| Author | Message | ||
     Bking |
I had a H7 burn out, so thought I'd go for some of those bright/white bulbs. Got a set of Sylvania Silverstars on sale: $32. You can always use brighter lights on the Uly. One burnt out in 1,000 miles. Bad bulb? Damn. Saw some info about a bright H7 on line that had an orange glow: $45. Looked cool with my black windscreen. Maybe 300 miles, both burned out - WTF? Do I have an electrical problem? Open the windscreen again. Checked all the wires for whatever. Maybe my "both headlights on" mod was messing up, maybe my "flash brights" to operate garage door opener took a crap? Couldn't find any wiring problems, not blowing fuses. Smearing some clear silicone sealer on some questionable looking connections made me feel better. Installed a set of Sylvania Silverstar Ultras. Man, that's got to be the ticket: $41. 50 miles and they both are out? This is BS! You would think a fuse would blow or other bulbs would blow if I had a electrical spike. How many times is this now removing my Uly's windscreen in the last 5 years - 35 times? At least I've gotten very proficient at it. Couldn't find anything wrong with wiring. Screw it, I put in the cheapest H7's from Pep Boys:$27. Have lasted now 600 miles. Only thing I can figure is the V-Twin vibrations was killing those expensive brighter bulbs, or at least I hope so. --Bob | ||
| Windrider |
Check voltage. | ||
| Mark_weiss |
1. Motorcycle specific bulbs are much more robust. 2. Read the label. Silverstar Ultras are rated for about 1/4 the life of their regular offerings. | ||
| Reepicheep |
Yup. Silverstars are expensive junk (IMHO). It was the main reason I switched to HID... it was cheaper in the long run. | ||
| Lastcyclone |
VR (voltage regulator) is bad. Maybe more, your stator is the original source causing your VR to emit excess voltage. Went through the same last fall after 3 bulb replacements in a week. I don't go with the vibration theory becuase the original bulb (regular car type) lasted more than 30,000 miles. | ||
| Sperz1 |
Another VR post here. My bike did the same thing. | ||
| Mikef5000 |
1) Check VR (test voltage while bike is running at various RPMS, it shouldn't be going over 14.5) 2) Buy HID Conversion (ddmtuning.com) | ||
| Xbimmer |
Agree check the VR, when you replace it consider something better than stock: http://www.badweatherbikers.com/buell/messages/142 838/660665.html?1326757511 When you fix that if you stay with H7's use bulbs with a "LL" designation (I use Wagner), they're not as white but extremely durable, survived lots of spikes before I changed out my VR recently. | ||
| Billyo |
Silverstars are junk. They don't last a year in the wife's car (not a v-twin). | ||
| Pontlee77 |
Here in Spain as my boulb died on a saturday evening i went to a chinese shop, got for 6$ a pack of 2 boulbs, fitter one, much whiter light i've had it for over 4k miles and still working. | ||
| Mark_weiss |
I had a similar headlight problem a few years ago. Started with a Silverstar, it died quick, went with a standard automotive type, it lasted a bit longer. Checked the electrical system, even rode with a voltmeter attached. No issues. Bought a motorcycle specific Phillips bulb at Cycle Gear for a bit more than the Silverstar cost. No problems after that. | ||
| Tootal |
Here's what I use. I only blew these out when my stator shorted and I was sending 17 volts to my headlights. They wouldn't take that but once I changed the stator and VR I've had no problems for a lot of miles and much brighter than stock. These are racing bulbs and seem pretty tough. No heat issues in case you were wondering. http://store.candlepower.com/osraulhiouh7.html | ||
| Johnboy777 |
"I pulled this from AdvRider": ...Osram H7/H9 bulb review: Heckuva bulb! LINK: http://www.advrider.com/forums/showthread.php?t=56 3131 To my way of thinking, this is the best option. Our reflectors were never designed for HID's - consequently, they throw light all over the damn place. I've had both and prefer the H7/H9 John | ||
| Swampy |
I bought SilverJunks for the car, one of them burnt out in two weeks! I was wondering why this happened...now I know. I met a guy that said he could do HID on the car for $70, has anyone had any experience with the HID on cars? | ||
| Rwven |
I tried the PIAA lamps in my car, they don't last either. I'd prefer to put a 100 watter in my high beam but I've seen the result posted here on BadWeb so I won't even try it. I've got 35W HIDs in both sockets on my Uly. They work great. The Uly optics aren't bad with them either, I'm not saying they are a perfect match but there is so much extra light from the HIDs that there is a dramatic gain in light output. I run both beams on with high beam so the short lag with the highs coming up bright doesn't bother me and they re-strike immediately if you only have to dip them occasionally for oncoming traffic. If I have to signal I flash my PIAA driving lights instead. Oh yeah, the PIAA lamps that came with them didn't last very long either..the Osrams i replaced them with are doing fine though. | ||
| Rr_eater |
SWAMPY DON'T DO IT! Putting plain wrap HIDs in our Ulys is one thing, visibility being one and being visable another. BUT, putting HID bulbs in automotive headlights that were NOT designed for them will be a serious danger to other drivers, especially on two lane roads. Sure, YOUR visibility will be better, but you will blind oncoming traffic, you will blind anyone you follow from being able to see rearward besides your lights, and in general it is unsafe to everyone. After my daughters almost head on collision with another care on a narrow two lane road here in Washington, the accident investigators found that the car following my daughter had illegal HID headlights, and as the driver of the car that hit her said she was blinded by headlights, they found that the driver behind my daughter had blinded the oncoming driver, causing her to fail to turn back into her lane coming around the curve, and thus striking my daughters car in the drivers front fender and door. On our Ulys is one thing, but in a car not designed for them, with tonage on their side, not a good idea, IMO. Bruce | ||
| Mark_weiss |
That all depends on the design of the HID bulb. If bulb is a properly designed replacement for an H-whatever, the light source of the HID bulb will be placed at the same location as the filament in an incandescent bulb. Properly installed, both bulbs will yield the same light pattern. When I installed a set of DDM HIDs in my wife's auto, I checked the beam pattern before and after. If anything, the HID beam cut-off lines were a bit more distinct. | ||
| Uly_man |
There are some confusing factors about Halogen lamps and HIDs with the XB light system. The first one is that the XB light reflector design is poor (later bikes seem better) and the light lens is none focusing. The second is that a 35w HID is the same as a 55w Halogen but because a 6000k HID is whiter, than the Halogen it can seem brighter. If your going to use HIDs stick with 35w 6000k which is daylight. The cleaner light works much better. If you need more light I have found aux projector spotlights work the best, on a wide pattern with the dip beam if needed. High beam is only of use as long as you can use it and I have never had much use for it. If you can thats another matter. Worst of all is the mix up of light output for the type of lamp used. Its part of my work and I can get confused myself. I have used car PIAA Extreme H3, H7 and bike Osram lamps on my 06 Uly with no problems. Any overcharging, from the system will kill them though and is not uncommon with bikes IE Yams and Dukes. | ||
| Bking |
Update. 500+ miles on the cheap H7's and neither has burnt out. Don't have the cool white light or blue tinge, but they be a lasting! ----Bob |
