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Shed some light

3K views 13 replies 6 participants last post by  07Strat 
#1 ·
Looking to replace stock headlight and passing lamps bulbs.
Any suggestions, recommendations on best and brightest bulbs ?

Thanks

TC
 
#2 ·
Bulbs

TC,

I see and hear lots of talk about the Slyvania Silver Star bulbs. Suposed to be whiter and therefor brighter. Some really like them. Several years ago not long after they were introduced I tried a set. Felt I wasted my money. With all the chatter and advertisement I see a I am tempted to try them again. They are kind of expensive.

Dave
 
#8 ·
The sylvania's are good, and available at most auto parts stores. But me like some of the others PIAA's - lot more money per bulb. but bright plus I have done some light mods... to the switches and wiring.. so far has worked for me. When I go bright lights on and both bulbs go on it is a street lighter.
pics if you want to see...
http://s966.photobucket.com/albums/ae142/bowhunter4265/Passing Lights Hi-Low Together/
Ride Safe
 
#10 ·
Anybody have info on HID lights for motorcycles? I've seen some ads but haven't heard of anybody installing them. I assume it would be illegal because, well, so many things are these days. I'm sure there's a camera somewhere taking pictures of motorcycles that have extra bright headlights.
 
#12 ·
HID lights on a mororcycle

I live in IA & have them on my company car. Maybe they're legal on cars because they're installed in the factory or by a professional mechanic with the right aiming tools. If you've ever seen the light produced by these from inside the vehicle, you'll know what I mean. They're so precise that you see an almost perfect horizon between the dark ahead of your vehicle and the area illuminated by the light of your headlamps. My car has a thumbwheel on the dash to raise or lower the lights to adjust for changes in pitch (front to back) of the car. As an example: normally it's set to zero. If you have people in the backseat or a lot of weight in the trunk, you roll the wheel to the 1 position. If you have people in the backseat AND luggage (or a body) in the trunk, you roll it to the 2 position. I don't know if all cars with HID lights have this, or if maybe it's done automagically in some high-end cars, but I assume it's meant to keep from blinding oncoming traffic. If a person, like myself, was to retrofit Big Blue with an HID headlamp, how would I ensure proper aiming, and how would I set it up to lower the beam if riding with a passenger? The last thing I want is a visually impaired (read blinded) rider or driver coming at me on a 2-lane road at night.:eek: It happens to me often enough, even though I sit higher on the bike than in the car.

At any rate, I thought I read that they're illegal. However, as I said, there are noise ordinances too but I've never seen a cop pull over a hog that has straight pipes and almost no muffler. Now car tires on a bike; that's a different thread. ;) (Sorry, I just HAD to stir up the pot).
 
#13 ·
Like Bevo said most are DOT compliant... the main thing is can a cop actually tell how the bike is bulbed..... non-dot or not... aim the light lower then normal one passenger and normal height for two... when you need extra light cause no one is around run the brights.
My truck I have my hella bumper lights on all the time like day time running lights. So even when the brights come on they stay..(some states have issue/law for that when brights on) but when I have brights on I need them not for just driving in traffic. I also have the Hella off-road lights on my push bumper they are tie'd in to the brights and relay kicks them on with the brights... Bright enough for me.
Ride Safe
 
#14 ·
I've been using the Sylvania Silverstar Ultra's just for low beam, because that's what I mostly have on when riding, and they are brighter and illuminate the road farther. The earlier ones had issues of breaking very easy but there are models that are made for motorcycles that are more durable.

For the passing lamps, which I used to have, I changed the 5watt bulb to LED in amber and they looked great. Since the passing lamp doesn't do much in the way of lighting up the road, I would also suggest changing the 35watt bulb to LED.
 
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