My GSX1400 Restoration

[grog]

Mercedes dont replace later model globes, just whole assembly, around $5g. We do at work,new globe, mongrel job. They make it difficult. Around $300 done.

[Eric GSX1400K3]

These headlight prices are getting silly, panel beater I know told me that he spat out his coffee when getting a price on Aston Martin headlights, not sure of the model, $7,000 EACH about 5 or 6 years ago

Yes stupid orices.

2012 model 5 series Beemer V8 with BiXenon headlights, fully sealed units, 5K a side.

These are supposed to be the environmentally friendly cars where most of the parts are recyclable.

And i thought replacement units for my Disco 4 were stupidly expensive at over 500 bucks each.

[SA14]

These headlight prices are getting silly, panel beater I know told me that he spat out his coffee when getting a price on Aston Martin headlights, not sure of the model, $7,000 each about 5 or 6 years ago

My business is restoring faded/yellowing headlights and I recently did a Mercedes SC300 the other month, he said "be careful, these cost $4,000 to replace plus $1,000 for fitting and alignment - EACH = $10,000 to replace the pair".

In other news, just rang Narva and spoke to Daniel there in the tech department and discussed this all with him. He agreed that the LEDs are weird for some people and even some people's eyes (which I've never heard before). He agreed on the "weird in the rain" thing and suggested I try their best brightest H4 Halogen - the "Plus 150". He warned me to expect reduced bulb life because of the (stupid) always on feature. He said "volts drop when starting so amps increase to maintain the output and reduce the life of the globe" but at $95 for a pair I get a spare and he said I should be able to expect a year of life if driving at night most nights of the week. I ride mine at night maybe twice a month so I think I'm good.

He said I'll definitely notice heaps more light but only if I aim them correctly. He said  to start with the "garage door" alignment but then head out onto a quiet unlit country road or dark side street and adjust the low beam so it moves off into the distance and starts to disappear then bring it back a bit. You want a nice strong pattern as far from the bike as possible without losing strength. That'll keep it from blinding people but give you the most light and the high beam will look after itself. He also said they're 3,200 colour range so they'll look "proper" for this style of bike which only matters to me but still.

I'm going to give them a try.

[KiwiCol]

I'm running +130's in mine. Don't think +150 was out when I got them.  Mine have been in well over a year, but then it's not ridden every day with the lights on either, so the 1 year life span is a bit conservative.

[BlueDragon]

I'll be interested to see what you think of the +150.

I bought some +110 Blue Narva bulbs the other day as they were on special, going very cheap.  So thought, why not..

Like @KiwiCol   I don't ride everyday.  Just on weekends, so bulb life shouldn't be an issue.

That said, I wasn't happy the last time I bought Narva bulbs as at the time I was doing very regular day trips to Sydney every few weekends.  So would have the lights on during the day and night.  Leaving at 4am and then getting home at around 10pm at night.

Had one bulb blow after 8 months.  Wasn't happy at the time as I had paid about $90 for the pair. Expected them to last a lot longer.

These days, I'm rarely out at night on the bike, if at all.  But still like to know I have good lighting in case I get caught out riding back home at night for whatever reason or just in general - knowing I will be able to see things at night if I need to take the bike out.

[grog]

Eric, the complete Stedl unit you have. Is it 6k colour? Have you tried it in the rain? Just wondering as Blue  said colour is a problem in those conditions.

[steve porter]

Tried my auxito for the first time in the dark tonight, dry  unlit mountain road low beam much better than the halogen, high beam hardly any improvement over low beam, but over all I was more comfortable than with the halogen

[Eric GSX1400K3]

Grog,

Not that blue, 5700 kelvin according to the website

No issues in the rain or in the dark, just great light.  As with all Leds, the reflection off the road signs is more, but overall visibility is so much better than halogen h4.

[SA14]

I'll be interested to see what you think of the +150...

Ok, so this evening I fitted the 150s and the short story is they're fantastic! Feel free to buy a pair and fit them, you won't be disappointed.

Bought them at my local grumpy Repco store with my 5% RAA discount for $95. I got two plus two bonus parkers - might drill the blank hole and fit one I reckon to save having zero lights when the bulb eventually blows as was mentioned by a member earlier. First thing I did was remove the LED and refit my (what I presume is a) standard H4 so I could do my alignment. Measured to the middle of the globe by blue tacking a steel rule to the front of the light and measuring with me sitting on the bike. It was 895mm for the record.

Went out to the front of the house which is a flat straight concrete driveway with a roller door and taped the cross as per the diagram to the front of the garage door then backed the bike straight back until it was 3.8 mm from the roller door, sat on it and turned the lights on. First thing I noticed was there wasn't a nice round light to aim for (see pics below) but I think I got it roughly right. The vertical was easy as the light seemed to have a wide but narrow beam so my first priority was to get the whole light below the horizontal line and then sort of aim it to the left a bit...ish. Turns out it was pretty ok but I later stopped and adjusted it a few turns to the left (I think) Couldn't really see that well and was just parked up next to an industrial wall behind a BP half way through my night ride.

Then I replaced the globe with one of the new 150s and did notice a brighter wider beam (second photo is the new 150). You can see that it is a bit brighter. So after chasing my dog around to try and get him into the back yard (he's sussed out when I'm going for a ride and turns into a less than impressed concrete dog) I hit the road and felt immediately pleased with the low beam. It was illuminating the road ahead very well and seemed to go quite a good distance up ahead. When I was riding behind cars in traffic I noticed that it never shone up into their rear window but instead stayed down near the top of the boot.

Rode around a while at 60km/h (you're honour) and found some darker streets which I dove into and was really impressed with the spread and depth of light. I also really liked it's colour. Definitely brighter but not super white. As mentioned earlier it 3,200k on the light colour  scale so it feels "normal" which is what I wanted. So far I was really impressed. I kept riding and started heading for the highway and was pleased to discover that I felt totally comfortable at 80km/h on low beam so I headed for the freeway and guess what? Totally comfortable on low beam at speeds up (well) "over" 110kp/h which really surprised me and made me really happy. Also had a chance to hit the high beam and I would describe it as "WOW!" but not "POW!". The High beam was good and strong and broad but not quite "aircraft landing lights" if you know what I mean but definitely powerful and strong. I was loving these lights! Bike felt like a modern well lit bike. I felt satisfied for sure.

Then I found my way onto some twisty unlit roads up in the Adelaide hills behind blackwood and had a chance to test them on twisty corners on both low and high beam at speeds I probably shouldn't have been doing which will inform you as to the level of confidence this bulb inspired. But then when I was heading down a valley and hit the high beam I felt like saying "POW!". Really that good. Light up the entire hillside up ahead. So I'm guessing that some of the light on high beam is being lost into the air on a normal flat road - especially if it's got street lighting but get them alone in the dark going around the corner into a cutting and the whole landscape lights right up really bright.

This globe has surpassed my expectations and if the LED was this bright I'd have been super happy with it but to get this level of superior lighting from a normal colour H4 Halogen is surprising and unexpected. Definitely a 5 star from me! If you're wondering I'd totally recommend them for the 14. Totally!

I stopped at the local basketball stadium and found a totally dark entry road so stopped and took some shots. The first is in the dark so you can see there's no street lighting at all. The second the last photo is the low beam and the last photo is the high beam. But the high beam shot doesn't give you the full effect but it's not bad. On the packet it claims "up to 60 metres extra distance" and I'd say although I didn't measure it scientifically I'd be happy to say anecdotally it certainly feels that way.

Very happy to say --> "Go out and buy the Narva Plus 150 "Maximum Volume. You will not be disappointed!" It's everything I wanted and expected from a modern light and it absolutely suits our 14s. I now feel comfortable riding at night at any speed with both the low and high beam and I think that's a pretty high recommendation. I'm THAT impressed. 

10/10 overall satisfaction.

10/10 for low beam at all legal speeds up to 110+ kph. 

9/10 for the high beam only because it's not a megawatt flood light. 

 

[KiwiCol]

Very good Baz. 

[BlueDragon]

Very Impressive

[SA14]

Probably needs to be moved a smidge more to the right more towards centre.

[KiwiCol]

Then your Low would be too much to the right.  The way high is it's great for spotting roo's & drop bears.

[grog]

I find it so strange, +150 globe was what i had at start of this discussion.Had for a few years. It was good but i find LED better. Different views for different people i guess.

[SA14]

I find it so strange, +150 globe was what i had at start of this discussion.Had for a few years. It was good but i find LED better. Different views for different people i guess.

Yes, I remember you saying it was sitting on youyr shelf along with all your other lighting experiments. Could it be aim? The technical guy at Narva said it also depends on people's eyes. Some colour ranges don't suit some people. It could be that I'm defective...lol I've never been a religious guy so maybe I just can't see the white light? It could also be the terain. For example people in Sydney have lots of walls, rocks and apartments up close to the road to reflect off of. Adelaide more suburban. I did notice when up in the hills at night I could see lots of what was going on the side of the road and when turning the light seems to reflect more light where I needed it.

But the low beam on this is extraordinary, without being a flood light. It just seems to inspire confidence in me. If I'd bought this bike new and it had this much light I'd have fel that would be correct. It feels modern without being starkly white which could be against my taste. Who knows, you could still ride rings around me with half a headlight and a pirates patch so as long as we're all happy that's the main thing. Just wanted to let people know in case they were also thinking about increasing the light. The "150+" does indeed seem to have an extra 50% light which is what I assume it means.

Then your Low would be too much to the right.  The way high is it's great for spotting roo's & drop bears.

So you're saying that the high beams should be biased to the left when correctly aligned? It seemed to me that there was a lot of light shining up to the left. I think a smidge to the right will be perfect. I'll try, maybe tonight. Can;t wait to go out night riding again now. Ha.