bike eats headlight bulbs

[Mary-Anne]

My ‘14 likes to eat headlight bulbs.  I’ve had her since new and have always thought the high beams were burning out quickly.  So, I finally started keeping track and this last set lasted 4k miles. 

I run my lights on high 99.9% of the time.  But, have never had a bike burn through bulbs as fast as this.  Hubby/chief bike mechanic thinks it might be a vibration issue.  I do run very rough roads but, still . . . 4k miles?!?!  He puts Sylvania Siverstar Ultras in.

I hate to waste money and this seems like a waste.  Anyone have any ideas as to why the high beams are dying so quickly?  Thank you in advance for any ideas/help!

 

[mcatrophy]

Two thoughts, one is that high brightness bulbs won't last as long as standard, but even so that seems a short life. Second is that your battery voltage might be too high. If you measure the voltage on the battery terminals with the engine running at 3-4000 rpm, the voltage should measure 4.2 +/- 0.1 . Any higher will reduce bulb lifetime (I've never heard of high voltage, though.)

Final thought, when installing new bulbs, you should never touch the "glass" with bare fingers. Doing so will shorten the life. 

 

[RossKean]

The so-called premium headlights have MUCH shorter lifetimes than regular quartz halogen incandescent bulbs; especially in a relatively high vibration environment of a motorcycle.  4,000 miles is a pretty short lifetime but it doesn't surprise me very much.  If you are looking for brighter, consider a high quality LED but make sure it is one that will provide a good beam pattern with the FJR headlight bucket.  There is a slight chance that there is a voltage issue but I don't think it is likely.  Easy enough to check.

As an aside, why are you running high beams 99.9% of the time???  An absolute no-no at night with oncoming traffic or if you are following someone.  Even in the daytime, they can be extremely annoying to other traffic and can dazzle or distract.  It doesn't improve what you can see in daylight and being more conspicuous to other drivers is much better (and safer) accomplished by putting a set of low power LEDs mounted low on the forks.

 

[1911]

I installed these specifically for the reduced current draw. Each LED draws 1.5 amps versus 4.5 for each halogen. That freed up 6 amps for other stuff (more Gerbing for pillion). LEDs should outlast any incandescent by far.

The install was clean. The beam pattern didn't seem any better to me, but it didn't seem worse. I try not to do a lot of riding at night anyway. 9000 miles on them so far and no issues.   https://www.superbrightleds.com/moreinfo/motorcycle-led-bulbs/motorcycle-h4-led-fanless-headlight-conversion-kit-with-compact-heat-sink-2000-lumens/3930/8566/  

 

[Niehart]

Stock bulbs still last longer than any aftermarket bulbs. I ended up with the stock headlight bulbs and aftermarket (Clearwater) lights with yellow lens covers to be noticed better. At night when I need more light I pull off the yellow lens covers.

 

[rbentnail]

Silver stars suck. I got maybe 4 months out of them. For halogens I found XtraVision to be very good. Brighter than stock, cheaper than premium, and last a couple yrs.

 

[FJR Flyer]

I found the Philips Xtreme Vision had good light output and lasted a long time.

Not sure if they still do, but when I took the MSF course, they suggested for daytime riding with the high beam on.

 

[RossKean]

I found the Philips Xtreme Vision had good light output and lasted a long time.

Not sure if they still do, but when I took the MSF course, they suggested for daytime riding with the high beam on.

Not sure if they still do or not - if they do it is related to older headlamp technology, IMO.  Fact is that modern bulbs and reflectors are far more efficient than they used to be and a headlight on high beams can distract and dazzle oncoming traffic.  I find the same with many aftermarket cheap LED replacements that many people seem to use - especially Harleys for some reason.

(We won't even talk about headlight modulators - annoying and distracting although at least they don't dazzle.)

 

[pierreroyoldtimer]

Sylvania is your problem. I had that issue on my car...

 

[pierreroyoldtimer]

The best halogen I ever had are the PIAA. They are very bright and last for 35-40,000 km. BUT they cost $54 (CAD) a piece. 
 I also drive with my high beam on 99,9% of the time, daylight of course. I want to be visible. 
Now I found a good alternative with LED. I find they are not as effective as the PIAA, but they are much cheaper (on WISH), and they last forever...

 

[pierreroyoldtimer]

It’s me again. PIAA ‘’extreme white‘’ to be accurate...

 

[lnewlf]

as mentioned, might be high line voltage...my FJ 12 had a bad R/R and ate bulbs as fast as I could replace them.. I put Silver Stars in my FJR and they only lasted about 3K.. finally went to Cree LED and they have been great..very white, good beam, and much less draw...

 

[Steel_Gin]

After one of the OEM bulbs went I replaced them with the Sylvania Silver Star ZXE knowing they burn brighter and I would have to replace them in about two years.  Two years rolled around and sure enough one blew so I replaced both with the same bulbs, but three months later one blew.  Not wanting to play that game anymore I bought some cheap incandescent blubs to get me by until I figured out what I wanted.  I decided to go with LEDs, after a bunch of reading I went with MostPlus and got them off of Amazon for about $30 for the pair.  Almost at the end of season three and they are still going strong.

Before replacing the incandescents I put the bike on the center stand about 15 feet from the garage door (inside) and taped off the beam lines for high and low.  Installed the LEDs and they were off off by less than a 1/4 inch which I thought was pretty darn good.  I did have to trim the boots a little bit to get them to seal correctly.

 

[Bill Lumberg]

My ‘14 likes to eat headlight bulbs.  I’ve had her since new and have always thought the high beams were burning out quickly.  So, I finally started keeping track and this last set lasted 4k miles. 

I run my lights on high 99.9% of the time.  But, have never had a bike burn through bulbs as fast as this.  Hubby/chief bike mechanic thinks it might be a vibration issue.  I do run very rough roads but, still . . . 4k miles?!?!  He puts Sylvania Siverstar Ultras in.

I hate to waste money and this seems like a waste.  Anyone have any ideas as to why the high beams are dying so quickly?  Thank you in advance for any ideas/help!

My 2014 only had two sets of bulbs, in other words, only replaced once, in over 80,000 miles. Now, my BMW poppeD headlight bulbs monthly. Regardless of what quality bulbs I used. 

 

[art miller]

The so-called premium headlights have MUCH shorter lifetimes than regular quartz halogen incandescent bulbs; especially in a relatively high vibration environment of a motorcycle.  4,000 miles is a pretty short lifetime but it doesn't surprise me very much.  If you are looking for brighter, consider a high quality LED but make sure it is one that will provide a good beam pattern with the FJR headlight bucket.  There is a slight chance that there is a voltage issue but I don't think it is likely.  Easy enough to check.

As an aside, why are you running high beams 99.9% of the time???  An absolute no-no at night with oncoming traffic or if you are following someone.  Even in the daytime, they can be extremely annoying to other traffic and can dazzle or distract.  It doesn't improve what you can see in daylight and being more conspicuous to other drivers is much better (and safer) accomplished by putting a set of low power LEDs mounted low on the forks.

I concur with your comments. ^^^  I hav been riding motorcycles for over 50 years and never ride with headlights on high beam except for night with no on-coming traffic. I have had three FJR's and never had a headlight bulb burn out. My prior two bikes (FJR's) had less than 50K when I sold them and my current 2014 has 51K. If you are concerned about being seen install LED auxiliary lights. That is what I have and never had an issue with being cut off or vehicles pulling out in my path. Just a thought.