| Author | Message | ||
     Yoda |
My headlights are dangerously dim. My bike has 13000 miles on it and I would like to upgrade the headlights. All this talk is confusing. Could someone PLEASE HELP! I rarely ride at night anymore because I literally can't see. Thanks in advance. | ||
| Sparky |
The easy fix is to replace the headlight assy's. What happens is the reflector inside gradually loses its shiny silver coating. I had to replace mine. I think the later XBR headlights have a more long lasting silver coating as the replacement still seems to throw a bright beam. Sparky 03 XB9R | ||
| Fdl3 |
I concur with Sparky. I have been there, done that. | ||
| Yoda |
Is that a better solution than brighter bulbs? Please feel free to leave any input because I am truly clueless as to how to fix this or what way would be best. All advise is greatly appreciated! | ||
| Yoda |
Fdl3, why are we not riding together? I live in Dickson (40 miles west of Nashville). | ||
| Fdl3 |
Re lights: Brighter bulbs *may* help some, but the real culprit is the reflective coating on the inside of the housing degrades to the point that it is no longer reflective. Even with brighter lights, the output will still not be up to par due to the lack of light reflection. The headlight housing can be opened up, but whatever you do, NEVER attempt to clean the reflective coating. A degraded coating looks dirty, but if you attempt to clean it, it will just wipe off! You have been warned...  Re locale: I actually live in Hendersonville. During the week, I commute on the bike to Franklin. It is very rare that I get a chance to ride on the weekends. There is a group of local riders that post on CycleForums.com in the Sportbikes..Tennessee..Nashville/Mid-Tenn section. They usually have regular bike nights and rides. My parents have a farm in Charlotte. My family and I lived there while our current house was being built. I, too, loved Hwy 49 - even though it was only the stretch between Jackson Chapel and Ashland City. I never got a chance to ride Hwy 49 westward/northward from that point. | ||
| Yoda |
I contacted Bumpus HD in the 'boro and they said the headlight assembly is about 55 dollars per side. They claimed it is all inclusive and comes with everything I need to replace my lights. Does that sound about right? | ||
| Gowindward |
Lamp on left is about 6 months old. Lamp on right is about 16 months old. Like was said above the chrome reflective coating breaks down and the lamps output gets VERY POOR. About $50 bucks per light is about right.  | ||
| Sparky |
Sounds good. You probably only need the low beam unit though. FWIW, I took my old degraded headlight housing to a plastic chrome plating outfit where they chromed the whole thing. Looks spiffy and the reflector now has a hard plated finish instead of that factory stuff that wipes off. Haven't installed or tested it yet though. Cost about $30. | ||
| Gowindward |
Sparky, Details on the plastics plating shop? Name, website etc.... | ||
| Court |
ooops....never mind. I just saw the "DIM BULBS" and thought it was a thread I'd be comfortable with. . . didn't realize you had a problem with your lighting | ||
| Sparky |
Court,  You make my day. OK. I was the guinea pig. Classic Components, Santa Ana is the place I went to because they had a booth at the Long Beach IMS and touted high quality plastic chrome plating, most any color you wanted. I must admit they do good work, but the office seemed to have lost my order and didn't get around to it for about 6 months. So, they knocked off $10 bucks because I had waited so long. I didn't mind because I wasn't in a hurry for it. On the other hand, they plated the whole thing, whereas I just wanted the insides, the reflector portion, plated. Maybe if they just did the insides, it would have been less? Anyway, this shop is huge, in the center of the SoCal custom car/bike culture. I'm sure there are other shops out there that are competetive in price and service. Any more than $30 though, I'd pass. | ||
| Yoda |
You guys rock!!! They say a picture is worth a thousand words and that photo proves it. I will be replacing my assemblies soon. Thanks for all the help. | ||
| Court |
 | ||
| Fdl3 |
Goindward: In the pic you posted of the two headlight assemblies, the new one on the left has some slight differences from the one on the right. Is the one on the left a newer model? If so, what is your opinion regarding the new coating? Is it better? Have you tried wiping it? Just curious... | ||
| Fullpower |
must be worth at least a brazillian | ||
| Sparky |
megapixels | ||
| Gowindward |
The reflector on the left is for the high beam. Note the shape is much more round. The low beam has an oval shape to it. I did wipe some dust off the left reflector, which was a mistake. It caused some fine scratches. I replaced the low beam with a new lamp assembly and I could not see any difference in the quality of the part from what I took off. I'm putting 14K miles a year on the bike and figure head lamp replacement will have to be an annual job. I'm currently on second high beam lamp and third low beam lamp. I have not used anything but 55w bulbs. Here is the source for these poor quality lights www.ecie.it/eng/default.asp http://www.ecie.it/_upload/file/cont_b17Iyl_02-01_Gruppi_Ottici_luglio2005.pdf Pages 18 & 19 http://www.ecie.it/_upload/file/cont_c2Wj04_02-02_Gruppi_Ottici_luglio2005.pdf page 7 I have looked into Hella's but they don't make anything that is a perfect fit. Some guys on the board have fitted Hella 90mm lamps, but they had to cut on the fairing. I just can not bring myself to do that. They also make a 50mm lamp that looks like it would be just a wee bit to small for the opening in the fairing. | ||
| Cruisin |
You are correct, the 90mm Hella lamps do require opening the fairing holes (from 3 1/4 inch to 3 3/4, I believe. Honestly though, I've been riding home in the dark lately and wow, talk about a difference. Got the kit from http://www.rallylights.com/ - Used some JB weld to build up the bracket - they bolt in nicely and wire right in. open the fairing holes slightly and voila! My low beam overshines the cars I'm following. The high beam makes it seem like daytime (well, almost). They look pretty sweet too!     |
