My Headlights suck....

[Harrysf707]

So title says it all. Was riding home in the dark, in the rain and I just realized that my headlights suck....even on high beam ( Beam is too narrow and only throws light 10 ft in front of me). I currently have a PIAA Super white 60/55W bulb in there. Any suggestions on how to remedy this?

How about HIDs (what would I have to do if I went with HIDs to not blind and piss off everyone)?

[DonTZ125]

When was the last time you aimed your headlight?

[thatkid]

How about HIDs (what would I have to do if I went with HIDs to not blind and piss off everyone)?

Get a housing that was designed for HID's. You could swap out your headlight for a projector or two. Hella has some inexpensive housing. YOu could either retrofit them into the current headlight or just remove the headlight and make a plug for the current hole with room for the new projector.

[ragedigital]

I would buy an HID kit, without a projector, and aim it down a little, if necessary, although your current light may already be pointing too low.

Don't get the crazy blue crap, it will only make it worse. Get the whitest light you can (~5000K)

I bought mine for my bike from BURKEMOTOPROS on eBay.

[Harrysf707]

10 feet in front of me might be a bit of an over exaggeration, it will beam out at a adequate distance, just not wide or bright enough. Was leaving the same time as a friend who has a CBR 1000RR, and his low beam was brighter and wider than my high beam...

The last time I aimed my headlights was mid July.

I'm thinking of going HID's, I don't know yet....

[Rooster]

Plenty of guys change to HID and they are really good, but the new LED options are getting to the kick butt level of out put and if your going to go the route of aftermarket and bikes can use a drop in load on the alternator go LED they are way better than they were even a couple years ago and you can get H4 style bulbs with "ballast" drivers and no chopping required. Unless you want projectors with Halo's for that newer look than go that way with LED bulbs, it's really a win win if you upgrade cause you can overdrive the stock head lights and not be speeding by very much. I live out of the city by about 8 kilometers and the only time I get nervous with the stockers is when I'm away from the street lights

[thatkid]

Plenty of guys change to HID and they are really good, but the new LED options are getting to the kick butt level of out put and if your going to go the route of aftermarket and bikes can use a drop in load on the alternator go LED they are way better than they were even a couple years ago and you can get H4 style bulbs with "ballast" drivers and no chopping required. Unless you want projectors with Halo's for that newer look than go that way with LED bulbs, it's really a win win if you upgrade cause you can overdrive the stock head lights and not be speeding by very much. I live out of the city by about 8 kilometers and the only time I get nervous with the stockers is when I'm away from the street lights

And they piss off every driver on the road because the housings weren't designed with HID in mind. Laws were being submitted in the states because of it. Trying to make it illegal to install HID in a car/bike if it wasn't a factory option. LEDS are getting better but again, the reflector is an issue. Without a proper reflector, all you're doing it scattering light everywhere. When you look at car companies that are switching to LED it isn't the cheap car companies. The high end LEDs that are suitable for car/bike are not a cheap option to go. A single projection beam housing will run you $55 and an HID kit from ebay will be another $30. Sure they are cheap and the bulbs have a 1 year warranty, but if you only have 1 projector, you already have a spare bulb and ballast. Retrofitting a projection lens is going to offer the best light for the cheapest price.

[DonTZ125]

I did a little reading on current LED headlight bulbs last night. The good ones have two huge LEDs on a frame, not the pineapple grenade look of the earlier efforts. Interestingly, the two LED emitters are positioned where the high and low filaments are on a standard bulb, allowing the reflector and lens to do their job.

[ragedigital]

The problem in understanding HID bulbs is that they are all grouped together and no one is looking at individual variations.

The one that I use on my bike has a cap, that does not allow light to exit the front of the bulb. There are plenty of others that do NOT have this cap and that, IMHO, is the main problem with scattered light.

Look at the difference and it is clear why one would pose an issue over the other (non-capped / capped) ::

[Harrysf707]

Does anyone know if the 3TJ fzr400's headlight assembly will fit the 600? Supposedly they already have projectors, and will make it a whole lot easier. Can anyone confirm?
-Thanks

[DonTZ125]

No notes to hand, but I seem to recall 3TJ owners having great difficulty finding the unusual bulbs used in that assembly.

[Harrysf707]

Yup, did some more digging and the headlight assembly should fit the fzr600 but, the headlight bulbs are some weird P30t-40 type of bulbs. Took me some time to track down these bulbs, and they're 26 British pounds, each...not worth it...probably better off retrofitting a projector and some H4 HID's in my current one...