit cost around $70 at the time IIRC.  It was a pain in the bum finding somewhere to put the ballasts and after all that the performance was underwhelming, though much better than standard, obviously.  The issue around headlight shell design is same for HID as it is for LED.  There were issues around beam thrown and pattern.

And then riding home one night they clapped out entirely (it turned out that the ballasts had died) meaning I had to find a servo, rip off all the HID shit (in poor lighting conditions), and buy an H4 bulb to put in it.

So much faffing around.  Never again.

[Kiwifruit]

Just in general Mike. One marked speed corner could have 4 big yellow reflective signs plus all the chevrons on the out side of the corner. Damn bright, hard to see the road sometimes.
I think my bulb is Narva +30 ??

[RossP]

@Kiwifruit what bulbs are you referring to?

@RossP  I have tried an HID kit on my 1400 and it was a bad experience. (Wrote about it on the old forum) In short, it was a kit cost around $70 at the time IIRC.  It was a pain in the bum finding somewhere to put the ballasts and after all that the performance was underwhelming, though much better than standard, obviously.  The issue around headlight shell design is same for HID as it is for LED.  There were issues around beam thrown and pattern.

And then riding home one night they clapped out entirely (it turned out that the ballasts had died) meaning I had to find a servo, rip off all the HID shit (in poor lighting conditions), and buy an H4 bulb to put in it.

So much faffing around.  Never again.

You must have bought a crappy kit.

Mine fitted easily, ballast was small and fitted easily inside r/h side cover.

I tried the fancy globes before the Hid kit and they all improved the light to a degree but nowhere near Hid quality.

What the after market high output globes did do was to generate a lot more heat which resulted in a discoloured reflector.

If the light could be turned off through the day that would be great, but all that extra heat in 45 plus degree temps are too much.

I know a lot with Hid and they are all happy, spouse you need a good kit.