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First off I'm not interested in spending $200 TO $500 for LED or any other retina burning headlamps so I don't need advice in that direction. I have been using this Sylvania blue tinted Gold tip bulb marked 12v60/55w. Are there any filament bulbs out there that might be a little brighter than this?
I used a Hella 100/55 bulb for years in my old BMW but it did require a relay as to not burn up the wiring/switches. Sunpie makes LEDs for Harleys under $100 but they don't fit all models.
for one, when upgrading for more power, you SHOULD go LED, they provide more power for a similiar amp draw as a standard bulb.. and dont melt the headlight harnesses, a 55watt filament bulb draws about 5 amps roughly, an LED of the same power draws 2.8-3.2 amps
and the cost isnt prohibitive, $20-$50 for a good fan cooled CREE led bulb in the 80-120watt range
if you go with a complete LED headlight as mentioned above, sunpie or wisamic ( like me) its a day/night difference in beam pattern projection as well as clarity in lighting, its white, not yellow, and them being projection makes the whole thing worth while
ive installed 100watt led bulbs in OE headlight buckets without upgrading wiring,, anything higher than that and the headlight harness gets too warm to be comfortable, BUT, FYI, the cree led bulbs dont have the vibration resistance they all claim they have.. they start to flicker at some point (time varies) indicating they controller inside is starting to go, thats why i eventually switched to a complete headlight unit instead of just bulbs, i was averaging a bulb a year
food for thought..
if you do decide to go LED, you can wire the high AND low beam to work toegther when switching to high beam using a 3amp blocking diode in the headlight bucket.. doing that with a filament bulb requires a relay
I've run 100/55 bulbs in a 7" bucket for years without any issues. About 10$ on amazon. Just recently swapped out to LED, brighter and wider beam. If you've got an extra 50 bucks, thats the way to go i think, but you know what they say about opinions.....
I've ran th he Hella 55 / 100 in my 92 FLHTCU ... plenty of light but you might want to upgrade the plug ... mine "melted" and left me in the dark ( momentarily ) ... they make a ceramic plug ...
I ran silver star ultras for years in my other bike. They are bright as hell but still have the high wattage.
I replaced the stock bulb in my 07 with the LED from DK. It's low draw and waaay brighter. I haven't had it out in the dark yet to see the pattern yet though. It has a fan on the back and wouldn't fit in the other bike. Not enough room in the bucket.
Ive got a 1999 883XLH Sportster, I'm just swopping to LED head light bulb, the one I bought is about 1/2" longer than the normal bulb, and won't fit in the bucket quite, So guy's is there a bigger bucket that I can use
Advice please, iv'e already changed all the other bulbs to LED
Most of my riding buddies have converted over to the led light kits off of Amazon. So far all are happy. I’m going to go this route as it’s even cheaper than the Trucklite ones I use at work.
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Lets talk headlights
