Higher rated bulbs?

[sefer]

Wow I've been posting in here a lot lately (probably not the last time either)

Anyway, as soon as I'm all back together it's warrent time, and I have a feeling they aren't going to pass me with one headlight going (well, one bulb) so I've got to get a new one. Problem is my bulbs are rated quite low at 35/60 watt, so I can't seem to just pick them up anywhere, with the lowest rated bulb I've seen being 60/55. The obvious fix is to repace both bulbs with a higher rated bulb, after all more light can only be a good thing .

So, how high can I go without running into issues? I've searched a few threads, but the answers seem to range from "just stick in a 100watt bulb.." to "you'll need to make a new relay.."

[JMemonic]

In general you can just stick in higher rated bulbs to that level it only becomes an issue when you go to the 100/55 watt or better, some of those flash blue bulbs can cause headaches too.

In general its not a case of a new relay if one is already fitted, those basic off the shelf relays can handle 30 amps across them thats around 400 watts of bulb if all is good however the wireing installed is not desgined to handle much more than the standard bulbs and thats where the real issue is, if you think a new relay is in order then so is a new loom from the relay to the bulb.

[imdying]

Can't comment on the 'highest' you could possibly run, but a little logic would have me believe that the 60/55s will be sweet.

The problem of higher wattage bulbs are heat and the wirings current handling ability.

Seeing as only one filament is on at once, and the highest factory filament is 60w on your bike, then running the low at 55w shouldn't be a problem for either heat or current handling ability.

Not sure I'd going 100/90 though, I imagine a ZXR250 has a plastic reflector which might melt. Having said that, I'd pick that the wiring wouldn't give much trouble... I'd be suprised if the switch wouldn't handle it either (although you'r talking about 40% of its standard flow).

Supplementary relays are cool for taking the load off of the standard wiring/switch, they're dead easy to wire up, and eliminate any current loss from crappy dirty/old switches and 'too small' factory wiring. No idea if your bike has one standard. If it does, the extra difference from a supplementary one would be minimal.

[SARGE]

be careful of the wattage you run if you have plastic headlight lenses also.. the 100's melt em pretty quick

[sefer]

Yeah, while 100 sounds sweet in theory it's probably going too high

After I thought about it a bit I figured the wiring must be up to handling 60watt anyway, so I should be sweet with 60/55. I might even try bumping it up a little, say 60/80 (assuming you can get something like that)

[Flyingpony]

Tried to bump mine up from 25w to 35w. Bike shop said no because it might melt the plastic light unit. So becareful.

[FROSTY:Me]

might not be quite so simple--I think the zxr bulbs have a different offset on their mountings.
Cheeky idea for ya--if only one headlight works high/low beam--then why not cover the other headlight with a sticker of some sort and just unplug it
Sorta like what KK did to his road Viffer
--Does the ONLY headlight work--yep -problem solved
Ohh and dont go higher than 55/65--it WILL melt the bulb holder

[Holy Roller]

My old GPZ550 had a replacement bulb of 130/90 I had to file the tags a bit for it to fit. There were no problems with it at all, but thats old school with glass lens and metal holder. Considering an upgrade to mine as the light is not all that bright but may just add spots to fix it.

Obtain a spare holder if one upgrades incase it melts then you will know that you have gone too high

[sefer]

Yeah I've since replaced them only to discover that they have an odd mounting pattern which I had to solve with a pair of tin snips to the new bulbs and a made up bracket, wasn't too hard though, and they probably would have stayed in fine without the bracket, just wanted to be sure the bulbs didn't get too close to the plastic.