headlight

[diante]

does anyone know what headlight i need for my gs850gl, i was hoping to find a brighter one than i have. i

 

[Guest]

Standard halogen replacement bulb - 9003 I think...

 

[Guest]

A good upgrade would be the Sylverstar bulb, either by Sylvania, or even better, by Osram if you can find it. The same 55/60W, but considerably more light output.
Tony.

 

[BassCliff]

Hi,

Yes, I agree. The Sylvania Sliverstar H4 bulb is the bee's knees.

They are sold at my local automotive stores, about $20. Great investment.


Thank you for your indulgence,

BassCliff

 

[Steve]

If you have a choice, stay away from the blue-tinted bulbs.

And definitely stay away from some of the eBay-hyped bulbs that brag about "HID look" or "Plasma White" or "6000K color" or worse. Most of them are just darker blue tints to raise the apparent color of the bulb, but it's not the color that lights the road. In fact, blue lights will only be relfected by blue objects, and there are precious few of them below the horizon. Most of the stuff on the ground falls into the yellow, brown, red categories, perfectly lit up by WHITE lights.

Some of the Silverstars have a very light tint, they are not too bad, but I find that I can see much better when the glass on the bulb is clear. I think what I am using now in the Wing is the GE Xtra Vision +30 or something like that. But, I have a very distinct advantage of TWO bulbs with a very good reflector and beam spread, along with a monster alternator that has no problem driving those lights along with the two 100-watt driving lights, when necessary.

.

 

[Guest]

If you have a choice, stay away from the blue-tinted bulbs.
Some of the Silverstars have a very light tint, they are not too bad, but I find that I can see much better when the glass on the bulb is clear. I think what I am using now in the Wing is the GE Xtra Vision +30 or something like that.

That's correct, it's the N. American Sylvania Sylverstars that have the slight tint......the European Osram item I'm currently running has the completely clear bulb, (save for the dark tip, typical of all halogens). I understand the blueing on the glass effectively reduces the light output, to achieve that cool blue 'wannabe HID' look. That's probably why Sylvania's bulb, while still much brighter than stock has a +30 rating, while the Osram has a +50, and really throws down a searing beam. I got mine on ebay U.K., but now CAS and some other American vendors carry the clear European Sylverstar bulbs too.

Tony.

 

[Guest]

This is a link that shows many bulbs and their specs. They also have the reflectors if your old one is bad. I ran across their name at Bike Bandit and it turns out they are local to me. http://store.candlepower.com/h4hb29003bulbs.html

 

[DanTheMan]

If you have the sealed beam headlight as I do, it's a standard auto style sealed beam that can be purchased at any auto parts store. Just make sure you get a halogen and that all your connections are clean.

 

[Steve]

If you have the sealed beam headlight as I do, it's a standard auto style sealed beam that can be purchased at any auto parts store. Just make sure you get a halogen and that all your connections are clean.

If I had a sealed beam as you do, I would quickly replace it with an H4 setup from a newer bike or from someone like Candlepower.

The difference is not just night and day, it's more like life and death.

.

 

[Counter]

I would be careful with the Silverstars. There are several people who don't like them due to their relatively short life span. If you do a search on Google, you will see what I mean.

I am somewhat indifferent :| as I have had some that lasted for over a year and one that burned out in less than 6 months. Both were in my '97 Jetta. Yes, I did clean the bulbs with alcohol before putting them in my headlights.

Good luck either way.

 

[argonsagas]

Standard halogen replacement bulb - 9003 I think...

9004, also called H-4 is a dual-element high/low bulb.

Many recommend Sylvania, but I use the pseudo-HID xenon bulbs which are coated blue. The best temperature range is about 6000Kelvin, which is closest to daylight.

Above that number the light becomes more blue and lower numbers give more yellow light. I like these lights more than yellow or blue hues.
There can be as much difference between these and standard halogen as there is between sealed-beam and halogen.

 

[Steve]

Standard halogen replacement bulb - 9003 I think...

9004, also called H-4 is a dual-element high/low bulb.

Many recommend Sylvania, but I use the pseudo-HID xenon bulbs which are coated blue. The best temperature range is about 6000Kelvin, which is closest to daylight.

Sorry to disagree, Argon, but the H4 equivalent is as Mike says, a 9003. I use 9004 bulbs in my vans and they are NOT the same.

I also have to disagree with the use of blue-tinted bulbs. A true HID bulb generates those colors, so they are true colors. Any of the "pseudo-HID xenon bulbs" that you use actually filter out the useable light to give that blue look, reducing actual light to useless levels.

I got a set of "Plasma White" bulbs a couple of years ago, in 80/100 watt 'brightness', put them in my van and went for a drive. I cut my test ride short so I could get home to change them back to the stock 45/65 watt bulbs. There was not a whole lot of difference in road illumination between my parking lights and the "plasma white" headlights. Looking at the van as an oncoming car, yeah, it looked like it had HID lights, but I don't really care how it looks, I want to SEE.

.

 

[DanTheMan]

If I had a sealed beam as you do, I would quickly replace it with an H4 setup from a newer bike or from someone like Candlepower.

The difference is not just night and day, it's more like life and death.

.

I was wondering where to get those. I'll have to order one next month when I have some money again...Thanks!!!!

 

[MERC_DoD]

does the 81 450 use the same bulb?

 

[Steve]

If it has a replaceable bulb that fits into the back of the reflector, yes, it will be an H4 or a 9003. They are interchangeable.

I think that most of the GSs up through '79 had sealed-beam headlights, and from '80 on, used H4 bulbs in reflectors.

.

 

[argonsagas]

Sorry to disagree, Argon, but the H4 equivalent is as Mike says, a 9003. I use 9004 bulbs in my vans and they are NOT the same.

I also have to disagree with the use of blue-tinted bulbs. A true HID bulb generates those colors, so they are true colors. Any of the "pseudo-HID xenon bulbs" that you use actually filter out the useable light to give that blue look, reducing actual light to useless levels.

I got a set of "Plasma White" bulbs a couple of years ago, in 80/100 watt 'brightness', put them in my van and went for a drive. I cut my test ride short so I could get home to change them back to the stock 45/65 watt bulbs. There was not a whole lot of difference in road illumination between my parking lights and the "plasma white" headlights. Looking at the van as an oncoming car, yeah, it looked like it had HID lights, but I don't really care how it looks, I want to SEE.

.

You are correct about the number...9003 is correct....

We disagree on the colour, however.

Stock sealed beams put out mostly yellow light., usually with a Kelvin rating of about 2800/3200, with some going higher.

Standard halogen puts out more light quantity, and at a slightly higher colour temperature, but still yellow. They range from 3000k to 4000k

I tried the Sylvania's bulbs and while they are brighter than standard halogen, they were still too yellow. I believe they are rated at 4200k

The xenon bulbs with light blue coating work best for me.

They last just as long as Sylvania, and that colour temperature is closer to the accepted daylight average of 5500k.

Presuming the actual output in lumens is the same, the daylight temperature light provides a superior effect on perception to what yellow achieves.

I have tried the different bulbs on the same road for comparison, and definitely prefer the blue-film bulbs rated at 4800/5400k with max 6000k. I feel most strongly about this on nights with no moonlight while on roads that have no artificial illumination.


Continuing on colour:

I think we do agree that higher Kelvin numbers put out light that is increasingly blue, and, in the same manner that the lower numbers yield light that is yellow, the farther we move into blue the less effective they are for driving perception.



Where there may be a disagreement with others is that the true HID light that has a high colour output temperature falls into the same category of less-usable light produced at lower numbers by incandescent light.....the difference is colour. One is yellow, the other blue, but if they are equidistant from 5500, and of similar actual output, the net effect is similar, although too much blue is probably worse for more people's perception than too much yellow.

There usually is a considerably stronger output from HID than halogen, but if the outputs were the same as halogen then the often much higher colour temperature HID would not, COULD NOT, provide superior visibility to the human eye because of its being blue.

 

[Steve]

The xenon bulbs with light blue coating work best for me.

There is just no way I can argue that point. It certainly does NOT work for me. As I mentioned earlier, I tried some of the "Plasma White" bulbs that had a rather heavy blue tint, and in spite of being 80/100 watt bulbs, I just could not see.

Presuming the actual output in lumens is the same, the daylight temperature light provides a superior effect on perception to what yellow achieves.

This is the key to the whole thing.

For those that are interested, here is some information from Daniel Stern Lighting.
Look at the menu options in the left column, click on Tech. Then click on Bulbs. Then click on Blue. Read both of those articles.

.

 

[mighty13d]

I ordered two H4 Silverstar bulbs made by Osram from egay the other day. $6 per bulb out of Estonia I think it was. Cost me under $20 for two shipped. Just have to wait for the darn things to get here! The seller was really nice about the whole thing asking how I wanted them packaged and everything. I used the Sylvania ones in one of my old cars and they more than doubled how much I could actually see. I can't wait to throw one in my Bandit. It already has a killer reflector in it!

 

[dlanes]

You don't really want higher kelvin number, that's the light color not brightness. HID bulbs and halogen blubs are completely different. HID bulbs generate an arc and are much brighter than halogen which require proper housings designed for the light output. Tinted bulbs just generate a different color. Your eyes see red better than blue more clearly. Blue does produce some glare vs yellow. The only bulbs I recall are some GE came out with that cost about $30-$50 a bulb that produced more light at same wattage from the bulb design. Silverstar bulbs are extremely overpriced for tinted bulbs, and from my experience don't last long for some reason. Same with higher wattage bulbs.

 

[Guest]

I'm having real good luck with the Narva Range Power 50 #48861. It is a standard wattage Xenon H4 with no tinting. It is a very bright light, more white than a lot of the Halogen bulbs. 5000 degrees Kelvin is the higher end of the white lights, and they get more yellow as the degrees fall. 1895/1150 Lumens.