Headlight Bulb Life?

I'm setting out on a long trip and I was thinking of just replacing the bulbs in the headlights for peace of mind. I'd rather do it now than out on the trail ya know.

What is the average life expectancy of the stock bulbs? Let's measure in miles.

I was going to just get the Silverstars. Is there a special model to get?

-R-

13K miles on my stock bulbs so far... no issues, although I did just order the Silverstars and will swap them out when they get here...

Groo said:

13K miles on my stock bulbs so far... no issues, although I did just order the Silverstars and will swap them out when they get here...

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+1 on that - the British ones at that (if they are from far away and cost more they MUST be better, right?)

Many posts have said that when one goes, the other is not far behind....

As well, there is the consideration that the bulbs tend to get dimmer with age.

What model of Silverstars are people putting in there? Is there a model or just go by voltage?

Silverstars

My plan is to keep the stock bulbs somewhere on the bike in case I need a spare...

I put silverstars early on, and within 2 months 1 of them burnt out. Maybe it was bad, but it was way too early for it to burn out. Keep a spare under the seat.

I just hit 46,000 on my 03 and the originals are just fine.

Yeah, I don't think mileage is a very good indicator AT ALL. The only thing likely is that when one goes the other is not too far behind. I went 20,000 with one and then only 3,000 with another. Something about racing a dual sport bike across the desert in the middle of the night that shortens their lives considerably.

Why not just take the bulbs with you and change if one goes out? One would hope you carry an allen wrench in your tool bag even though it's possible to change them without removing any plastic.

Ignacio said:

Yeah, I don't think mileage is a very good indicator AT ALL. The only thing likely is that when one goes the other is not too far behind. I went 20,000 with one and then only 3,000 with another. Something about racing a dual sport bike across the desert in the middle of the night that shortens their lives considerably.
Why not just take the bulbs with you and change if one goes out? One would hope you carry an allen wrench in your tool bag even though it's possible to change them without removing any plastic.

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No Kidding. I was wondering.

To be honest with Mother's day and all, besides a quick look in the manual I haven't looked at what's invloved in replacing these yet. Yea, absolutely, if it's easy I'll just throw a set in my bags and head out.

I thought I remembered that it was a PITA on the FJR but it looks like a no brainer.

-R-

XLR8 said:

I thought I remembered that it was a PITA on the FJR but it looks like a no brainer.
-R-

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Having had them out before aids hand-eye memory if you try it without taking off panels. The left side is slightly easier getting the rubber boot back on afterwards. I did it on the right on the road once, but didn't get the boot back on exactly right until I got back home.

Ignacio said:

XLR8 said:

I thought I remembered that it was a PITA on the FJR but it looks like a no brainer.

-R-

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Having had them out before aids hand-eye memory if you try it without taking off panels. The left side is slightly easier getting the rubber boot back on afterwards. I did it on the right on the road once, but didn't get the boot back on exactly right until I got back home.

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Another question. Which model of Silverstars do I get? Is there a part number or just go by the voltage?

-R-

XLR8 - My link above takes you to the right part number...

I replaced one of my Philips Vision +50% bulbs at 25k miles due to a low beam failure. They worked so well that I stayed with Philips for the replacement.

Murph's Kits

swap them as pairs since when one goes the other won't be far behind.

Bounce said:

I replaced one of my Philips Vision +50% bulbs at 25k miles due to a low beam failure. They worked so well that I stayed with Philips for the replacement.

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I took Bounce's advice and went with the Philips Vision + 50 and they work well.

I got 85000 miles on the stock bulbs before they both burnt out.

I've been running a cheapie $18 pair of "blue tint" bulbs since I got the bike in Aug '02. I'm amazed they STILL look bright and haven't burned out yet. Approx 18,000 miles.

I just found a set of Osram +50's today on eBay and grabbed them. I'll keep the old set as a spare.

I have been using the Silverstar 9003-ST bulbs in the FJR for 1.5 years and the first pair just burned out last month. Both low beams went on the same day.

A pair of these bulbs are $38 at Wally World.

Just ordered the Osrams from Groo's link. $26 a pair seems like a good price so I ordered two pairs. Free shipping. Of course the credit card company will tack on a fee for foreign exchange of the money :angry2: so I'm not sure what the actual total cost will be. I'll probably swap them in and keep the originals for spares.

Ok, so I got my package from the UK bulb seller... and opened it up to find this...



which I expected... but this was also in the package, and I have no idea what they are or what I'm supposed to do with them... :blink:

Oooooh, free stuff. Can't wait to see if I get some free stuff with mine. The web site had some other bulbs listed which were on a 2 for 1 special so maybe they have a promo going. Either that or they fell in the box while they were packing your order. :blink: