Xenon headlight bulbs

[Duke of Rogan]

my bike has a 60/55W headlight bulb, which is pretty pathetic when riding at night with lights dipped.
I wouldnt mind upgrading the bulb, but don't want to put extra load on the charging system with a 100/90W bulb.
has anyone out there had any experience with the bright blue Xenon light bulbs?
I notice a lot of new bikes have these, and as well as improving the bulb brightness they have that cool blue tinge to them.

are they worth the dosh and if so where can I get one?

[Duke of Rogan]

similar to this on eBay (http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=2426951611&category=34284)

[Motu]

They supply no more out put,they are still 55/60,you will be hard pressed to notice any difference on the road - but cars coming the other way will be talking for days about what a cool dude you are.90/100 are illeagal - off road use only....so why the hell are they sold over the counter? melt plastic headlamps too.

[Duke of Rogan]

Originally posted by Motu
but cars coming the other way will be talking for days about what a cool dude you are.

are you taking the piss? :gob:

:p

[bikerboy]

In the latest RIDE mag they do a comparo/test of two brands, Halfords??? and Philips. They said the Philips put out 50% more light but was same watt rating as OEM.
I've seen a few bike shops have them for sale so I'd check out what they say. The mag thought the Philips Vision Plus bulbs were best at about $20.

I don't know if they're bluish or not.
:done:

[Duke of Rogan]

it has to be blue, otherwise it won't be cool enuf ;)

cheers BB

[wkid_one]

Originally posted by Duke of Rogan
it has to be blue, otherwise it won't be cool enuf ;)

cheers BB

He'll have a bright blue bulb and scratches down the side of the bike - way cool!!!!!! :P

[wkid_one]

If you want blue - go the Narva Arctic Blue - sold over the counter in any bike store $29.95 - 55w straight swap

[Dave]

Blue cellophane $2.95 sold over the counter at whitcouls

[What?]

The 100/90 might be illegal, but I've been using them for years. Only way to go if you do alot of night riding. The electrics should hack it - Ducati have come a long way in the last 25 years. I even ran these bulbs on my XT Yamahas with no prob's.:niceone:

[wkid_one]

On any modern bike you will most likely strike issues of melting plastic

[Mitch]

What statistics are you basing that very interesting and as yet unproven piece of information Wkid_one??  :p

[Motu]

As far as a 100W bulb damaging plastic headlamps,it depends on the construction,small plastic body,lens close to bulb - I will only fit a 100W bulb if it has a metal body.

The latest drama is UV cut - you'll have to tell all your friends about it,soon to be the latest catch word.A halogeon bulb produces UV,and this damages polycarbonate lenses - they are those oh so cool clear lenses you are seeing on the latest cars.You can now get UV cut bulbs to protect the lens - get yours now and be the first in your motorcycle club with UV cut bulbs!

Think of the bright halogeon bulbs like artctic blue as like fluresent(can't be bothered) tubes,you can get different types to produce lighting to suit the situation - salesmen come around selling the latest much brighter tube....garanteed to brighten your day,yeah,they do,and I use them - but it's a harsh light.

[TonyB]

I knew there'd be an old post about Xenon bulbs!
One of the bulbs in my dear old FZR went pop, so I decided to chuck some xenon ones in, cause you can never have too much light. I was a bit sceptical about the effectiveness of xenon, so I only replaced the blown bulb for a start. It was visibly brighter (see pic- it's on the right hand side of the pic). Yes it's a new bulb and therefore will be brighter anyway, but in order to get a warrant the other day I grabbed a bulb out of my work car. It was heaps older than the bulb in the left hand side of the pic, but there was no disceranble difference.

So there you go. If you're wondering if zenon bulbs are any good- yep, they are. The ones I got were Hella (re packaged Phillips) H4. They don't have the blue-white light, but they are meant to be brighter. The blue-white ones only give as much light as a standard bulb. The really blue ones give less.

[Aiolos]

Try living with 30W headlights...

[Skunk]

Try living with 30W headlights...Do not exceed 20kmh! :killingme

[Biff]

Halfords???

The UK equivilant of Repco. A lot of their own brand stuff beats a lot of equivilant established branded products and at a fraction of the price.

www.halfords.com

[Paul in NZ]

They supply no more out put,they are still 55/60,you will be hard pressed to notice any difference on the road - but cars coming the other way will be talking for days about what a cool dude you are.90/100 are illeagal - off road use only....so why the hell are they sold over the counter? melt plastic headlamps too.

Funnily enough....

You cannot buy the Navara 55/90's I used to use in the Guzzler. I've gone 55/60 but thats still a HUGE improvement over the 45/45 incandescent bulb it came with.

I have a big fat battery feed direct to 2 relays close to the headlight (Fiat 127) and it's bloody good. Even dip is fine for 100kph road stuff. (only during the daylight hours of course :sunny: )

Yes! Certain plastic units cannot take the considerable heat of the megga bulbs. Be careful! Also, try to find out if your bike runs relats before putting in bigger bulbs. All that extra juice through already dodgy switchgear will root it in no time flat.

Paul N

[imdying]

A 100w bulb may indeed melt the headlight reflector if it's a plastic one. Give the Hella (or Narva) Plus 50s a go. They're the same wattage as standard, but a better design of bulb that gives 50% more light output for the same wattage. They're available from Repco, probably about $20 each. Not the cheapest, but effective.

[AndyH]

Funnily enough....

You cannot buy the Navara 55/90's I used to use in the Guzzler. I've gone 55/60 but thats still a HUGE improvement over the 45/45 incandescent bulb it came with.



Brings back memories of discovering how much faster night rides on the Guzzi were on cloudless nights near full moon. That headlight would have been better lighting a romantic dinner for two...

Nostalgia, more fun than it was at the time.

Andy H.

[Jackrat]

my bike has a 60/55W headlight bulb, which is pretty pathetic when riding at night with lights dipped.
I wouldnt mind upgrading the bulb, but don't want to put extra load on the charging system with a 100/90W bulb.
has anyone out there had any experience with the bright blue Xenon light bulbs?
I notice a lot of new bikes have these, and as well as improving the bulb brightness they have that cool blue tinge to them.

are they worth the dosh and if so where can I get one?

Ok,after much searching I finaly found the listing I knew I'd seen before.
This is how they advertise them.
Super blue high intensity,Halogen Bulbs,Bright blue light as in new sports bikes.12V H4 60/55 watt.
US$7.00 each.
If your interested give me a PM.
Cheers.

[Zapf]

In the latest RIDE mag they do a comparo/test of two brands, Halfords??? and Philips. They said the Philips put out 50% more light but was same watt rating as OEM.
I've seen a few bike shops have them for sale so I'd check out what they say. The mag thought the Philips Vision Plus bulbs were best at about $20.

I don't know if they're bluish or not.
:done:

I have installed a Philips Vision plus on 1 head light of my SV and you can see that the philips is brighter, it hasn't gone over board and gone really blue like the Narva Artic blue (as you'll see sh*t fa#k all in fog) I think the philips are worth it for the slightly extra light over the factory osram's.

But PIAA has some very very expensive Xeon bulbs.... I do wonder if they are that bright after all.

[Blackbird]

I have the same experience as What with 100/90 halogens - just superb :niceone: They may well be illegal but they sure do work!

[TonyB]

I used to have an illegal 130/something in my GPX750R with twin relays, big wires etc. So long as I knew the road I could ride at night at any speed the bike was capable of...and frequently did. Bloody awesome headlight. This is years before xenon came on the scene though