I have a 2005 FXDCI (dyna )
has anyone replaced their headlight with a higher powered bulb??

I am looking at page 20 in the Kuryakyn catalogue....."PIAA" headlight bulbs.
does anyone out there have experience with these????
If so which one are you using?
I don't want to have any problems with the electrical...especially since the bike is fuel injected.
I'm looking at the Xtreme white plus #2210
or the super plasma GTX #2211
they show 60W/55W which according to my manual is stock wattage
I don't know why it also says 130W/110W also next to the60W/55W???????
what gives?

 

Hmmm... We on the Porsche owners website (Rennlist) were dealing with a similar problem a few years ago. Most of the correspondance took place on the "water cooler" forums "924-944-968" forums. We wanted to upgrade our lighting from the "25 year old state of the art" to more modern "E-code" lenses and bulbs. A Banker/Lawyer/Sailboater/12-volt/Porsche enthusiast by the name of "Dan Wray" came to our rescue (and his own as well) with a well thought out (and documented) system. Dan actually made with his own two hands several hundred full light systems and wiring harnesses for the 944/951/968 series. He sourced his hardware, bulbs, lenses, sheathing, etc. from a variety of manufacturers (Some 35 watt halegeon taillight bulbs were special runs by the manufacturer). Dan Wray was one mighty fine engineer for whom "Good Enough" WASN'T!!! We were running 80/100 watt E-code Halegeon bulbs and Crystal Reflector/Lenses with incredibly beefed up wiring and relays from the alternator through the battery and back into the headlight/foglight/taillight systems.

The thing that Dan kept harping on (since there is SUCH a wide variety of "high power" lighting systems on the market) that regardless of what bulb/lens combination you have in the front of the vehicle, if the wiring and relay system CANNOT support it (ie., the wires are too small and therefor do not conduct enough power to illuminate the bulbs) then there'll be NO improvement by simply putting in new bulbs. The system that Dan engineered (and they WERE NOT cheap (either in design OR price)!) was an imazing improvement over what Porsche had engineered originally. Very heavy multi/strand wire, everything soldered and heat/shrinked, military spec battery clamps, huge auxillary fused connections. Multiple grounding (the car series is notorious for it's grounding problems since the entire body is galvanized and sealant is used throughout where body panels are joined. Harleys (being simple bikes) would not have that kind of grounding problem but I'm saying this to illustrate that good grounds are as important as any other aspect of a good lighting system. Relaying the power to the bulb instead of direct wiring improved conductivity and decreased the chances of wiring and switch malfunctions.

Several of our Rennlist members who were flying in the Gulf responded that Dan's "kits" were blowing the minds of their flight mechanics who thought that Dan's "kits" were superiour even to the equipment they were flying!!!

So... I really didn't understand all the technical, physics that Dan was telling us for those couple of years (the last couple years of his life, as it turned out)!!! But I CAN say that just chaning out the bulb is NOT the entire solution!!! Attention needs to be given to the wiring harness itself!!! I've changed out mine and included relays on the passing lights AND a relay on the main headlight.

To get some of the technical info Dan was giving us on our problems re: four wheelers, go to "Rennlist" and the "watercooled" "924/944/968" forums, do a "search" for "IceShark" (That was Dan's sign-in). You Electrical wizards will understand what he's talking about and the rest of us (if you're like me) will at least get the gist of what Dan is talking about and will be able to apply that info to upgrading lighting on the bike!!!

I hope this helps! Good Luck!!!

Jim aka kiltiemon

 

My dealer recommendedthe ultra white PIAA bulb to me. Works great. Much brighter than stock. No problems.