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brighter headlights?

  • Thread starter Thread starter shameless
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shameless

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I have the H4 bulb housing in my 1980 GS1000G, and LED bulbs aren't really in my budget. Would running a higher wattage bulb be out of the question for my bike? I didn't know if maybe the bike wouldn't be able to handle the extra wattage.
 
check the voltage at your bulbs and see how much voltage you are dropping. A headlamp relay mod might also help along with the usual connector cleaning.

The 55W H4 bulbs I have measured pull about 5 amps. Are you using 35 or 55 watt bulbs?

Not sure if there are higher rated bulbs, but with a relay you could do it if you lower some of your other loads with LED signals. They Can Be pretty cheap.
 
posplayr said:
Not sure if there are higher rated bulbs, ...
Click to expand...
Yes, there are higher rated bulbs. The stock bulbe are 55/60 or 55/65 for low/high beams. I have seen 55/100, 80/100 and 90/130.

The good:
- They are just a little bit brighter.

The bad:
- They draw more current, almost to the point of overloading the wires
- If your charging system isn't quite "right", and you do a lot of stop-and-go driving (engine idling), you will likely discharge your battery
- Unless you install a headlight cut-out while using the starter, there is even more load on the battery while starting
- They don't last as long

If you truly want brighter lights, save up for an LED light, it's worth it if you do much riding at night.
If you don't ride much at night, it's not worth the money, so just clean up your electrical connections to ensure they are as good as they can be.

.
 
A stop-gap solution, which worked well for years, were the Osram Silverstars, and the like - they knocked out ~30% more light for a standard wattage, so the charging system wouldn't be fazed by those. I had one in the GS and several in my cars, before the HIDs and LEDs were even thought of. I can honestly say, if your reflectors and lenses are of a half-decent design, you will see a worthwhile improvement for the same power consumption - I reckoned the Silver Star was as bright as my previous 100/60W. Only trouble with them is, many shady operators put a tint on their cheap-ass bulbs and fooled lots of boy racers into thinking they were getting Hi-Ouput lamps. Of course they weren't.
 
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