Ducati headlight upgrade?

[748south]

I'm wanting to upgrade the bulbs in my 748 for some brighter and whiter ones, thinking abouth the halogen Blue plus bulbs as i've used them in my subaru and find them pretty good,

Question is - can the standard electrical system handle this? am I right in assuming that as long as I dont increase the wattage it should be fine?

cheers guys

[vifferman]

Yes, provided the wattage isn't drastically higher, it'll be fine.
But don't use blue-tinted bulbs (http://www.motorcycleproject.com/motorcycle/text/cows-blue.html): they're a con. They look brighter, but that's only because the human eye is dazzled more by light tending towards the blue part of the spectrum. In the rear world, they're make people go "Aah! They're bright!" but they're actually less useful, especially in adverse conditions, like rain and fog. Why do you think foglights are yellow and not blue?

If the 748 has a plastic (polycarbonate) headlight lens, then get some of the non-tinted "Plus" or "Xenon" bulbs that say "30% more light" or whatever, making sure they're labeled "UV Cut". They'll give you more usable light for the same wattage, without damaging the headlight plastic. If the lens is glass, it doesn't matter - use whatever you like.

The big deal with motorcycle headlights isn't so much "Can the alternator handle the wattage?" so much as "Are the wiring and plugs up to the job?". Most alternators have output to spare, but even with the standard bulbs you can run a risk of wires or plugs burning if there's any corrosion on the connectors, as this causes enough resistance that the skinny standard wiring and wimpy plugs overheat. If your wiring's in good nick, and you're running a relay for the headlights, you can go to the next size up in bulbs, like an 80W. I ran a 90/130W bulb in both my VF500 and the VTR1000 and it was fine, until slight corrosion on the VTR's headlight plug overheated things a bit. However (but!) the VTR's reflector wasn't as good as the crappy 1985 glass one in the VF, which had a much better spread and therefore gave better light with exactly the same bulb.

[Sidewinder]

I'm wanting to upgrade the bulbs in my 748 for some brighter and whiter ones, thinking abouth the halogen Blue plus bulbs as i've used them in my subaru and find them pretty good,

Question is - can the standard electrical system handle this? am I right in assuming that as long as I dont increase the wattage it should be fine?

cheers guys

haha yeah umm............ its a ducati, wiring is always going to be shit so dont get ya hopes up, but should be fine

[Ducky848]

Italians dont need headlights, they never ride motorcycles after dark cos no one can see you on it.

916/996/998 stock headlights are shite. If its any comfort they are even worse on an 848/1098.

[Sidewinder]

Italians dont need headlights, they never ride motorcycles after dark cos no one can see you on it.

916/996/998 stock headlights are shite. If its any comfort they are even worse on an 848/1098.

yea but they look hot, mmm white 848(sex)

[748south]

Hey thanks guys, yeah it was the plus 30% etc that I was going to use, they're a pretty cheap upgrade and seem to do the job,

Ducky848 - quote of the day, brilliant!

[johan]

All your questions are answered here:

http://www.ducati.ms/forums/showthread.php?p=304372#post304372

http://www.ducati.ms/forums/showthread.php?t=32238

http://www.ducati.ms/forums/showthread.php?t=41890

[vifferman]

All your questions are answered here:
Excellent info, Johan! :niceone:

I notice in the last link, someone complaining about how crap their new "BimmerXenon30+" bulbs were. I recently had my VFR's left low beam blow, so I just grabbed the first bulb I came across, which was a Narva brand Xenon Plus bulb. Dunno what it cost, but it wasn't expensive. It's better than the Philips halogen it replaced.

[johan]

I always read 'Hall of Wisdom' on that site before I modify anything on the bike. Tons of good info there, for any bike. Especially the posts from Shazaam, the wizard! :niceone:

[748south]

Sounds like a Blue power or Plus 50 Narva bulb, yes I had these (plus 50) in my Subie and was pretty impressed with them, I think thats what i'll be chucking in my 748, and like you say they're not expensive and the fact is they cant be worse than what I allready have - sticking to 55W will save any frying of wires issues

[johan]

Just another thing I remember from my 996, maybe a bit too obvious.

The headlight glass on my bike was misty, a thin film of white crap at the inside of the head light glass.

Make sure yours is nice and clean.

[vifferman]

Sounds like a Blue power or Plus 50 Narva bulb, yes I had these (plus 50) in my Subie and was pretty impressed with them, I think thats what i'll be chucking in my 748, and like you say they're not expensive and the fact is they cant be worse than what I allready have - sticking to 55W will save any frying of wires issues
I very nearly put a higher wattage bulb in, but given the VFR has dual bulbs anyway (both dual filament) and has pretty good lighting, I decided it was a waste of time.
Standard bulbs for the VFR are crappy 45/45W ones, with those stupid Honda-specific bulb tabs, but luckily a previous owner had fitted the H4 adaptor ring, so all I had to do was plug the bulb in to check it wasn't a dud, cut off the two lower tabs, and fit the adaptor. Sorted!

[Sidewinder]

I very nearly put a higher wattage bulb in, but given the VFR has dual bulbs anyway (both dual filament) and has pretty good lighting, I decided it was a waste of time.
Standard bulbs for the VFR are crappy 45/45W ones, with those stupid Honda-specific bulb tabs, but luckily a previous owner had fitted the H4 adaptor ring, so all I had to do was plug the bulb in to check it wasn't a dud, cut off the two lower tabs, and fit the adaptor. Sorted!

yea on my 800 the head lights were meantly good, four bulbs on high beam! shit better than a car

[748south]

cheers Johan, thanks for your advice

[StoneY]

My 750ss bulb is shyte too- so ive followed this topic and ty all for the great advice- better than the local Ducati dealership had- they went 'dunno'

BUT- its not so much the 'bright' on my duc- its the reflector spread and it...point DOWN
at High Beam im still beaming a single spot about 5 m in front of the bike- low is just narrower and hits same spot too

Any way to adjust the lights attitude without lowerin the bikes ass?

Anyway gonna get one of them +30's tomorrow- where is best place in Wgtn to get good bulbs?I gave up on local Ducati dealer