| Author | Message | ||
     Chainsaw |
SilverStars last about 6,000 miles. | ||
| Kowpow225 |
I'm running some bulbs from Eurodezigns.com which have a lifetime replacement. If one burns out, I pay about 7 bucks and a new one is shipped to me. Here's the link http://www.eurodezigns.com I've had good luck with them so far. And as a bonus, you can pick your color. | ||
| Kevinfromwebb |
Kowpow, very interesting. A couple of questions:how long do the bulbs last?, how do they compare with the stock bulbs visibility wise?. I'm guessing the 'color' is just the bulb itself and they put out a real white light when lit??? Kevin | ||
| Kowpow225 |
Kevin, I've had my bulbs in for 4000 miles so far without a bulb burnout. Visibility is slightly brighter than my old stockers, but that could be attributed to the 'whiter' light output, because the stock bulbs seem so yellow by comparison. I've got the blue ones. The colors appear more lifelike, and the contrast is kicked up a couple notches. They look closer to natural sunlight to me. If you're interested, I'll post some pics of my bulbs output alongside my dads stock bulbed Mean Streak. (They looked almost identical before I did the swap.) | ||
| Kevinfromwebb |
Kowpow, when you get a chance that would be cool to see the difference... Thanks, Kevin | ||
| Kowpow225 |
Kevin, I've got the pics taken but am still learning how to put them on here. Wanted to keep you informed and I didn't forget about it. | ||
| Kevinfromwebb |
Cool... No Rush, Thanks... Kevin | ||
| Kaese |
I did the SilverStars replacement and removed the plastic. Brighter, but in traffic up close, I angered some motorists to the point of giving me the 1 finger salute for being to bright in their rearview mirror. They didn't last as long either, about 3 months/6K miles. I re-installed the OEM bulbs. Now the high beam is dead. Must find a suitable replacement. I never was able to replace the bulb without removing the faring. | ||
| Kowpow225 |
This buds for you Kevin   | ||
| Sparky |
Well, I found out that HD's extended warranty does not cover a defective Firebolt headlight that emits degraded light output. These headlights should be RECALLED as a safety issue! After two years use and one replacement bulb the low beam was downright dangerous, not much brighter than a flashlight as someone said. Removing the front lens revealed a parabolic interior with a predominately flat gray surface and major dark spots where I'd guess the finish completely oxidized away. Aren't these things supposed to have a reflective chrome plate like finish? Geesh, what a POS. Tell me, what other motorcycle on the market has this problem? | ||
| Stealthxb |
it's a fricken lightbulb for cristsakes! | ||
| Fdl3 |
Not true Stealthxb. The reflective back plate definitely degrades to the point that the light beam no longer puts out a good light, no matter what the bulb. I just ordered a new headlight from Daves, and am also working up auxiliary lights. | ||
| Fullpower |
 try some PIAA 004x lamps, lashed to your forks, like this. | ||
| Darthane |
Replace the low beam with a high beam housing - no plate. | ||
| Stealthxb |
foot in mouth | ||
| Glitch |
Stealth, ya need some toe floss there dude? | ||
| Stealthxb |
yuck | ||
| Fdl3 |
Fullpower: How did you wire your lights? Do you have a separate switch that operates your PIAA lamps, or did you wire them in with your headlight switch? Darthane: That is exactly what I plan to do - replace the low-beam housing with a high-beam one. I had already removed the low-beam plate, but the low-beam light pattern is not the same, regardless of how I tried to adjust the low-beam headlight. Question to all: Do you think the existing circuitry on an XB9R can handle running both the low-beam AND the high-beam on the same circuit? I would like to wire the high-beam lamp in with the low-beam, so that when I have the light switch set to low, I get both the low and high beams. My thought process is, if I mount some auxiliary lights, maybe I can wire them into the high-beam circuitry. When I want the auxiliary lights on, I set the headlight switch to high. Then I would have both headlights and auxiliary lights on at the same time. Plus, the high-beam indicator light would then indicate when the auxiliary lights are on. | ||
| Darthane |
I'd be careful trying that, Fred. The low beam on a XB9R is run off of the switched ignition feed, which also powers sensors, your fuel pump, and injectors. Not a circuit you want to overload. If the wire gauge is large enough, you could probably get away with it, possibly by upping the fuse size one step. The lighting fuse, which currently controls the high beam and turn signals, should have no problem running additional lighting with the high beam removed, though. Course, you could just do it all and let us know what happens!  They do tend to make things like that with a considerable safety margin in them, so you may very well get away with not changing any fusing. | ||
| Kowpow225 |
I'd have to somewhat disagree with darthane here. Fusing it differently would be a temporary fix to a permanent problem. I think your right on the money with your other comments here. Using a different sized fuse is sort of cheating the system from its out. In a worst case scenario, that kind of thing could put too high of a load on your wiring and thus burn it up. It may work and most likely would, but essentially, putting a bigger fuse in it could overload that wiring. You'd be fooling it into using more current than it may be able to safely handle. | ||
| Darthane |
Hence my statement:
It's a 15A fuse, currently. If the main feed from the fuse is 20GA or even 18GA, I'd be leery about trying to pull any more current through there. If the main feed is 16GA, it can handle 20A just fine for extended periods - IIRC, the front lighting on XBs pull just under 5A apiece. | ||
| Henrik |
I've read, but not tried, that running headlights and aux lights directly off their own fused wire fed through a relay, is a good way to go. You power/swithc on the relay from the regular light switch. Some of the more electrically inclined here can no doubt explain it better. Henrik | ||
| Fdl3 |
Darthane: Heh, heh..I agree with you that the low-beam circuit is not one I would want to overload. Between you and me, I wouldn't blink an eye upping the fuse from 15A to 20A if needed. | ||
| Darthane |
Henrik's right. If you really want to do it right, you'd use the extra relay slot in the relay holder to put in a new feed for the aux lights. Or, since you wanted to have both headlamps on at once, you use the switched ignition feed that powers the low beam to turn on the relay, thus powering the high beam (relay coils generally draw only a quarter amp or so), then use the high beam feed to power your aux lights. If you're really interested in doing that, I think I actually have all the parts you need, and I could draw you up the instructions/schematic for it. | ||
| Henrik |
Darthane; instructions - please. I'm not great with wiring Henrik | ||
| Darthane |
Which way, Henrik? 1) Relay to power the aux lights (on with high beam) 2) Relay to power the high beam and use the former high beam lead for the aux lights (results in high beam being on with ignition and aux light controlled by high beam switch) Either way, I've probably got enough parts to make all the overlays for you. :-) I'll take a look-see when I get home this evening. | ||
| Henrik |
I think relay to power aux lights on with high beam would make sense - in that it would attract less attention from local town constabulary. A drawing of that would be great. Thanks Henrik | ||
| Fdl3 |
And (of course  ) I would prefer the latter option: relay to power the high and low beams on the low-beam switch; relay to power aux lights on the vacant high-beam switch. | ||
| Darthane |
LOL...I'll see if I can get them done tonight. No promises. I'm still trying to get a bathroom finished. | ||
| Bomber |
that setup could also be useful to battle the drivers that insist on using their driving/fog lamps at all times -- I wonder bout those folks, sometimes! |
