H4 headlight upgrade

[Hoomgar]

I have always been happy with the sealed beam on my 78 GS1000 bikes.

Well shock of shocks. I just found out last night for the first time since owning this bike for almost 14 years why I was always happy with the headlight that was in it and couldn't see what all the fuss was over upgrading to an H4 assembly.

It already has it! Must have been done back in the late 80's or early 90's just before I bought the bike. It has a Stanley H4 headlamp assembly in it now. The bulb has lasted me almost 14 years and however long it was in there before I bought the bike.

Anyway, I wont be needing to do this upgrade on at least one of my GS bikes

[earlfor]

And the really good news is that if you replace the bulb with a silverstar, the light output that you were already happy with will be more than doubled. :-) :-)

Earl

I have always been happy with the sealed beam on my 78 GS1000 bikes.

Well shock of shocks. I just found out last night for the first time since owning this bike for almost 14 years why I was always happy with the headlight that was in it and couldn't see what all the fuss was over upgrading to an H4 assembly.

It already has it! Must have been done back in the late 80's or early 90's just before I bought the bike. It has a Stanley H4 headlamp assembly in it now. The bulb has lasted me almost 14 years and however long it was in there before I bought the bike.

Anyway, I wont be needing to do this upgrade on at least one of my GS bikes

[Hoomgar]

And the really good news is that if you replace the bulb with a silverstar, the light output that you were already happy with will be more than doubled. :-) :-)

Earl

I have always been happy with the sealed beam on my 78 GS1000 bikes.

Well shock of shocks. I just found out last night for the first time since owning this bike for almost 14 years why I was always happy with the headlight that was in it and couldn't see what all the fuss was over upgrading to an H4 assembly.

It already has it! Must have been done back in the late 80's or early 90's just before I bought the bike. It has a Stanley H4 headlamp assembly in it now. The bulb has lasted me almost 14 years and however long it was in there before I bought the bike.

Anyway, I wont be needing to do this upgrade on at least one of my GS bikes

I believe I will be looking into that. It is obvious from many things I have found over the years that the PO of my first GS loved it a lot more than the PO did of my most recent one :?

[maparker]

How big is a 7" headlight???

Everybody seems really cool about answering stupid questions so here goes....I want to do this conversion, but when I measure the diameter of my headligh it is more like 6 5/8" :? Does this mean that I don't have a 7" headlight, or is 7" the diameter of the ring that retains the bulb in the housing? Keep in mind that there may be funky stuff as far as lights and wiring, the guy I got this from had taken off an ENORMOUS, ugly, white fiberglass faring which contained turn signals, so who knows if the headlight assembly he put on it is stock.

Thanks all,
Mark

[Anonymous]

Re: How big is a 7" headlight???

Everybody seems really cool about answering stupid questions so here goes....I want to do this conversion, but when I measure the diameter of my headligh it is more like 6 5/8" :? Does this mean that I don't have a 7" headlight, or is 7" the diameter of the ring that retains the bulb in the housing? Keep in mind that there may be funky stuff as far as lights and wiring, the guy I got this from had taken off an ENORMOUS, ugly, white fiberglass faring which contained turn signals, so who knows if the headlight assembly he put on it is stock.

Thanks all,
Mark

I don't know about your 450 but my '82 850L came with an odd ball 6" diameter headlight. That is the diameter of headlight lense & to my knowledge is not made by anybody in the aftermarket. Don't know why Suzuki did that, probably the same logic they used when they made my 1500 Intruder's HL 7 1/2"???? The 850L did come with a halogen lite (repaceable H4 bulb). Maybe you can find one in a junk yard or on Ebay?

ED

[pano]

I happened to be at the autoparts store yesterday and picked up the silverstar H4ST for 20 dollars.

[Anonymous]

The JC Whitney part worked perfectly!

Same voltage, new headlight, fits perfect! Now if I can only get my hands on one of those Silverstars... :-)

1982 Suzuki GS750E

[Anonymous]

If I can make a suggestion, the SilverStars from Europe are much brighter than the ones available in North America.

Apparently you should look for the "Osram" name only (made in Germany). If it says Osram-Sylvania is from North America.

I order a set of 'Stars for my Honda Civic from the UK and I am very pleased with them.

[Anonymous]

http://www.powerbulbs.co.uk/

This is where I ordered from.

[Hoomgar]

If I can make a suggestion, the SilverStars from Europe are much brighter than the ones available in North America.

Apparently you should look for the "Osram" name only (made in Germany). If it says Osram-Sylvania is from North America.

I order a set of 'Stars for my Honda Civic from the UK and I am very pleased with them.

Are they the same wattage? If so, what makes them brighter?

[Anonymous]

The North American bulbs have a blue coating on them that filters some of the usuable light. They look more "white".

The german ones are clear bulbs and therefore you get the full spectrum coming through. They are a bit more "yellow", though.

Interesting site: http://www.danielsternlighting.com/t...good/good.html

[beby99]

Interesting read....thanks.

[maparker]

I wanted to do this, but the headlight in my bike is a weird size (~6 1/2) so I figured I'd try something. I pried up the tabs holding the bulb in my old sealed beam, pried out the bulb (you have to break it as part of the process) and took off the ruber washer that it had. I drilled a couple small holes in the flange that the old bulb sat in and in the metal flange on an H4 bulb, ran a couple of pieces ofwire through the holes. I put the rubber washer back in and sat the H4 on it. Used the pieces of wire to twist the bulb tight against the housing and its stable as can be. I haven't ridden with it at night yet (just picked up my plates and ins. today ) but it sure works great in my garage! Total cost $4.99 for the H4! I did take some picks if anybody wants to try, but it really was easy!

[Boondocks]

Hi


In a not so serius test in Sveden,they put the 3 bulbs in the same car and tested how many meters the road vas visible.

1 PHILIPS H4 Vision Plus
2 General electric H4 Megalight Plus
3 Silvania silverstar


Philips won,,,

I have Philips 55/60 in my GS

As mentioned by Fatpat, the blue-coated Silvania Silverstar is NOT the same bulb as the clear Osram Silverstar, nor does it produce as much light output as the Osram.

The Sylvania Silverstar bulb costs twice as much but is no brighter than the (clear) Sylvania XtraVision bulb. The Sylvania Silverstar high beam (60 watt) life is rated at 1/3 of the XtraVison. (See the Sylvania Bulb Comparison). In order for a blue coated bulb to produce the same output as a clear bulb and recover the coating absorption losses, it must be comparatively overdriven (thinner filament). This results in a shorter life.

There were 40 bulbs tested in the Philips test center in the Auto Express H4 Bulb Tests. The winner was the clear Osram Silverstar. The Osram Silverstar is legal all over the world except the U.S. (it hasn't been tested by the DOT). I believe this is because the Osram Silverstar bulb is not normally exported to the U.S., since Sylvania has the domestic market with their expensive "Silverstar" knockoff.

A 2 pack of the highest rated Osram Silver Star H4 may be purchased in the US at California Sport Touring for $27.80 plus $3.85 (USPS Priority Mail) for a total of $31.65. At $15.80 per bulb, this is a good deal for the best bulb available. I ordered my 2 pack last weekend and received it in Wednesday's mail.

I am pleased with the price and the performance.