Some cages see that as a signal to go ahead and pull out. Too easily misinterpreted. IMO

 

I agree.

Bob.

 

No matter what bulb you use,you will still only get 12volts to it with the stock wiring.You need a relay anheavier gauge wiring.You won't get the bulb to last longer,but you willget much more light output. Check this out http://www.easternbeaver.com

 

Motorcycle Consumer News tested this relay and gave it a thumbs up for a meaningful increase in light output, but it degraded the bulb's life drastically. IIRC the 7500-hour bulb was reduced to about 1500-hours by increasing voltage even this little (12V to >13V).

 

Well, i went to put a brand new silverstar hb2st (9003, H4) bulb in my bike today. Pulled the old one out and got a nice surprise. It was exactly the same as the new silverstar except the tip of the bulb was a darker gray. The writing on the base was the exact same on both bulbs, They both were made by Osram with same numbers. Could it be the previous owner put one in it already or is the HD bulb made by Osram also. If someone has their original bulb still could you please look? I put the new bulb in anyway and kept the old one.

 

The original in my 09 was a Osram

 

My original on an 09 has the following written on the silver ring below the bulb...

GE (may be CE) H4 12V 60/55W E1 followed by a few letters I can't make out, then Hungary Pressurized Lamp

I just replaced them with Silverstars today and after reading this thread I am now wondering if that was the right thing to do.

 

When your bulb burns out, you probably won't notice it until night, and you'll want it to be the high beam to go first. Why? So you can still ride at night with your low beam and get home. Try riding with just your high beam at night and every car you meet will be hitting you with their brights, and see how far you get before getting pulled over for not dimming your lights

 

I'm still running running the same Hella 80/100w H4 in my SG and it was in my old RK for several years before that. I've also used a modulator since 2004 which should increase filament life on high-beam since they run cooler (daylight high-beam only). With the E-code headlight I'm getting excellent illumination with a much better pattern than stock.

I just found a new source for these bulbs. Get together with friends and buy five for free shipping.

 

What style headlight do you have? I can't keep up w/ the newer models, I know one year they had the two bulb system... If it's two bulb this may not apply, but if it's high/low single bulb, then I'm just curious how you run it during day/night, and how much riding you do in either condition...

I have an 03 RKC, but when the headlight cracked, I replaced the headlight, and passing lamps with the newer (post 06) clear style, as opposed to the older style w/ the ribs in the glass.

Anyway, I also added the fog lights and wired em to run w/ the high beams.

So, if riding during the day, I'm usually on high beams w/ the fogs, and at night, low beams w/ the spot lamps and fog lights... I was looking to be seen more, both during the day, and at night, by oncoming traffic, traffic entering from the side, as well as increase my ability to see at night.

I thought I was going to buy silverstars or something similar to achieve this, but once I put in the newer style lens, and added the fogs, then PROPERLY adjusted them, I found my visibility increased all the way around and couldn't justify the silverstars at that point.

Anyway, if you run highs during the day, and lows at night, and do a mix of riding, then that might extend the life of the bulb somewhat, as opposed to leaving them on lows all the time, for example. Unless you're already doing that, of course.

Another thing you could try is running a headlight modulator. It increases your visibility during the day, and there are different kinds of modulators out there, some run on dim, some on bright, some are switchable. If I got one, I'd run it on bright most of the time, but then again, I have extra lights on during the day too.

I've heard reports on this forum of people running the high end ligths getting considerably more time out of them (up to double or more) w/ the modulator, while a lot of people, myself included, thought this to be counter-intuitive, once I thought about it, it did seem possible that there's a logical reason for this.

I figured that modulating the light would wear it out constantly surging the light, but I think the opposite is true. I think the brighter bulbs are inherently hotter, and the heat eventually leads to their demise. Running the modulator constantly goes from bright to dimmer, back to brighter, thus reducing the overall average temperature while running, and potentially increasing the life of the bulb as a result.

So, I would say, run a mix of high / low to increase life, if not already...

Or, try running a modulator to decrease temps but get same effect...

Or add some fogs and run some cheaper bulbs to get similar effect of seeing and being seen... while adding more chrome, I might add