Better headlights

I'm getting older and seem to have a bit of a night vision issue. Who has done some work to beef up the lowbeam headlights? Are their brighter bulbs, what about those high intensity jobs? I have a 2002.

[image: View Post]Dalma, on 09 December 2010 - 07:47 PM, said:

I'm getting older and seem to have a bit of a night vision issue. Who has done some work to beef up the lowbeam headlights? Are their brighter bulbs, what about those high intensity jobs? I have a 2002.



pm TIGHTWAD he sells the HID and they work great :)

Of course you could come out to langley and check them out....

Here's the original thread:

http://www.vfrdiscus...conversion-kit/

You can't really tell from the photos just how bright these are. They're a huge improvement.

[image: View Post]Dalma, on 09 December 2010 - 07:47 PM, said:

I'm getting older and seem to have a bit of a night vision issue. Who has done some work to beef up the lowbeam headlights? Are their brighter bulbs, what about those high intensity jobs? I have a 2002.



Are you sure the aim is good? The vfr bottom lights sit too low, you cant see squat in tight corners , raise the aim high it helps alot , then use the brights more too.

You can get brighter bulbs , but it still wont be as good as raising that aim . Normally most bikes I set up at .25 mile at bottom of the treeline, the vfr on full bright need to be way up above the tree line if you want good vision.

When I first got the vfr , I was riding to my fathers house at night and he was driving the opposite way, He said dam that bike blinds you, so I adjusted the lights lower, but than I couldnt see squat in the corners at night. I run the VFR at max upper limit of adjustment, great lights.

[image: View Post]spud786, on 09 December 2010 - 09:29 PM, said:

[image: View Post]Dalma, on 09 December 2010 - 07:47 PM, said:

I'm getting older and seem to have a bit of a night vision issue. Who has done some work to beef up the lowbeam headlights? Are their brighter bulbs, what about those high intensity jobs? I have a 2002.



Are you sure the aim is good? The vfr bottom lights sit too low, you cant see squat in tight corners , raise the aim high it helps alot , then use the brights more too.

You can get brighter bulbs , but it still wont be as good as raising that aim . Normally most bikes I set up at .25 mile at bottom of the treeline, the vfr on full bright need to be way up above the tree line if you want good vision.

When I first got the vfr , I was riding to my fathers house at night and he was driving the opposite way, He said dam that bike blinds you, so I adjusted the lights lower, but than I couldnt see squat in the corners at night. I run the VFR at max upper limit of adjustment, great lights.



How do you adjust this? I look around down there and all I see is the screw that holds the ambient air temperature sensor in place...

[image: View Post]Ryanme17, on 10 December 2010 - 08:39 PM, said:

[image: View Post]spud786, on 09 December 2010 - 09:29 PM, said:

[image: View Post]Dalma, on 09 December 2010 - 07:47 PM, said:

I'm getting older and seem to have a bit of a night vision issue. Who has done some work to beef up the lowbeam headlights? Are their brighter bulbs, what about those high intensity jobs? I have a 2002.



Are you sure the aim is good? The vfr bottom lights sit too low, you cant see squat in tight corners , raise the aim high it helps alot , then use the brights more too.

You can get brighter bulbs , but it still wont be as good as raising that aim . Normally most bikes I set up at .25 mile at bottom of the treeline, the vfr on full bright need to be way up above the tree line if you want good vision.

When I first got the vfr , I was riding to my fathers house at night and he was driving the opposite way, He said dam that bike blinds you, so I adjusted the lights lower, but than I couldnt see squat in the corners at night. I run the VFR at max upper limit of adjustment, great lights.



How do you adjust this? I look around down there and all I see is the screw that holds the ambient air temperature sensor in place...


Oh I know this one...

access the adjustment wheels from under the front of light assembly, just beside the oil radiator. you'll see "A" letters and arrows indicating where. This is for vertical adjustment only. For horizontal you have to remove the right and left meter panels. All of this is shown on page 3-29 of the shop manual downloadable from this forum site.

Use a phillip screwdriver in the hole. Clockwise moves the beam up. For the horizontal adjustment, clockwise moves the beam to the right.

Enjoy!

Brian

Attached thumbnail(s)

• [image: Attached Image: IMG_6090.JPG]

[image: View Post]Dalma, on 09 December 2010 - 07:47 PM, said:

I'm getting older and seem to have a bit of a night vision issue. Who has done some work to beef up the lowbeam headlights? Are their brighter bulbs, what about those high intensity jobs? I have a 2002.


well if you bought the bike in 2002, not only are your eyes getting old, so are your light bulbs. Halogen bulbs are known to lose brightness as they age, between 25-50% (in lumens). Just putting in new bulbs should make an improvement. It's worth a try, they should be 8-10$ each at Canadian Tire (or US equivalent). Easy and cheap fix.

Brian

[image: View Post]DDO-VFR, on 10 December 2010 - 10:20 PM, said:

[image: View Post]Dalma, on 09 December 2010 - 07:47 PM, said:

I'm getting older and seem to have a bit of a night vision issue. Who has done some work to beef up the lowbeam headlights? Are their brighter bulbs, what about those high intensity jobs? I have a 2002.


well if you bought the bike in 2002, not only are your eyes getting old, so are your light bulbs. Halogen bulbs are known to lose brightness as they age, between 25-50% (in lumens). Just putting in new bulbs should make an improvement. It's worth a try, they should be 8-10$ each at Canadian Tire (or US equivalent). Easy and cheap fix.

Brian

Can you tell me what bulb to get at the store? .... H4, but what ?.... I was wanting to not take the bulb out till I get the new one(low beam is out) Are they just low lights only as well?

[image: View Post]Monk, on 10 December 2010 - 11:32 PM, said:

[image: View Post]DDO-VFR, on 10 December 2010 - 10:20 PM, said:

[image: View Post]Dalma, on 09 December 2010 - 07:47 PM, said:

I'm getting older and seem to have a bit of a night vision issue. Who has done some work to beef up the lowbeam headlights? Are their brighter bulbs, what about those high intensity jobs? I have a 2002.


well if you bought the bike in 2002, not only are your eyes getting old, so are your light bulbs. Halogen bulbs are known to lose brightness as they age, between 25-50% (in lumens). Just putting in new bulbs should make an improvement. It's worth a try, they should be 8-10$ each at Canadian Tire (or US equivalent). Easy and cheap fix.

Brian

Can you tell me what bulb to get at the store? .... H4, but what ?.... I was wanting to not take the bulb out till I get the new one(low beam is out) Are they just low lights only as well?


H4 is the physical format, so ALL H4's will fit. There are of course different brand names, (house brand, sylvania, PIAA, etc.) each claiming how fabulous they are. The 'standard' I believe is 55W for the H4 (low beam) and 50W for the H7. Just a reminder for those who are still learning about our bikes, the VFR 2002+ uses H4 (x2) for low beam and H7 (x2) for high beam, with all four being on when 'high beam' is selected, for 210W of fabulous light power.

There may be light bulbs out there that are brighter, but if they are 'halogen' devices, then comparing halogen to halogen types, they will only be 'brighter' if they burn more power, since the physics of the thing is that light (lumen) to power (watt) ratio is bound by the technology used. That's the long way of saying that if the mfg claims 50% more light, they are burning at least 50% more power. BTW, more power means more heat and shorter life span for the bulb. For this reason I recommend using the standard output, (eg. house brand, which is always a repackaged major mfg anyway) is the cheapest solution, and just swap them out every year is you want them to be a bright as possible.

So you figure you'll beat the curve and put Xenon technology bulbs (configured in the H4 format)... (the Lumen to watt ratio is MUCH better with Xenon technology)...BUT...note that the lens and reflectors in ALL vehicles are designed to direct the light from a SINGLE EMISSION POINT within the assembly. Due to the physical constraints the Xenon light emission point is not in the same position as that of the Halogen bulb EVEN THOUGH THEY ARE BOTH H4 physical format. The result is that the reflector/lens assembly gives an incorrect light pattern on the road, often blinding the oncoming driver. There are many reports written that show that while you see more light in front of you, you may not see better, because of the extreme brightness and poor dispersion pattern.

Brian

I installed the Sylvania Silverstar H4 bulbs and noticed a huge difference with no modifications.

DDO-VFR..... Thx for the info, and the time put in the details.

I installed the Sylvania Silverstar H4 bulbs and noticed a huge difference with no modifications.

last year I bought PIAA ( lower beams ) at a garage sale $30.00, then changed the high beam to Sylvania Silverstar Ultra's. The PIAA's give a nice "blue" during the day and not bad lighting, better than stock. The Silverstars light up the road at night with a great beam pattern.
Next year, I might change out the PIAA's for the Ultras. Not impressed with the PIAA's really.

Osram 70/65 watt H4 bulbs provide a lot better light than stock.

When taking the wiring plug off the low beam ....Before removing anything else(like dust cover).... Is it just a straight pull, is there a trick.... I don't want to break something trying to just "pull" the plug off.

When taking the wiring plug off the low beam ....Before removing anything else(like dust cover).... Is it just a straight pull, is there a trick.... I don't want to break something trying to just "pull" the plug off.

On the sides of the plug that connect to the bulb, you will feel 2 tabs... squeeze those and then pull gently away from the bulb. You then unlatch the hook(s) that hold the bulb and your good to go. I seem to recall that I pulled the boot ( dust cover ) away frist so I could get my stubby fingers to grasp the tabs a little better.

When taking the wiring plug off the low beam ....Before removing anything else(like dust cover).... Is it just a straight pull, is there a trick.... I don't want to break something trying to just "pull" the plug off.

On the sides of the plug that connect to the bulb, you will feel 2 tabs... squeeze those and then pull gently away from the bulb. You then unlatch the hook(s) that hold the bulb and your good to go. I seem to recall that I pulled the boot ( dust cover ) away frist so I could get my stubby fingers to grasp the tabs a little better.

Thank you Sir.... Back to the bike....

Mission accomplished..THX

I've got atleast 50,000 mile on the walmart motorcycle GE bulbs , theyve been very reliable and cheap, I was having a real issue with OEM plillips h4's and the aftermarket Phillips H4's, blowing about every 4 to 6 months . The GE bulbs havent failed yet, its been near 3 years.

Id only buy the sylvanias if the store guaranteed them for replacement, cause their reliablity is poor, and at near $40 for a set, not cheap either.

I ordered a set of HID's from a place called Rocket-Light.com and plan to install them over the New Years weekend if it warms up a bit.

Id only buy the sylvanias if the store guaranteed them for replacement, cause their reliablity is poor, and at near $40 for a set, not cheap either.

I've used the Sylvania Silverstars in 4 cars and 2 bikes over the course of the past seven years and I've never had any failures... only bright, clear, light patterns that light up the road! I've bought them multiple times in 3 different states without issue. This is the first I've heard of them having poor reliability, what sort of problems did you have? (full disclosure: I do not work for or have any affiliation with any lighting or electrical company)
:beer:

Osram 70/65 watt H4 bulbs provide a lot better light than stock.

But, is more always better? :happy:

I can usually tell from behind if someone's got HID conversions installed, from the way the ground in front of the vehicle is completely swathed in bluey white light. Why would anyone want to brightly illuminate the ground immediately in front of their vehicle? Is that a good thing? Oh dear--maybe it's even a bad thing.... :blink:

HID conversions are particularly bad at this (due to the different positions of the filament and the xenon capsule), but the same principles generally apply with any headlight "upgrade" that dramatically increases the light being reflected.

Ciao,