Bought new lightbulbs for my headlights...

[luvtoride]

Sylvania Silverstars. They appear to be widely available & priced like I wanted to spend. I was looking @ the back of the package & saw something that surprised me... I didn't know that Sylvania is affiliated with Osram. Cool!

 

[majicmaker]

Heidi, I just put a set of those on my bike. They are bright as hell. My Likey!

 

[chazglenn3]

I have a set of the ZXE bulbs on standby for when it is time to replace mine. I bought them for my Goldwing and never installed them. They are supposed to be even brighter than the Silverstars.

 

[ionbeam]

Brighter bulbs means shorter life, it's a compromise.

 

[majicmaker]

^^^^ that's makes sense, ionbeam. I'll take that compromise. I love the brightness. It's wonderful.

 

[lnewlf]

4 years-30K on my Silverstars--first one just blew....good cheap upgrade.

 

[dcarver]

Brighter bulbs means shorter life, it's a compromise.

True. But I'll ride and live with shorter life in exchange of seeing forest rats just behind the tree line. The Rats are also reason I spent mega dollars (to me, big money), on ClearWater LED lights.

Professor Ionbeam is correct - shorter life = greater lumen output.

For me, that is a fair exchange.

I did, however, 'stagger' the MTBF to ensure when failure inevitably happens, I lose only one, not both bulbs.. in case I'm on an extended ride.

 

[Nanahanman]

4 years-30K on my Silverstars--first one just blew....good cheap upgrade.

WOW! That is good.

I tried Silvers on my car and didn't get that kind of life out of them.

Decided not to use them on my bike as a result.

 

[Top_Speed1]

I have Phillips/Osram HID's in now, but I just rec'd a set of these 40w (ea) LED's to try out, supposedly 4x the luminosity of the Silverstar (Halogens). We'll see... as I've tested so many LED's with poor results so far.

 

[Kaelaria]

I loved the Silverstars in my cars but never got near good enough life to make it worth the cost.

 

[RossKean]

I have Phillips/Osram HID's in now, but I just rec'd a set of these 40w (ea) LED's to try out, supposedly 4x the luminosity of the Silverstar (Halogens). We'll see... as I've tested so many LED's with poor results so far.

40W LED's should put out a bunch of light! Just remains to be seen whether the beam pattern and the position of the LED within the housing works with the reflector. I have done quite a bit of reading about the replacement of standard halogens with LEDs and, so far, I haven't found any compelling reason to make the change. While there are those who say they are better, all of the reasonably objective tests point in the other direction. The light often looks "cleaner and whiter" but it may not translate to more lumens down the road where the illumination is needed. I assume those are for the Beemer? Let us know how they work out (and post a link to the manufacturer). What is the standard bulb type for your bike?

 

[ionbeam]

To this point there is no substitute for the standard glass envelope, filament bulb in the OEM optics. Bulbs in the yellowish end of the spectrum give better contrast, bulbs in the bluer end of the spectrum give the appearance of brighter light.

Filament bulbs primarily get extra brightness by using more current through the filament but this causes the filament to erode faster. There are games with filament materials and the gasses in the bulbs, but in the end, brighter leads to quicker burn-out.

HIDs can provide more lumens but the linear capsule doesn't work in the reflective shell the same way as a horizontal filament. Plus, the HIDs don't yet do as good a job as both a high and low beam light source. You get better light, but it doesn't shine down the road in the same beam pattern. A HID bulb in a HID reflector does a good job of producing lots of lumens at a lower power factor once ignited. There is a reason the base of the bulbs are keyed, they always put the filament in the same location so the light is focused through the reflector/optics in a specific pattern. Neither the HIDs or LEDs are complimentary with the OEM reflectors.

LEDs are even worse for use in the OEM reflective optics but can put out a lot more lumens with less power. Along with less than optimal beam pattern, the LEDs come with heat-sink bases or with individual fans which are miserable to get into the tiny motorcycle clearances. A LED bulb in a LED reflector does a good job of producing lots of lumens at lower power and delivers the light in a good beam pattern.

Right now the best compromise seems to be a brighter standard filament bulb and accepting the shorter life. Don does the correct thing by staggering when the brighter bulbs are installed, hopefully by at least a month because the bulbs tend to burn out within hours of each other. It wouldn't hurt to carry a spare high zoot bulb under the seat for those little on-road emergencies. Umm, along with a flashlight to hold in your third hand so you can see what you are doing with the other two

On the other hand -- I now have some really good flood LED driving lights that I use to supplement my headlights, running them at ~30% at night. When the high beams are turned on it automatically triggers the LEDs to go 100% power which is like turning on stadium lights. During the day I get the advantage of being more conspicuous and at night I get the advantage of a LOT more light. IMO, right now this is the better way to get more light.

Edit: While I was typing Ross was posting, we ended up with overlapping info.

 

[Twigg]

On the other hand -- I now have some really good flood LED driving lights that I use to supplement my headlights, running them at ~30% at night. When the high beams are turned on it automatically triggers the LEDs to go 100% power which is like turning on stadium lights. During the day I get the advantage of being more conspicuous and at night I get the advantage of a LOT more light. IMO, right now this is the better way to get more light.

This ^^^^

With good auxiliary lights, the power and beam pattern of the stock headlights is moot because they are completely overwhelmed by the aux.

One good reason for replacing the halogen bulbs with LED is simply power-saving. I have a pair of the LED H4s from Justin. They produce more light than halogen, for 40W (pair) consumption. That's an 80W saving over stock, a whole heated jacket!

It remains to be seen (sic) what the beam pattern is like, but reports suggest it's not too bad. To be truthful, I could happily manage without the stock high beams. I'd actually be quite content if they went OFF with my high beam switch saving the entire 120W

It's also correct that actual light on the road, watt for watt, diminishes with the higher colour temperatures, even though they appear brighter. It seems though that this is not a major feature until the temperature rises above about 6000k, at which point the lights begin to take on a definite blue tinge. Around 5 to 6000k seems to be the sweet spot for contrast, something that is an enormous help when off tarmac. The lower temps of 3500 to 5000k are great for longer rides on the road as the light is more "restful" ... yeah, I know that is subjective.

 

[mcatrophy]

... Don does the correct thing by staggering when the brighter bulbs are installed, hopefully by at least a month because the bulbs tend to burn out within hours of each other. ...

It's not just the bulbs having an almost exactly equal life. When one burns out, there will be a slightly higher voltage applied to the other - half the headlamp current flowing from the RR through the headlight fuse, headlight relay contacts, dip relay contacts, normal loom connections plus any nasty spider earthy connections. If that lot came to (say) 0.1 ohms, the 5 amps or so less current would mean about an extra half a volt on the remaining bulb.
Life is inversly proportional to something like the 13 power of voltage (reference https://www.litexelectricals.com/halogen_lamp_characteristics.asp). The remaining life of the second bulb could be considerably shortened, so don't expect the full "month" of life running on a single bulb. Particularly if you're away from home, you really want to change the blown one as soon as possible.

 

[someguy]

Carrying a spare is essential unless you have supplemental lighting

Interested in Top_speeds findings

 

[RaYzerman19]

I purposely choose a mid-output halogen when getting replacements, usually resulting in a compromise of some extra lumens and a bit longer life. Yep, they seem to burn out within hours of each other, but if you're stuck, just turn on the highs until you can find a new blub.

 

[rbentnail]

I tried the Silver Stars in my pickup. Loved the increased light, no doubt. But they both burned out within 4 months. Hope they do better on the bike but to me it's not worth it.

 

[Top_Speed1]

I have Phillips/Osram HID's in now, but I just rec'd a set of these 40w (ea) LED's to try out, supposedly 4x the luminosity of the Silverstar (Halogens). We'll see... as I've tested so many LED's with poor results so far.

40W LED's should put out a bunch of light! Just remains to be seen whether the beam pattern and the position of the LED within the housing works with the reflector. I have done quite a bit of reading about the replacement of standard halogens with LEDs and, so far, I haven't found any compelling reason to make the change. While there are those who say they are better, all of the reasonably objective tests point in the other direction. The light often looks "cleaner and whiter" but it may not translate to more lumens down the road where the illumination is needed. I assume those are for the Beemer? Let us know how they work out (and post a link to the manufacturer). What is the standard bulb type for your bike?

Will report soon when I can get it outside and see the actual luminosity in terms of coverage. Yes, for the high beams (H7) on my K16. In the garage they are like carbon arc follow-spots. You'll see purple spots if your stare into them and then look away. But the real truth will come in coverage and distance of.

Ionbeam- my HiDs in my FJR were simply awesome. Hands down better than any halogen, on the road coverage or thrown distance. In the parking lot at the Commodores one night (at nerds), we had a bet if my lows would out do a OEM halogen on high. It easily trumped the halogens as well as 2 other FJR's side by side on at the same time. We were looking at distance thrown and luminance of objects in the foreground only.... as For looking at the light housing directly?.. We won't have to go there, that again was a very bad loss for the stock FJR w halogens. This factor is not worthless either, in talking about on-coming traffic visibility.

As Dickie V. would say.... No contest baby!

You guys are the mechanical experts and I bow to that, but I have always been known as the lighting master. I still own and operate a Sound & Stage Lighting Co. Yes, that's how I whipped out the high powered lasers for my nerds kickoff weekend that year and Billy Fitz was wondering why I have that kind of stuff. Yes, Overall anything lighting from Kelvin scale to an luminosity expert. 'Nuff said

Btw- the new Vikings 1billion $tadium is going to be totally LED. This includes all field lighting, replacing the prior used metal halide units. The new LEDs for the stadium are being built in my alma matters home town of Syracuse.

LED has come a long way of late. As far as it adapting to reflective housing built for halogens? So far not good but the gap has closed significantly. Like I said.... I will post results and who knows, but 40w of LED at a maximum (to date) of about 100LM/per watt, should be quite the output. The documentation w these H7's state 3600lm ea.

 

[jblanken64]

Tried a set of H4 HIDs and was not terribly impressed. Low beam was OK with good brightness and reasonable beam pattern, but the shroud was going to have to get dremeled for a decent high beam. The shroud appears to be restricting the beam so that it doesn't get reflected properly. So right now I'm just running some SilverStars and they're pretty good. I do a lot of night riding (pre-dawn usually) and want to get as much light as possible. I also use high beams in the daytime to be more visible. I'd love to get some decent super-bright LED H4s, but will probably add some auxiliary lights to get the lighting that I want