| Author | Message | ||
     Sgthigg |
I swapped the low beam to the h7 in my xb this weekend. because Im a cheap butt I wanted to try it out before I droped another 18 bucks. Well tonight was the first night time ride with them. Learned something new actually 2 things. As I was coming home I noticed I liked the low beam had a brighter whiter light. Then when I switched to high beam it got yellower and had no brighter effect. I always thought in high position both beams were illuminated at the same time. Well when I did this It didnt get any brighter on the high beam. I thought WTF? So I got home and read the manual and in 7.12 it says only one or the other is on at any given time except for pressing the passing switched. Man I could of swore that both came on for high beam!! Well if this is. This means a low h7 is as bright as my stock high beam. Cool!! Now my next question is how in the heck if they both are the same wattage how is the high switch position a brighter light? Does it give that one light more voltage or current both? Or it the shape/coating of the reflective Housing that does this? Or is it that I need to go to a higher wattage light in my high beam housing? Anyone have a clue? (Message edited by sgthigg on January 11, 2006) | ||
| Lanson |
for the record, only when you press the little light trigger on the left handlebar area (used for passing, etc) do you get both lights to come on. That is on a momentary switch, and you don't want both on at the same time for long. Here's the reason: Erik said during a long interview regarding the uly,...that they both cannot stay on because the housing would melt from the heat of both. Personally,...I hate that. I keep getting "hey buddy...you know one of your lights is out?" I'm waiting for a cop to do it. | ||
| Xring |
Stock, the low beam has a diffuser inside the housing (which many people remove; mine is gone). I suppose it is also aimed a little lower than the high beam but not sure about that. I sometimes ride with my switch in the middle between high and low so that both beams are on; I worry more about discharging the battery than melting the headlight housing. I think quite a few people have wired their lights up so that the low beam is on all the time. I switched to SilverStars but still wish for more. Good luck, Bill | ||
| Sgthigg |
Difusser..Does this make the low beam less intense? How does this work? All I did was strictly a bulb swap. Is it easy to accidentaly disconnect? Never the less I like the results now I just want to know how its designed to work with this diffuser. Thanks | ||
| Glitch |
I'm not sure what he's talking about a diffuser, but if you look at the headlamp housing, you'll notice one side (the low beam side) is pointed more downward. | ||
| Sgthigg |
Wow thats how it makes it brighter? Didnt know that. Pretty simple. I was all over the schematics and the manual looking for the diffuser thing. Mystery solved then thanks! | ||
| Xring |
Hmmm...maybe it was on some other bike...but I'd seen mentioned before about a diffuser or deflector that was placed in front of the bulb. Not an electrical device, just a little shield like inside fog lights. Sorry 'bout that. My bike doesn't have one, but I got it used and assumed that somebody else had removed it. Bill | ||
| Glitch |
The XBR has one. It's a half moon looking thing inside, that can be removed. | ||
| Perry |
The reflector inside the two headlights is different for low and high beam on a 12Scg (lightning), which your profile says you have. Also, by shorting two wires (yellow and blue I think) in the harness you can get BOTH lights on whenever hi beam is on, and only one on low beam. There was a recent thread on exactly this topic and how to do it in detail. On the lightning, each headlight is in its own housing, so there is no heat problem running both as many people have done without problems. Also, there is apparently no problem with the power for it either - I run an electric jacket, heated handgrips, and both headlights and have no problems with power. The silverstar H7 bulbs made the light "whiter" for me, but I'm not sure it was really brighter or not. Having both lights on obviously is a big difference. | ||
| Chadhargis |
A friend of mine runs those dang Silverstar bulbs in his bikes. I HATE riding in front of him. Those things will scald your eyeballs out! | ||
| Scoobytwo |
I have a 04 lightning what are my replacement bulb choices? Are the Silverstar bulbs any good? And where can I get them? | ||
| No_rice |
it must only be the s's that run just one light at a time? both my lights stay on on both my r's when the high is on. | ||
| Perry |
Like I said, the silverstars are whiter, though don't seem to be much brighter. Whiter makes it easier to see and be seen at night though. You get them for around $20 at Wal-mart or auto-part stores. | ||
| Sgthigg |
Thanks perry for the explanation! Kind of how I suspected it worked. I will probaly check into that thread you mentioned. Sound like something to check out to help increase visibility. I think these bulbs are pretty decent. My new low is as bright as my stock high. I noticed this because I replaced only one at first in the low because I am cheap and didnt want to drop another 20 if I didnt like em. I am definetly going to buy the high beam side next. Thanks Guys | ||
| Scoobytwo |
Hey Perry can you give me a part #? Thanks man | ||
| Sgthigg |
Depends on the model of bike you got. For a lightning xb12scg its the sylvania silvertars h7 55W bulb, for other bikes im not sure. Thats what worked in mine. | ||
| Fran_dog |
Short answer: The low beam is pointed lower than the high beam. Yes, some bulbs are brighter than others and some applications use different reflectors, but high and low beam doesn't relating to the bulbs intensity. | ||
| Lanson |
This is quoted from Buell's Q and A session on August 25, 2005 to the general public via transcript of the chat, regarding the Uly and Buells in general... The "Tony" mentioned is Tony Stefanelli, Director of XB platform... supermoto7: Why does only one headlight come on at one time? Tony: We wanted to keep the housing small and light. Therefore, if both lights are on, the heat from the bulbs will melt the chromed reflector. Additionally, there are actually government regulations on how bright the lights can be (as well as how dim). With only one bulb lit, we are at the limit of brightness. - Now, I ask you, were they just BS'ing the public regarding melting housings? Or the issue of too bright a light? If so...why lie? And if not lieing, how come so many people wire them to come on at the same time, and do not report melting? EVEN with higher wattage bulbs? I really want to get to the bottom of this before making my own mods. Also, I'd like to know why Tony mentioned those things, and if indeed they aren't true, why the hell say so.} | ||
| Glitch |
were they just BS'ing the public regarding melting housings? If you're designing, testing, and planning on selling a bike to the public, how many housings would you melt/degrade before you decided not to have both lights come on? After having both of mine on all the time for a summer, I noticed the "chrome" ain't so "chrome" any longer. This may not be the case for all XBS models. I do know of a few XBR models have lost the "chrome" inside the housing. |
