| Author | Message | ||
     Dschley |
A newbie here, great Site!!!! At night when I ride my 03 XB9S, when there are no other vehicles around, my headlight is not enough for ample light. I do not want to ride around w/ my brites on, but I would upgrade my bulb. I saw the xenon bulb on the buell website and thought about it. Is that the best bulb around that is street legal? If not, then where can I get the best bulb at? And is it easy to install? I tried to look at the headlight assembly, and could not figure it out(Not good w a wrench)?!?! Thanks for the info and putting up w newbie questions. dschley | ||
| Frausty12r |
Not sure about the lightnings, but you should be able to remove the rubber cover from the back side of the light, and the bulb is an H3. I purchased sylvania Silverstars for my Firebolt, which are a Xenon spin-off, little more white in color, and about 18$ a piece. | ||
| Bruceclay |
I purchased sylvania Silverstars for my Firebolt that's great to hear! I haven't scoured the world or anything but my Firebolt's headlights are the pitts! when I had a bike with H3's I ran an 80/100 and got really spoiled! Now, where did 'ya get those Siverstars???  | ||
| Cataract2 |
Or you could go with a full HID upgrade. About $300 but from what I'm told it's work every penny. | ||
| Midknyte |
SilverStars are a little better. Mostly, the light is whiter and that in itself helps. Go to Walmart, Pep Boys et' al charge almost twice as much. FYI, both bulbs (high/low) are actually the same - H3. The difference is in the housing/lens. | ||
| Frausty12r |
Also, not sure if it's legal where you live, I know it's not here, and I don't really care, I'd rather be seen than not. I took the low beam lamp assembly off the bike, and split it open. Theres a semicircular piece of metal with a tab on it, thats screwed to the bottom of the casing. I also removed that, so now, I have two high beams, one for low, and two for high.. haven't had someone pull out in front of me in a long time. Advanced Auto (yuck) or autozone. They have them in the replacement headlamp section, just remember it's an H3 bulb. (Message edited by frausty12r on August 04, 2005) | ||
| Xbolt12 |
"Now, where did 'ya get those Siverstars??? " Kragan carries the H3 which is used in the Firebolt. They probably carry the (H4 or H7?) bulb used in the Lightning as well. It was a worthwhile upgrade. I usually run both beams except at city stop lights and it was still not enough light before. Now I am satisfied. Oh, also I took the little deflector off the low beam. | ||
| Elff |
After 2 nite, I definately need to upgrade. The lack of visibility on turns is downright dangerous. | ||
| Elff |
BTW It should be an H7 bulb. I just found em on American Sport Bike's website and am placing an order. I would love the LSL Mig Dual Projector Beam Lights but I just can't justify $500 more for the bike at this moment in time. | ||
| Blitzen |
Do the H3 Hyper Halogen Bulbs, listed at Am sportbike fit in the xb12r firebolt? | ||
| Nadz |
Try these guys- they have a full line of race-caliber stuff. Various power and color temp ratings. http://www.rallylights.com/ | ||
| Bruceclay |
I just got some. The Walmart I went to didn't have them and PepBoys was closed. I found an Auto Zone open and the had them for $19.99 each. I just changed the high beam (as the low was too hot to handle) and there is a big difference. I think that adjusting the aim will help also but Im happy for now. At least till i see what they have where Nadz said to look. BC | ||
| Cruisin |
Blitzen - yes, the H3 bulbs Al has listed are for the R. He has H7 bulbs for the S bikes. I put in the H3 bulbs a month or so ago. WOW. Bright white light is all you get. I had put in some 100W bulbs before and although it didn't melt the housing, the plastic is rippled slightly. The 55W bulbs he has put out as much if not more light than the old 100W bulbs. Highly recommended. If Al's selling it, it has to be good. | ||
| Hkwan |
For those of you with the Firebolt, when you take apart the housing of the lights do you notice the silver coating has degraded? There was a thread 1/2 yr ago stating that. The Firebolt's light is probably the worst among all the bikes out there. | ||
| Frausty12r |
It's also one of the nicest looking projectors out there  I was thinking about just re-coating the backing with silver engine enamel. Protects up to 600* f, and I doubt seriously if those lights see about 350*. Unless you go with a 100w high output.. then maybe you'll skim 450* but you're then posed with melting the plastic. | ||
| Fullpower |
Dschly: the answers to your post are generally ignorant of the fact that your stock headlamp assembly contains (2) each H7 halogen lamps. a nice upgrade in light output can be obtained from the installation of the PIAA superwhite bulbs. they are significantly brighter, but they are expensive, and dont last very long, i get around 120 hours out of them. a MUCH better solution is to spend the 250 bucks and several hours of snaking wires, and set up a real High Intensity Discharge system. it will require the mounting of a ballast, an igniter, and an Arc lamp bulb, suitably modified for your (H7) headlamp housing. the HID system requires a short warm-up period before reaching full brightness, so is only suitable for the LOW BEAM. to install the HID you must wire direct to the un-used position in the fuse box under the seat, so that the HID comes on and STAYS on whenever the key is ON. you do not want the HID to shut off during hi beam operation. it is not meant to be cycled off and on repeatedly. Anyway if you ride at all in the dark, out in the sticks, it is a very worthwhile upgrade in light output. so far have 7000 miles on mine, works great. got it from canada ( they are illegal in the United Socialist States of America) try xenondepot.com or some others. | ||
| 99buellx1 |
http://www.buell.com/en_us/bikes_gear/accessories/productslist.asp?Menu_ID=4&ID= 2181&MITEM=74 | ||
| Bikertrash05 |
My Lightning's headlights were wired backwards from the factory, so I ride with my brights on all the time without the annoying blue dash light. I work 3rd shift, so I get plenty of night riding in, and I have only been flashed a few times. Most cagers are completely motorcycle ignorant and don't know I have my brights on, but they SEE me! | ||
| Tomd |
Dschley, Has it seemed dim since you have had the bike or just in the last few months? The lights on the XB's seem a bit down on power, most likely due to the small size of them, but since you said on high beam it seems better, when is the last time you swapped out the low beam bulb? Halogen bulbs gradually lose candlepower. This is due to degradation and oxidation of the filament. Seen as the dark soot on the inside of the bulb. From what I understand, the loss is about 8 to 15% per hundred hours of use depending on brand and quality. As the bikes keep the low beam on full time, it is easy to have a couple hundred hours on the low beam and be down on lighting. Try a new bulb and see if it becomes acceptable before you drop a lot of cash on a HID Tom | ||
| Lonexb |
or you could just purchase another high beam housing. switch it out for the low beam housing and aim it down a little. so not to blind on coming traffic. | ||
| Bbstacker |
I took the stupid little metal thingy out of my low beam (9R) and still run 24-7 with my brights on. Almost nobody flashes me, but if they do, I know they see me. | ||
| Thin |
do you have to take the fairing off to get to the little metal thingy? I swapped out with the silverstars but still would like it a little brighter. There are a lot of deer where I live!! | ||
| Bikertrash05 |
Fullpower, do you have any pics of your install? I am seriously considering HID, and $200 ain't a bad price! |
