WOTL: PIAA Intense White H4 bulbs

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Gregg

Gregg

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I picked up a set of these bulbs on sale with the thought of using them for my upcoming 48-10 ride but I am now wondering if it was a fool-hearty impulse buy. I should have consulted here first as I was reading some of the posts after purchasing them talking about the bulbs needing to match precisely with the reflectors and that maybe the FJR is not matched for these bulbs. They are 4100K, 55W=125W. Are they going to work? Will they be too hot for the reflector, housing, and headlight lense? Will I regret running these for multiple days (causing damage) or will this setup be ok? Anybody else using these bulbs?

Thanks,

Gregg Lenentine

Virginia Beach, VA

 
Gregg said:
I picked up a set of these bulbs on sale with the thought of using them for my upcoming 48-10 ride but I am now wondering if it was a fool-hearty impulse buy. I should have consulted here first as I was reading some of the posts after purchasing them talking about the bulbs needing to match precisely with the reflectors and that maybe the FJR is not matched for these bulbs. They are 4100K, 55W=125W. Are they going to work? Will they be too hot for the reflector, housing, and headlight lense? Will I regret running these for multiple days (causing damage) or will this setup be ok? Anybody else using these bulbs?

Thanks,

Gregg Lenentine

Virginia Beach, VA
Click to expand...
When they say 55W=125W, they are simply lying! The bulbs are 55W and the manufacturer claims the light output is equivalent to 125W. Don't know about the PIAA but most of the high output bulbs do produce more light at the expense of substantially shorter lifetime.

Ross

 
Gregg said:
I picked up a set of these bulbs on sale with the thought of using them for my upcoming 48-10 ride but I am now wondering if it was a fool-hearty impulse buy. I should have consulted here first as I was reading some of the posts after purchasing them talking about the bulbs needing to match precisely with the reflectors and that maybe the FJR is not matched for these bulbs. They are 4100K, 55W=125W. Are they going to work? Will they be too hot for the reflector, housing, and headlight lense? Will I regret running these for multiple days (causing damage) or will this setup be ok? Anybody else using these bulbs?

Thanks,

Gregg Lenentine

Virginia Beach, VA
Click to expand...
Gregg,

Most of the posts that talk about not using brighter lamps in the FJR headlight bucket are referring to the use of Xenon HID arc lamps, not the PIAA bulbs. AFAIR, the PIAA bulbs are H4 bulbs with two distinct filaments, so they will function identical to the standard H4 bulbs. They will be marginally brighter than standard bulbs at the expense of burning out faster. That, along with the initial price, is the only knock against them. Just be sure to carry a spare bulb or two and you should be fine.

By the way, I am running a set of telescopic retrofit HIDs in my FJR, and they work just fine. As long as the telescopic lamp puts the focal spot in the same place as the halogen lamps the beam cast will be (and is) the same. They probably are not DOT legal, but I've never been questioned about them, and don't know anyone else that has been cited for them (there are plenty around). In my state we have an annual state safety inspection and they have never looked twice at them.

 
Last edited by a moderator:
RossKean said:
[When they say 55W=125W, they are simply lying! The bulbs are 55W and the manufacturer claims the light output is equivalent to 125W. Don't know about the PIAA but most of the high output bulbs do produce more light at the expense of substantially shorter lifetime.

Ross
Click to expand...
Ross, in your opinion, is a substantially shorter lifetime less then 10 X 1,000 mile days?

Gregg

 
.

Gregg said:
RossKean said:
[When they say 55W=125W, they are simply lying! The bulbs are 55W and the manufacturer claims the light output is equivalent to 125W. Don't know about the PIAA but most of the high output bulbs do produce more light at the expense of substantially shorter lifetime.

Ross
Click to expand...
Ross, in your opinion, is a substantially shorter lifetime less then 10 X 1,000 mile days?

Gregg
Click to expand...
You should be good for that but as Fred mentioned, it wouldn't be a bad idea to toss a spare conventional H4 in the saddlebag. I have no experience with the PIAA lights on my bike so I don't know how long they will last I still have the OEM bulbs in my '07 after 65,000 miles.

 
Last edited by a moderator:
RossKean said:
You should be good for that but as Fred mentioned, it wouldn't be a bad idea to toss a spare conventional H4 in the saddlebag. I have no experience with the PIAA lights on my bike so I don't know how long they will last I still have the OEM bulbs in my '07 after 65,000 miles.
Click to expand...
Following the advice from both Fred and you, I will take the stock bulbs with me that have about 8K miles on them.

Any advice from anyone concerning the heat these will generate? More then stock? Will they get hot enough to melt anything?

 
Gregg said:
RossKean said:
You should be good for that but as Fred mentioned, it wouldn't be a bad idea to toss a spare conventional H4 in the saddlebag. I have no experience with the PIAA lights on my bike so I don't know how long they will last I still have the OEM bulbs in my '07 after 65,000 miles.
Click to expand...
Following the advice from both Fred and you, I will take the stock bulbs with me that have about 8K miles on them.

Any advice from anyone concerning the heat these will generate? More then stock? Will they get hot enough to melt anything?
Click to expand...
Watts are watts. Despite the claims that they are the EQUIVALENT of 125W, they still only draw 55 watts of power (same as a conventional bulb) and will produce the same amount of heat. They are brighter (and shorter lived) because the actual filament runs hotter and more of the energy is dispersed in the visible region.

 
RossKean said:
Watts are watts. Despite the claims that they are the EQUIVALENT of 125W, they still only draw 55 watts of power (same as a conventional bulb) and will produce the same amount of heat. They are brighter (and shorter lived) because the actual filament runs hotter and more of the energy is dispersed in the visible region.
Click to expand...
Thanks. I fell better about purchasing them now. They will stay in and I will carry stock bulbs.

Gregg

 
I have been running these for the last 5K miles, H4 Osram Rallye 70/65. No problems and put out quite a bit more light. Used with the stock harness too.

 
Can't speak to these but I put in SilverStar Ultra two years 20K ago and they are still there. brighter longer whiter beams...

 
Pegsparks said:
I have been running these for the last 5K miles, H4 Osram Rallye 70/65. No problems and put out quite a bit more light. Used with the stock harness too.
Click to expand...
I have the 35W Osram Night Breakers in my KLR with stock harness and they are doing well also. They do put out quite a bit more light over stock.

 
Pegsparks said:
I have been running these for the last 5K miles, H4 Osram Rallye 70/65. No problems and put out quite a bit more light. Used with the stock harness too.
Click to expand...
Given Yamaha's use of too-thin-wiring and spiders for the ground returns I would hesitate before using any higher wattage bulbs with the stock wiring harness. I think it is pushing things even with the stock bulbs - if you have a headlight modulator you can see the effect of voltage drop simply by watching the marker lights while the headlights are pulsing - a eye opener, it is amazing how much power is left in the wiring.

I'd also stay away from standard wattage higher-priced 'blue tint' and 'bright white' bulbs because the tinted ones are actually less bright than conventional H4/9003/HB2 because the reds are filtered out and the 'bright white' bulbs burn hotter and last about half as long or less than do conventional ones. And HID conversions are not street legal. Period.

From a light output perspective consider that a new H4, powered from 13.6 volts (you can be certain the FJR does NOT deliver 13.6 to the bulb base) will deliver about 1000 lumens on low beam, 1650 or so on high. A 35 watt HID delivers about 3200 lumens - and colour temperature is a factor - If you do go HID keep them at 3200 degrees K or at least 4200 or below..

Auxiliary driving lights will provide extra lighting and will carry you if your S6 or S7 let go or the main bulbs let go (they tend to fail in pairs for reasons I've recently explained both here and on Facebook), plus if you shoot for HID driving lights you will see a HUGE increase in light output (6400 lumens for a pair) - more than equivalent power LEDs (which have focus issues on top of everything else) or anything else these days, not to mention that you get to keep the 2000-3300 lumens that the OEM reflector throws on top of the extra lumens from the driving lights. No, HID driving lights are not street legal either, but they can be switched off if necessary. Plus, you ca install a modulator if you leave filaments in the main beams for extra daytime conspicuity.

Here is a link to one of the acknowledged professionals in the lighting business with text on the key issues: https://www.danielsternlighting.com/tech/bulbs/bulbs.html

 
bramfrank said:
Auxiliary driving lights will provide extra lighting and will carry you if your S6 or S7 let go or the main bulbs let go (they tend to fail in pairs for reasons I've recently explained both here and on Facebook), plus if you shoot for HID driving lights you will see a HUGE increase in light output (6400 lumens for a pair) - more than equivalent power LEDs (which have focus issues on top of everything else) or anything else these days, not to mention that you get to keep the 2000-3300 lumens that the OEM reflector throws on top of the extra lumens from the driving lights. No, HID driving lights are not street legal either, but they can be switched off if necessary. Plus, you ca install a modulator if you leave filaments in the main beams for extra daytime conspicuity.
Click to expand...
The FJR will also have auxiliary light. A pair of Optilux 35W 4" HIDs and a pair of Hella FF50 driving lights. Both will be tied to the high beams on their on separate relays and switch. It is probably excessive but in for a penny, in for a pound I guess. The FF50s would have probably been enough but I wanted them for the 48-10 and the ButtLite this August... Plus for a ride next year.

Gregg

 
Gregg:

For what it's worth I've been running the Piaa intense white for a year, mind you with limited riding, 8000 kms, and at least 50% of the time on high beam. We have some real idiots for drivers in NS, reason for high beams. So far so good, but as others have stated I do carry a spare bulb. You can also buy the "rough" service bulbs which are "supposed" to handle the vibration a bit better. That's all I have for you.

 
steve said:
Gregg:

For what it's worth I've been running the Piaa intense white for a year, mind you with limited riding, 8000 kms, and at least 50% of the time on high beam. We have some real idiots for drivers in NS, reason for high beams. So far so good, but as others have stated I do carry a spare bulb. You can also buy the "rough" service bulbs which are "supposed" to handle the vibration a bit better. That's all I have for you.
Click to expand...
Steve: Thanks much. NS is a nice place. Been there several times. I have an uncle and aunt that lived there for many years but now live west of there on a lake whose name I can barely pronounce let alone spell. :)

 
I never buy PIAA bulbs. One, their 55w = 110w, etc. false advertising garbage insults my intelligence because they think us consumers are stupid morons who don't know facts. Two, their bulbs finish about mid pack in actual, measured light tunnel testing.

As someone has posted earlier:

https://www.danielsternlighting.com/tech/bulbs/bulbs.html

Is a great place to learn facts about bulbs and lighting.

And one of my favorite sites that tests tons of products including bulbs:

https://www.autoexpress.co.uk/products/products/274702/headlamp_bulbs_tested.html

Another good site:

https://store.candlepower.com/

If you are going to run HID and halogen driving lights, you might want to run the halogens tied into your high beam circuit and the HID's on a separate switch apart from the headlight circuit. The reason being is that HID's need a slight warm up time to come to full brightness and they are not designed to cycle on and off all the time which greatly reduces their life. That way you can run the halogens in traffic when you need to dim them a lot, and the HID's when in the boonies.

All this being said, since you have the bulbs already, just keep using them until they burn out.

 
If you want brighter u need to go for real HID like Osram Philips. Forget about these cheap half baked options to try to get more lumens, it just isn't worth it. So pickup a high-end or premium (not eBay Chinese junk kits either) H4 bi xenon with servo for hi/lo. I have 5K color temps and the color is pure white with no yellowish at all. Totally unbelievable!

...And anybody that says "but it's illegal!" ...bullcrap, they're smoking crackballs! Big deal, and so is Jaywalking and I'm sure they have done this many of times as well. Keep your headlights aimed low(er) and you won't get flashed. Actually I have my left (driver side) lower than the right. This way I get a perfect illumination of the road ahead. All my vehicles, car & p/u truck including my Ski Doo sleds are all HID'd up but all installed/aimed with oncoming traffic in mind :)

 
900gc said:
If you are going to run HID and halogen driving lights, you might want to run the halogens tied into your high beam circuit and the HID's on a separate switch apart from the headlight circuit. The reason being is that HID's need a slight warm up time to come to full brightness and they are not designed to cycle on and off all the time which greatly reduces their life. That way you can run the halogens in traffic when you need to dim them a lot, and the HID's when in the boonies.

All this being said, since you have the bulbs already, just keep using them until they burn out.
Click to expand...
Thanks for the info and links. From looking at those links and doing more Internet research, I wish I would have passed on the PIAAs. I guess I bought them based on the company's name and reputation but now it seems like there are better alternatives and a more reasonable price. Oh well, next time.... :)

I thought about running the HIDs the way you mentioned but I like the idea of the auxiliary lights relays being tied to the high beam. That way, if necessary, I can kill all lights down to the low beam with just the standard low/high headlight switch. The HIDs and running lights are both tied to their own SPST (on/off) toggle switches so they can be turned on and off as I chose based upon the time of night and the "boonies" factor.

Gregg

 

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