I use the ultra's in everything that I own.
On the bike I have about 2.5 years and 20k miles or so.
In my car I have been through two sets, first set lasted me 1.5 years and 65k miles, then the second set is going strong at about a year and 25k miles. My only issue on my car is that I have two bulbs, one for high and one for low's, the High beam runs at 6v for the DRL's and I have noticed a decrease in life span on the highs, but they are on probably 70% of the time.
I was running them but found I was changing both at least once a year. Last summer I changed them both twice so I've got back to basic GE bulbs from Wally-world.
They do seem to last a long time in my car, so maybe the bike does not ride as well as my 2005 Neon
To the best of my knowledge, I'm still running the original bulbs (now at 8 years and 50K). I have yet to find a bike with better light output, other than a properly installed HID Projector.
I'd give the dealer a call and see if they happen to have any of the OEM honda supplied bulbs. Might even be cheaper than the $20/pair silverstars...
I cannot confirm or deny as of yet. Installed them at the end of the season and have about 10 rides on them so far for around 1000km. They were expensive and lead me to start thinking about HID's. Excellent light comes outta those, great for the dark and nice and white. I'm expecting two years min, if I don't get that I'm going to HID's. I paid $64CDN for the pair from CDN Tire.
Killed a pair of them in less than two weeks in my old Suzi GS500. No idea what was wrong with that situation, the original bulb seemed pretty weak & yellow. Loved the light from the Silverstar but they were dying in *days*. Got a "motorcycle" bulb from the stealership for about $8 after the second Silverstar died and didn't have any problems with it.
Based on that experience I won't be trying them in anything I own again. Am waiting to see what can be done with LED's but so far I haven't seen any LED headlamp replacement bulbs.
Seems like a mixed bag. I really liked the light output of the regular Silverstars, just not the life. If the Ultras do last longer as promised, good. If not, I won't be buying them anymore.
So I got a set of 2 Silverstar ULTRA H-4 bulbs off Fleabay just now, new, sealed, for $31.97 CAD shipped, so I saved about 20-25 bucks Vs buying them at Crappy Tire.
I'm pretty happy with the light output from the stock bulbs, but brighter is always better. Though I'm not ready to invest in the Silverstars for the VFR yet, I did for my Saab 9-3. The stock headlights SUCK. The main problem with the Silverstars on the Saab is they burn out quickly because the lights are on all the time. And they're not the easiest things to change either. But when I ride the VFR at night, the light output is much better than the Saab even with Silverstars. My next car will definitely have xenon lights. It sucks not being able to see at night. :mad:
[image: View Post]pres589, on 11 April 2010 - 11:08 PM, said:
Based on that experience I won't be trying them in anything I own again. Am waiting to see what can be done with LED's but so far I haven't seen any LED headlamp replacement bulbs.
Just DRL's (Daytime Running Lights) right now. Enough light to say "Hi, don't hit me" but not enough to light up dark roads at night. Actually some "Fog Lamps" are available as add on lighting, but no main light sources.
2.5 years on a Civic for LB & HB/DRL
4 years on a TL for Fogs
1.5 years on a VTEC for LB & HB ( use Yellows for the HB and they are always on during the Day)
Been very satisfied, they all work fine and the wiring is stock. VTEC has Tightwad's VFRness though.
I picked up a set of Sylvania Ultras on sale at Advance Auto to install in my still disassembled '96.
The high beam with the stock 45/45's was good but the lows sucked!
[image: Posted Image]
I'll find out how the 60/55's work out once I get the whole deal back together and let you know how everything works out!
I got the Ultra's in my Power Wagon. They last about 1 1/2 to 2 yrs. in it. I just got a set of PIAA Intense White bulbs for the VFR. These just came on the market not too long ago. Going to give them a try.
[image: View Post]RustyA, on 12 April 2010 - 10:46 PM, said:
I got the Ultra's in my Power Wagon. They last about 1 1/2 to 2 yrs. in it. I just got a set of PIAA Intense White bulbs for the VFR. These just came on the market not too long ago. Going to give them a try.
I replaced my stock bulbs when I bought the bike w/ about 10,000 km and have put about 27,000km on the bike since then. I just finished my trip to Vegas/Colorado etc and ran my high beams with no problems ( 2 years so far )
H4 low Beams: PIAA Xtreme white plus w/blue tip.
H7 Silverstar Ultra birght and 100x better than stock.
I run the 2 different colors for a little more visiblility during the day, breaks it up from being just one color.
I ran the Silverstars in my FJR and had to replace them every 12-14 months. I replaced the stock VFR bulbs (when they burned out within a few minutes of each other) with Silverstar Ultras almost a year ago. I will never use the stock bulbs again just because of the way they failed. It's a pain in the ass to replace H/L bulbs at all, but the quality and quantity of light the Silverstars produce has me sold. At least half my riding is at night and I will deal with the cost and frequency of replacement for the superior light.
Even though you can usually get a pair for $35 on ebay, that adds up replacing every year. On my '01 I always have one low filament burn out. I have a feeling all the bouncing around on crappy roads doesnt help their life span.
[image: View Post]Gerrys02800, on 10 July 2011 - 11:21 AM, said:
I replaced my stock bulbs when I bought the bike w/ about 10,000 km and have put about 27,000km on the bike since then. I just finished my trip to Vegas/Colorado etc and ran my high beams with no problems ( 2 years so far )
H4 low Beams: PIAA Xtreme white plus w/blue tip.
H7 Silverstar Ultra birght and 100x better than stock.
I run the 2 different colors for a little more visiblility during the day, breaks it up from being just one color.
how white are the PIAAs?
I'm looking for as white as possible. do they have a blueish tint?
[image: View Post]rangerscott69, on 11 July 2011 - 11:44 AM, said:
Even though you can usually get a pair for $35 on ebay, that adds up replacing every year. On my '01 I always have one low filament burn out. I have a feeling all the bouncing around on crappy roads doesnt help their life span.
I think my oem(phillips) set lasted about 6 months, right one burned out, the left about 2 week later. So I ordered a few after market phillips premium bulbs and they lasted about 3 months. , and same blow out scenario, right, then left 2 week later. I must have went through 3 or 4 sets. in the first 2 years on the bike. THe walmart Ge motocycle type created an instant success, been in there 3 years atleast and more than 60,000 miles.
It may not be the prettiest bulb, but it sure ended a constant headache for me. I could not trust Phillips bulbs at all, and everything Ive seen posted sylvania is not any better life wise.
I tried to find these Wagoneer premium gold bulbs, they have heavy duty filimants and supposed to last much longer than average.
[image: View Post]FrankoQ, on 17 July 2011 - 09:11 AM, said:
How white are the PIAAs?
I'm looking for as white as possible. do they have a blueish tint?
They have the bluish tint on them. I got them for a good deal. If I was going to run just white bulbs for the low beams, I would just buy the Silverstar Ultra at half the cost of the PIAA's ( In my location anyways ). The PIAA blue tip still shoots out a nice beam at night ( better than stock ) and I have no complaints. The photo's I posted show the difference. I could post up shome night shots if I remember to. As mentioned, I like the break up of the 2 colors during the day when on the street.
I've used Silverstars for many years in my '98 Fi-W (made by Osram over here, but likely to be the same company) with only one blown bulb in about 8 years/80k+ miles. I always ride with headlights on for conspicuity and ride a lot at night, esp in the winter. I recently changed to Osram Nightbreakers and they are absolutely superb. The light pattern is already outstanding (on both my VFR's) but the extra light from these is truly amazing so I've fitted them to both bikes. As HID are illegal over here without a self-levelling setup, these are the best you can get IMO. Waaaaay better than OEM too.
I don't understand why you guys (USA) have so many bulb and other electrical issues. I only learned of your replacement harnesses when I started on this site, despite riding VFR's for 9 years prior to that and knowing many many other VFR riders, none of whom, to the best of my knowledge, has ever had electrical problems like you lot do.
Several years ago I bought a pair for the car.......then proceeded with a scientific test with a light meter. Long, flat driveway
marked off with tape at specific distances........light meter taped to a telescopic tripod so I could measure at multiple
heights at each distance. Near, far..........high beam, low beam.............tripod up, tripod down.............you get the idea.
Factory bulbs ..............then Silverstars. No difference at the meter. This was 5 or 6 years ago, maybe they've improved since
then..............maybe not................YLMV.
2.5 years on a Civic for LB & HB/DRL
4 years on a TL for Fogs
1.5 years on a VTEC for LB & HB ( use Yellows for the HB and they are always on during the Day)
Been very satisfied, they all work fine and the wiring is stock. VTEC has Tightwad's VFRness though.
A big +1 on the Hoen xenonmatch bulbs.
I went to them after having chewed up silverstars in both the VFR and my cars.
The current set in the VFR were installed after the hit an run of '08, The prior set had 4 four years but did not survive the crash.
The set in the family sedan (two highs and two lows) have 6 years and nearly 100,000 miles on them.
Can't really speak for the durability in the RC51, but those h7's from hoen sure throw a lot of light.
I have run the PIAA bulbs now for a year in the VFR. And I like them. Just looking at the headlights with them off, you can see light blue in the reflectors. But with them on, they are white. :biggrin: I have run all of the other bulbs at one time or other. And I always had a short life span out of them, except for the stock bulbs. The PIAA's in my Jeep and PowerWagon have been in them for over 2yrs now. :biggrin: I won't buy another bulb now.
2.5 years on a Civic for LB & HB/DRL
4 years on a TL for Fogs
1.5 years on a VTEC for LB & HB ( use Yellows for the HB and they are always on during the Day)
Been very satisfied, they all work fine and the wiring is stock. VTEC has Tightwad's VFRness though.
A big +1 on the Hoen xenonmatch bulbs.
I went to them after having chewed up silverstars in both the VFR and my cars.
The current set in the VFR were installed after the hit an run of '08, The prior set had 4 four years but did not survive the crash.
The set in the family sedan (two highs and two lows) have 6 years and nearly 100,000 miles on them.
Can't really speak for the durability in the RC51, but those h7's from hoen sure throw a lot of light.
H7's on VTEC as HighBeams continue to work fine. Upgraded LoBeam on VTEC to Tightwad's HID setup so H4's moved to 4th Gen VFR750 (after cutting tabs) and are still going strong. Very impressed as they are not marketed as Motorcycle Specific / Vibration Resistant
[image: View Post]Gen46, on 20 July 2011 - 07:35 PM, said:
H7's on VTEC as HighBeams continue to work fine. Upgraded LoBeam on VTEC to Tightwad's HID setup so H4's moved to 4th Gen VFR750 (after cutting tabs) and are still going strong. Very impressed as they are not marketed as Motorcycle Specific / Vibration Resistant
Well now that NJ has stopped doing annual safety testing, I will probably take the plunge and go to HID as cash allows.
I might follow JZH and do the bi-xenons on the 5th gen, but I will still need the relays from tightwad's site.
In the mean time though, I'll keep on going with the Hoen's.
End of thread · 26 posts recoveredWayback Machine snapshot 16 Aug 2011
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