Harley Davidson Touring: Aftermarket Headlight Reviews
If you like to ride, chances are you often ride at night. This article will help you make some sense of the nearly endless brands, products and technology within the aftermarket headlight arena. Hopefully we can help you figure out what works best, and what isn't worth the extra time as well as money involved.
This article applies to the Harley Davidson Touring (1991-2016).
For those of you who weren’t around or just too young to remember, choices for headlights were not as plentiful years ago as they are today. The good news is these days the choices for headlights on your car or motorcycle are plentiful, and that in itself is an entirely different problem. The challenge we face today is choosing the best headlight for our application and individual needs or preferences from an abundance of product offerings. We researched 20 of the most popular aftermarket headlights options for your Harley Davidson Touring bike, and chose five of the best based on appearance and style, illumination type (bulb), output performance (brightness), reliability, ease of installation and price range.
Things to keep in mind when shopping:
- Some manufacturers require a wiring harness sold separately.
- Halogen, LED, or HID, what is the best choice for you?
- Make sure you are purchasing the right items to fit your bike.
- Make sure installation instructions are included.
- Warranty should be at least one year.
There is no arguing that brighter is better, but that isn't the whole story. You should look for a product that provides brighter illumination and increases visibility of street signs, pedestrians, etc. left in the shadows by standard lighting. The distance of illumination is equally important because you should never ride faster that you can see. Halogen, LED, HID and Sealed Beam all offer excellent light for the road ahead. Some headlights emit an odd blue or white color that makes normal road objects appear different than in the typical warm halogen incandescent bulb to the rider. You should also consider how much power your lights are drawing from your electrical system.
HID, High-Intensity Discharge Lamps (Xenon), make more visible light per unit of electric power consumed than halogen lights. They are brighter than LED systems, but use a lot more electricity and make more heat.
LED, Light-Emitting Diode, headlamps may be more pricey, but they last a lot longer than any halogen option. LED headlights are much brighter and whiter than halogens at a small fraction of the electrical draw.
Headlight Aftermarket Brand Comparison
CarXenon |
OSRAM |
Kuryakyn |
BikeMaster |
Eiko |
|
Appearance/Style |
Bulb and harness only | Unit Diameter: 7″ | Unit Diameter: 7″ | Bulb only | Bulb only |
Bulb Type |
Xenon (HID) | LED | LED | HID Xenon dual beam | Halogen |
Output Performance |
Excellent | Excellent | Excellent | Excellent | Better than standard |
Quality/Reliability |
Lifetime warranty |
Good | Good | Heavy-duty but questionable reliability | Heavy-duty for extra vibration resistance |
Installation Difficulty |
Moderate (separate ballasts) | Easy | Easy | Moderate (compatibility issues with Ultra-classic) | Easy |
Lowest Price |
$99.99 | $109 | $199 | $69.95 | $11.99 |
CarXenon
Appearance/Style – Bulb and harness only
Bulb Type – Xenon (HID)
Output Performance – Excellent
Quality/Reliability – Lifetime warranty
Installation Difficulty – Moderate
Price – $99.99
This kit includes HID bulbs, a harness as well as ballasts to convert your stock headlight into an HID unit, and is by far the brightest of the bunch. The CarXenon Xenon headlight outweighs the others in terms of illumination and price, and the lifetime warranty is a bonus. However, just sticking HID bulbs into a standard reflector style headlight lens is not recommended and may be illegal in many places. Luckily, for not a lot of money, you can buy projector style headlight lenses that fit a traditional headlight bucket for most bikes. You will have to find a place to mount the ballasts.
OSRAM
Appearance/Style – Complete unit diameter 7"
Bulb Type – LED
Output Performance – Excellent
Quality/Reliability – Good
Installation Difficulty– Easy
Price – $109
This replacement LED system fits into the stock headlight bucket in place of the original lens. It is plug and play, though as you can see, it changes the look of the headlight quite a bit. Another bright contender, the OSRAM headlight is priced right and has received positive reviews from buyers. Forum members say it is well worth it, looks amazing, and is very bright. You get what you pay for and these LED units are much better than cheaper options you may see around that look similar.
Kuryakyn
Appearance/Style – Complete unit diameter 7"
Bulb Type – LED
Output Performance – Excellent
Quality/Reliability – Good
Installation Difficulty– Easy
Price – $199
The Kuryakyn is much closer to stock looking than the OSRAM, though it splits the reflector into an upper and lower section (the angel eyes function is optional). It provides exceptional visibility down the road and uses a lot less power. Buyers in the forums claim to be able to see much further down the road, and feel like they are more visible to other drivers during the day. The lens does project half of an inch further than your stock light, but a chrome extended bezel is available to fix that.
BikeMaster
Appearance/Style – Bulb only
Bulb Type – Xenon (HID)
Output Performance – Excellent
Quality/Reliability – Heavy-duty claim but questionable
Installation Difficulty– Moderate
Price – $69.95
A pretty good price for a high output headlight. It fits in the stock headlight bucket, and the ballast is a small self contained unit. The BikeMaster Xenon headlight bulb replacement provides excellent output for visibility. Buyers review them as having brightness and light coverage that is awesome, but were unsure of how long it would last as the parts don't look particularly high quality. May not be DOT legal and may result in tickets depending on where you live.
Eiko
Appearance/Style – Bulb only
Bulb Type – Halogen
Output Performance – Standard-power 60/55
Quality/Reliability – Heavy-duty for extra vibration resistance
Installation Difficulty – Easy
Price – $11.99
Eiko gives you more light at a low price by simply replacing your standard 35/55 watt bulb with a 60/55 watt one. It is also heavy duty, so it should last longer, fits any headlight without changing the wiring or look of the bike, and only draws as much as riding with the high beam on all the time would.
Related Discussions and Sites
- Headlight Upgrades? - HDForums.com
- Cheap LED Headlight Options - HDForums.com
- Best Headlight Upgrade - HDForums.com
- CarXenon HID Kits - CarXenonHIDKits.com
- J&P Cycles - JPCycles.com
