Author |
Message |
Ktmguy
| Posted on Monday, July 20, 2015 - 02:56 pm: |
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Simple question. Need to replace the low beam light on my Uly, it burned out 2 months ago, been running on high beam.. Seeing a lot of cheap bulbs (7-12 bucks) on Ebay.. Are they any good? I have inspection coming up at end of month. |
Uly_man
| Posted on Monday, July 20, 2015 - 03:07 pm: |
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You can use any H7 bulb but the ones made for bikes are more heavy duty to deal with the bikes vibs and use conditions. I would not fit another standard bulb to this bike. A HID kit improves the lighting a hell of a lot. |
Natexlh1000
| Posted on Monday, July 20, 2015 - 03:24 pm: |
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Personally, I just run the cheapos from wallyworld. They lasted at least as long as the ones that came with the bike. Avoid the silverstars at all cost; you probably won't make it out of the parking lot. |
Tootal
| Posted on Monday, July 20, 2015 - 05:20 pm: |
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Been running these for a long time. They last long and can take vibration. Only blew when I was spiking over 15 volts when the stator died. No problems since. http://store.candlepower.com/osraulhiouh7.html |
Hughlysses
| Posted on Monday, July 20, 2015 - 06:56 pm: |
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If you want long life, just don't be tempted to buy the super-duper incredibly brighter versions by various manufacturers. The life of these bulbs is inversely proportional to their increased brightness. The fine print on the back of the package says that, but I suspect most people miss that part. |
Sharkguy
| Posted on Monday, July 20, 2015 - 07:07 pm: |
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A+ on the Osram 65 watt bulb. Been running one for the past couple of years on the 09. |
Afsoc_commando
| Posted on Monday, July 20, 2015 - 08:49 pm: |
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I am running LEDs and love them... Instant on and Flash to Pass unlike the HIDS I had which cooked the reflector ruining it. There are discussions on the board with pictures and sources. Be careful of the ones you get since they will hit the frame if you go the LED route. You will want a low profile for the fan element. |
Timbobuell
| Posted on Monday, July 20, 2015 - 09:34 pm: |
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massive post on advrider about cyclops led setup. Seems to be the new thing. My Uly has double hid. 35 Watt low 55 watt high. Great light, cheap at DDM. Will destroy reflector over time. Can't cycle high beam but a trick I do on country roads is keep up power and adjust my squeeze on the front brake to dip beam as car passes. Never get flashed. and or install advmonster 60 led lights. They are the bomb. Running just the low beam 35 watt ddm hid in traffic I also never get flashed. was like 35 bucks, lifetime guarantee. |
Court
| Posted on Monday, July 20, 2015 - 10:21 pm: |
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What's the short version of the Cyclops? Any Uly recommendations? I'd be riding mine tonight . . . but the lights just don't cut it. |
Ratbuell
| Posted on Monday, July 20, 2015 - 11:20 pm: |
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I have a DDMtuning HID low beam (4300K, 35W), and an LED high beam (I'm pretty sure it's a 2400 lumen). I also run PIAA 35W projector fogs wired to the high beam, but am thinking of converting them to LED bulbs just for wattage draw. My lo/hi are both 4300K color; the PIAAs are 2500K (amber) for some color contrast. Makes a HUGE difference. I do the same on my '14 Grand Cherokee - HID hi/lo, factory 4300K, but I swapped 2500K fog light bulbs just for the contrast/depth. |
Timbobuell
| Posted on Monday, July 20, 2015 - 11:47 pm: |
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cyclops has kits for popular bikes and are great, direct (led) bulb replacement but not Uly. you would be a beta tester. as far as I know. |
Ktmguy
| Posted on Tuesday, July 21, 2015 - 07:44 am: |
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All good info guys, I appreciate the help! |
Gamdh
| Posted on Friday, July 31, 2015 - 11:53 am: |
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I ran the Cyclops H7 on my '06.. This was the tread that got me to try them http://www.badweatherbikers.com/buell/messages/142 838/750202.html I liked them a lot.. had the DDM's 35watt HID's prior to that. The LED's were not quite as bright as the HID's, but definitely brighter than stock. (Message edited by gamdh on July 31, 2015) |
Timbobuell
| Posted on Friday, July 31, 2015 - 12:29 pm: |
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Running the cyclops high/low on another bike. Great upgrade, not as much light as my dual hid on the uly but close enough and less or no chance of reflector damage. When I need to go back into the uly headlight I'm going to change the high beam to cyclops led. Then it will be more usable. The high beam led on the other bike is bright to the point of making street signs reflections close to distractive. |
Uly_man
| Posted on Saturday, August 01, 2015 - 05:02 pm: |
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The Uly, like many other modern bikes/cars, relies on the reflector to make a "light beam pattern" rather than the old system of a focusing element (glass) at the front of the head light. While this is ok with standard H7 lamps some HID and LED systems have lamps that have a light output center which can be either to far forward or backwards which can give a incorrect beam pattern. Check that on low/ high beam has a sharp edge to the beam pattern and adjust them (for height) with you/ extra weight on the bike. Modern "slim line" HIDs are great, very cheap and start up very quickly even for high beam use. If you are going to use these try and get them with lamps that have a metal mount and ceramic base for the lamp. A HID 35 watt lamp is equal to a 55 watt Halogen lamp. Any more will deferentially kill the reflector in time. The key issue is the quality of light and the beam pattern NOT the amount of light that is output from the system. |
Sagehawk
| Posted on Saturday, August 01, 2015 - 09:30 pm: |
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Tootal: Do you run this in low beam only or what combination of bulb's to hi to lo? These may be good for Mazda truck of mine as well. |
Sagehawk
| Posted on Saturday, August 01, 2015 - 10:36 pm: |
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Tootal: Do you run this in low beam only or what combination of bulb's to hi to lo? These may be good for Mazda truck of mine as well. |
Tootal
| Posted on Sunday, August 02, 2015 - 06:06 pm: |
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I run them in Hi and Lo. I did run an extra ground wire to the frame because I run both lights on during Hi beam operation and thought the single ground wire for both lights might not be enough. |
Cyclonedon
| Posted on Sunday, August 02, 2015 - 11:47 pm: |
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When I first purchased my Uly, I had heard how bad the headlights were so I rode it all day and took it home at sunset because I did' want to be caught out at night. After sitting there a couple of hours, I said the hell with it and went for an evening ride. I don't think the lights are bad at all! I'm still riding it with stick H7 bulbs with a little over 44,000 miles on it now with no intention of changing anything! Happy riding everyone! |
Sagehawk
| Posted on Monday, August 03, 2015 - 12:00 am: |
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Thanks tootal! |
Arry
| Posted on Monday, August 03, 2015 - 05:17 am: |
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Cyclonedon, I agree, I don't think the stock headlights are bad at all. If I did a lot of night riding I might feel differently. |
Cyclonedon
| Posted on Monday, August 03, 2015 - 12:12 pm: |
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Most of my riding is in the evenings! |
Zac4mac
| Posted on Monday, August 03, 2015 - 11:28 pm: |
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I did the "both lamps on high" mod and that works well. I run Silverstars and have only replaced one in 15k+ miles. also run a set of 55w PIAA spots for black dark.
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Natexlh1000
| Posted on Tuesday, August 04, 2015 - 08:40 am: |
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15K miles on silverstars?! are you a wizard? I put those in my wife's corolla and she got less than that before they winked out. |
Twotalltodd
| Posted on Thursday, September 17, 2015 - 01:59 am: |
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I am running leds from cycle gear, I assume they are equivalent to the cyclops with the both on jeep. Power draw is down from stock and there is more light. Not being terribly impressed I then put on clearwater Darla's on the front wheel. I have lots of light now but have to be hypervigilant about dimming for oncoming traffic. |
Etennuly
| Posted on Thursday, September 17, 2015 - 09:22 am: |
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I'm in the camp for being quite satisfied running stock H7 bulbs. It qualified as much better than stock from the time I switched it to run both lights on Hi beam. Believe it or not, I ride a little slower and more alertly after dark. From my experience of riding with several different folks at night, it seems that those hunting a brighter light system are riding in the dark, or wanting to, at the same speeds that they do in the daytime light. Problem is that often with a night time animal strike, they hit you, or get unavoidably in your path of travel. Brighter lights won't stop that from happening, it'll just give you a better view of what you are about to hit or be hit by. And for the most part, you are inadvertently causing more of a problem by blinding other drivers coming at you, or suffering your HIDs in their mirrors. Try driving truck at night with HIDs on your ass. It can become quite dangerous. |
Rayycc1
| Posted on Thursday, September 17, 2015 - 03:11 pm: |
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i have 17k miles on my silverstars both on and off road...in a lot of rain too... |
Ourdee
| Posted on Sunday, September 20, 2015 - 10:27 pm: |
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I ran silverstars on the uly when the VR was going bad. They lasted as long as any other bulb I put in. |