Brighter Bulbs What are the ones?

[k146]

Ive looked at previous threads and theere doesnt seem to be an actual best replacement for the healdlight bulbs?

Can somebody give me a definate answer and where to purchase them?

I would really like them to have a blue tint is this possible?


Thanks

Kyle


ooo and white wheels on a black 2005 svs?

[yorkie_chris]

Osram silverstars, philips bluevision;

Same wattage more light, so won't burn out your switchgear

[independentphoto]

Philips X-Treme Power. Same wattage (power) so your electrics are fine 80% more light. WHITER than normal

Osram NightBreaker. Same wattage (see above) 90% more light. £1 less than Philips WHITER than normal

For "Blue" tinted (actually closer to propper white) try Philips "Blue Vision"

Buy any of them from here.... http://www.powerbulbs.com/


And oh yes- it's "H4" fitment you want.

Garry:cool:

[drefraser]

I strapped a glowstick to the front of my headlight; it doubled the output right away.
Maybe I should get one of those bright bulbs. Or more carrots.

[hovis]

I strapped a glowstick to the front of my headlight; it doubled the output right away.
Maybe I should get one of those bright bulbs. Or more carrots.

or dont go out at night, which is probaly best concidering were you live

[northwind]

I just replaced my old Silverstars with Night Breakers... They're better, not massively better but noticably. The whiteness I couldn't care less about, I'd sooner have more yellowish light myself, it's a trend I don't understand (particularily tinted bulbs- they work by actually blocking parts of the spectrum, which reduces the light output!) But they're very good bulbs.

Still going to try a HID kit- maybe this week actually. Might work, might be incredibly dangerous :D

[chazzyb]

Osram NightBreaker. Same wattage (see above) 90% more light. £1 less than Philips WHITER than normal

I hope so, for I have ordered a pair from Father Xmas.

[yorkie_chris]

Buy any of them from here.... http://www.powerbulbs.com/


Very fast delivery from these folks, I'd reccomend them.

[chazzyb]

Still going to try a HID kit- maybe this week actually. Might work, might be incredibly dangerous :D

I read some stuff elsewhere which put me right off HID. Apparently, the reflectors need to have been designed for the lamps or you are screwed. I'll try and find the link.

[northwind]

I read some stuff elsewhere which put me right off HID. Apparently, the reflectors need to have been designed for the lamps or you are screwed. I'll try and find the link.

Yeah, I know all that... But it's not quite that simple, any conventional reflector with a HID in will always be inefficient and have hot and cold spots, the question is where they are. Glare's the danger, but with such an inefficient headlight as the SV you just don't know what's going to happen. There's not many people done it in SVs, and they've all reported good results, but personally I'm suspending all judgement til I try it.

[yorkie_chris]

You get more glare from HID in normal reflectors.

I want to try some with a set of twin projector style lenses, that would be pretty sweet.

Where do you get the kit from? I was thinking go scrapyard hunting and get some off of a saab?

[northwind]

Cheapy bixenon retrofit kit from HIDS4U. If that works out badly, I'll just flog 'em and maybe try again with a whole assembly out of a car like you suggest, but that's loads more work.

[yorkie_chris]

Define cheap?

That is why the scrapyard appeals to me, £200 plus is not an option, I'm on a student budget. :p

So just to clarify, can you get HID bulbs with main/dip function or do you have to have seperate lamps for each?

[northwind]

Was £80. So OK, not actually cheap, but then a pair of Night Breakers is £20.

The ones I've got are bixenon, that's dip and main in the same capsule.

[yorkie_chris]

:cool: (literally hehe)

http://img123.imageshack.us/img123/5580/img27848hd.jpg
I may well shamelessly steal this guys idea of using foglights

[northwind]

Insecty! Fog lights tend to have a short, wide spread though. I think you can get driving lights in similiar packages mind. Do it!

[yorkie_chris]

Hmmm yes not really looked into it in too much detail.

Looks damn cool though, and I'm sure car HID doesn't use one ballast for each lamp. Perhaps saturday will be spent in the local breakers :p

Will ring around a few places and see how far the projector type foglamps shine

Edit; Looking at it, projector foglamps seem a fair option for the low beams if its possible to cant the LHS one to kick the LHS of the beam upward. Most shops describe them as a "low, flat pattern"

[walkaboutandy]

My bro put a HID kit on his old polo and they work a treat. They are bixenon (H4) and physically move when they are switched from dip to main. Each bulb unit has its own ballast. I was thinking about fitting the H1 kit to my SV (mines an import). You just need to find a good place to mount the ballasts cos they are pretty big.

Heres a Bosch kit going pretty cheap
http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/Xenon-OEM-HID-conversion-kit-H1-H4-H7-H11-9005-9006_W0QQitemZ200174512467QQihZ010QQcategoryZ72235 QQssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem

[Sean_C]

I'm going to get some Osram Nightbreakers over the weekend, just checking that the curvy sv uses H4 fitments?

And hi everyone, I'm new here, the guys at sv rider told me about you all and said I should sign up here as well, being in England :)

[northwind]

I've been told that Bosch don't make the parts for retrofits like this, if that's true then this one'd be fake. It looks like the exact same ballasts as were included in mine, and those were random unbranded. Not to say it's not good stuff even if it is fake, mind

[yorkie_chris]

I'm going to get some Osram Nightbreakers over the weekend, just checking that the curvy sv uses H4 fitments?

H4 is correctamundo

Also welcome :-D

[walkaboutandy]

Hi Sean C, welcome.

UK SV's are H4, euro SV's use H1 as they have one light that does main beam and one that does dipped with a magnifing lens. Does anyone know why Suzuki did this? Which is better?

I've been told that Bosch don't make the parts for retrofits like this, if that's true then this one'd be fake. It looks like the exact same ballasts as were included in mine, and those were random unbranded. Not to say it's not good stuff even if it is fake, mind

I would be interested to know how you get on fitting the kit and if its any good.

[Sean_C]

Thanks for the replies

My svs, if you're looking at it from the front, the right bulb is dipped, and then the left is main beam, which sounds like the euro sv? Mine is from Taz, not the first owner, but the original owner got it from Taz too, so it could well be a parallel import.

Sorry for noobish questions, but I'm a noob :rolleyes: Had my license 4 weeks and my bike for 3.. restricted unfortunately, but I absolutely love it, apart from the headlights :smt057

[yorkie_chris]

You can replace the headlight and sub loom quite easily if you want proper lights

[drefraser]

I thought about pinching the big laser from work then I remembered it works at 1068 nanometers so I still wouldn't be able to see where I was going. And I'd need a really long extension cable. And it would destroy stuff in front of the bike.
Back to the carrots.

[northwind]

Just did a very rough install of my HID kit, not mounted the ballasts or anything, just to make sure it works and get a first impression. Said first impression is way better than I'd expected, the amount of light is quite amazing compared to even the night breakers and there's few visible hot and cold spots. It's throwing a little too high and to the right, but I'm going to try and sort that using the alignment (but right now I have an avalanche of wires making that impossible!) The overall beam seems wider, which is about the worst thing so far, but that may not be an issue. Ran them for about 15 minutes with fire extinguisher in hand. No fires.

More comments once I get it ridable, which may not be tonight, I can't really be bothered with all the nadgery stuff right now :) But it's certainly promising.

[northwind]

Tomorrow it is then. I got sidetracked :rolleyes: Trying to find a place to mount hte ballasts, I found the perfect location on the front subframe, but there was a bit of frame in the way. Wonder what that does? I thought. Took front off bike to find out. It does nothing. Out with angle grinder, lop off quarter of a kilo of steel. Hmm, quite rusty. Out with wire brush disc, remove all the rust, spray with epoxy. And rest.

So, right now I have no headlights at all. Or fairing. Or clocks for that matter :D Par for the course really.

[yorkie_chris]

No fairing?

It's improving :p

[northwind]

It looks brilliant actually... It'd have planted a seed in my mind, if that seed hadn't already been planted about 2 years ago :smt077

[Viney]

The X-treme bulbs are half price from Busters.

[Ter]

The X-treme bulbs are half price from Busters.

Just ordered a set, fingers crossed it's not a typo...

8)

[wyrdness]

Just ordered a set, fingers crossed it's not a typo...

8)

It's odd. The pack of two are cheaper than buying just one. I'll order some and see what happens.

[Dangerous Dave]

Osram NightBreaker from http://www.powerbulbs.com/ they are the best (and cheaper) alternative to fitting HID.

[Sean_C]

Just ordered a set, fingers crossed it's not a typo...

8)



I just ordered 2 :)

Thanks Viney

[the_lone_wolf]

I thought about pinching the big laser from work then I remembered it works at 1068 nanometers so I still wouldn't be able to see where I was going. And I'd need a really long extension cable. And it would destroy stuff in front of the bike.
Back to the carrots.
actually some car manufacturers are looking into using infrared light plus an infrared camera to provide excellent visibilty at night via a heads up display because you can bathe the area in front of you with as much IR as you like and not blind people

http://www.neat158.com/2007/05/10/safer-driving-in-the-dead-of-night/
http://www.edmunds.com/reviews/list/top10/114984/article.html

http://www.armoroutlet.com/AOvaccess/AOva_flir.html
http://www.niteagle.com/Products.html

[Sean_C]

via a heads up display?

even if it is a lot brighter.. wouldn't that mean not staring at the road as you drive along in the dark.... ? Or staring where the road would be, but not actually at it. I'm probably completely misunderstanding the concept, but it doesn't seem like the best of ideas :confused:

[yorkie_chris]

The HUD display type ones are incredibly cool, if I had a big lump of money sat somewhere I'd be tempted to build one to project onto your visor :p

[the_lone_wolf]

I'm probably completely misunderstanding the concept, but it doesn't seem like the best of ideas :confused:
the whole point of a heads up display is that it allows you to look at the road through the windscreen, and on the windscreen an image of the night vision camera output is projected which overlays the image of the road

kind of like this (http://www.globalsecurity.org/military/systems/aircraft/images/f-16_hud_020410_09.jpg) but more like this:


http://www.siemensvdo.com/press/pictures/interior/sv-pp-head-up-display.htm

[the_lone_wolf]

in fact, imagine this:

http://a332.g.akamai.net/f/332/936/12h/www.edmunds.com/media/reviews/top10/high.tech.car.safety.technologies/edmunds.6.500.jpg

but with the night vision image projected up onto the windscreen in front of you

[Sean_C]

Thanks :)

Would take some getting used to, methinks

[yorkie_chris]

While we're completely off topic has anybody used the Veypor HUD?

[svrash]

..stuff about the HID..

Is there a how to with pics and tips coming up? :cool:

[northwind]

Nah, I've got a veypor but not the HUD thing. Have to admit I've been tempted though.

[northwind]

Is there a how to with pics and tips coming up? :cool:

Certainly will be. Once I get it done ;)

[yorkie_chris]

Nah, I've got a veypor but not the HUD thing. Have to admit I've been tempted though.

Tempted to replace the clocks with a veypor, but I ride in all weathers and not sure if they're waterproof enough.

Fancy sharing where you found a HID kit for that price? :p

[northwind]

Same place I buy all my toys, Ebay ;) This one is a HIDS Direct kit, http://www.hids-direct.co.uk/hid-products.html, the Ultra Bi-xenon kit which is usually £140. But I got it for £100 (I think I said £80 earlier, that was wrong. I also said it was a Hids 4 U kit, which was also wrong).

To be honest most of hte parts look the same as the far east kits you see on Ebay, though whether they are or not I don't know. The instructions are laughable, obviously babelfished from some other language, but that's OK, it's just "plug the plugs into where the plugs plug into"

[Viney]

I just ordered 2 :)

Thanks Viney

It ok, if you can all send me 10% of the money saved i'd appreciate it :lol:

[Viney]

in fact, imagine this:

http://a332.g.akamai.net/f/332/936/12h/www.edmunds.com/media/reviews/top10/high.tech.car.safety.technologies/edmunds.6.500.jpg

but with the night vision image projected up onto the windscreen in front of you
Didnt they showcase such a system fitted to an SClass merc on Top Gear a couple of years back and nicknamed it Collyvision (After stan colemore and his aleged dogging incidents?)

[northwind]

Small electrical fire :( Caused, you will be pleased to hear, by bad luck and incompetence and not a fault with the kit. There will be a brief delay.

[yorkie_chris]

Bugger, hope theres not too much damage done

[northwind]

Minor scorch marks ;) But it was just part of the wee temporary loom I made last night, so nothing permanent. Lots of smoke though :smt103

[Traceur-Sham]

I might order my HID kit next week for my streetfighter headlights. Should i order the kit with caps attached to the bulbs to reduce glare?

And will these kits pass an MOT? as the alignment for the beam has to be perfect.

[northwind]

Depends on the tester. I could probably get the aim right on mine- not really tried very hard yet, I just dipped the headlights all the way to stop them glaring till I can take the time to do it right- but I think that HIDs without self-levelling gear are automatically illegal in the UK regardless of whether they work or not. So it'd probably fail. Thing is, I can disconnect the ballasts and refit the standard bulbs in about 5 minutes so I'm not really worried about that.

[Sean_C]

Anyone got their bulbs from busters yet?
I was on the phone to David there after my new postcode came up as not being a postcode (grr) and said they're out of stock but should have more in soon..

[Traceur-Sham]

Depends on the tester. I could probably get the aim right on mine- not really tried very hard yet, I just dipped the headlights all the way to stop them glaring till I can take the time to do it right- but I think that HIDs without self-levelling gear are automatically illegal in the UK regardless of whether they work or not. So it'd probably fail. Thing is, I can disconnect the ballasts and refit the standard bulbs in about 5 minutes so I'm not really worried about that.

hmm... i guess its not a problem if one finds it easy to replace the kit back to standard gear...

Its worth a shot anyway

[Duke]

Northwind,

Do you have an update on your HID installation? Any photos or feed back? Why did you have to make a small loom? Did you have to modify the kit of parts supplied?

I am looking to get an H1 set for my curvey import.

Thanks

Duke

[northwind]

I've not made much progress, I had to spend some time unbending the bike this weekend 8-[ but I've worked on the aim now, it's much better... Still not right, though, fact is I'm not very good at adjusting the headlights! But I'm quietly confident I can make it completely safe, and it's definately going to be brighter. Should have more to add shortly, I'll start up a new thread when I do.

The one I got is made for a car so the loom's too short to stretch back to the bike battery, so I had to extend it, nothign major. I think I could maybe have moved the control box but I wanted to keep it all up front as it's well hidden.