Headlight improvement?

[markc123]

Been trying to sort the headlights on my 2001 Curvy....

First up I added Nightbreakers, which helped a bit.

On further investigation Suzukis awful wiring was dropping the voltage from 11.8 (charged since then !) at the battery to 9.0 at the lights - solution add relays. That's done and the total volt drop is now around 0.4v, and the brakes no longer cause the headlights to dim!

It still isn't good enough though. Are these lighting units simply poorly designed? Would shifting to a naked headlight setup help at all (quite like the look of the unfaired bikes anyway).

Tried aligning them, but they don't seem to have a cut off on the dip light and simply throw light everywhere.

[Viney]

Get a HID kit. I was always against them, but blimey, they seriously do make a difference. The headlight unit is just a cheap unit and not much thought has gone into it.

HID is the way to go, the best £80 i spent.

[warrenhewitt10]

yeah id go for HIDs, just got a set on the car, as i dont like the look of them without projector lenses so they wont be on the bike, but dear god they are so much brighter

[Viney]

If i remember, i'll do a couple of shots of them at the weekend.

[markc123]

Cool, I'd avoided HID due to illegality issues.

If they allow me to actually see at speed then I would probably be convinced. Viney - you used the Dim/Dip HIDs or the standard ones?

[Viney]

Cool, I'd avoided HID due to illegality issues.

If they allow me to actually see at speed then I would probably be convinced. Viney - you used the Dim/Dip HIDs or the standard ones?I run a H4 kit, so has high and low beam. Like you i was worried about the legality, but then i have a race can, small plate etc, so whats one mroe thing huh! When i go to visit my mate i have to ride in a lot of unlit roads, and i run with the dip on most of the time, its more than adequate

[leebex]

£80!!! I paid only £30 for a set from Hong Kong for my car via ebay. I often read here how bad some peoples headlights are, but mine were fine with 50% brighter bulbs (£2.99 a pair of bulbs from Lidl :D)

I`ll be fitting my euro style headlight as soon as ive finished it, hoping I dont regret it :D. its now fitted with uk spec projector so will dip the right way at least.

Lee

[Biker Biggles]

Dont go the naked route.I got one of them and the lights are even worse than the S
Why is it that my Kwak ZX6R had great lights and my 9R still has,yet Suzuki cant do better than a candle on the front?

[philbut]

Another vote for HID kit. The only bike I have ever ridden with good stock lights is my blade. Every other bike I've had has been treated to a HID kit. twin 55w 6000k bulbs really do light up the road a treat (even if they blind every bugger coming the other way too ;-)

[Speaky69]

What did you make of the Nightbreaker bulbs mate? worth a pop, (cant afforrd HID kit at the moment though i have been looking into it!)

[philbut]

I have used night breakers and TBH noticed little difference. There are better bulbs out there - if you do a search, RIDE (or BIKE) did a test of bulbs a while ago and the Nightbreakers didn't do so well. Cen't remember the best one unfortunatly.

[Viney]

£80!!! I paid only £30 for a set from Hong Kong for my car via ebay. I often read here how bad some peoples headlights are, but mine were fine with 50% brighter bulbs (£2.99 a pair of bulbs from Lidl :D)

I`ll be fitting my euro style headlight as soon as ive finished it, hoping I dont regret it :D. its now fitted with uk spec projector so will dip the right way at least.

LeeYeah but at £80, i can send it back when it goes wrong (Which it did) and get it back fully repaired.

[Viney]

What did you make of the Nightbreaker bulbs mate? worth a pop, (cant afforrd HID kit at the moment though i have been looking into it!)No matter what H$ bulb you go for, its really not going to be brilliant. I have tried several brands of bulb and only stopped short of getting PIAA stuff. I then got the HID kit. There really is no comparrison.

If your SV still has the stock bulbs (On a curvey this is) then they were, or at lest mine were, 45/45w. ANY bulb is better than them.

The last bulbs i hd in the SV, and now in my car, are the Osram Night Racers.

[Bibio]

+1 for hids. but please dont get the chavvy 6k ones, get the 5k its a white light with no hint of chavvyness. they really do make a difference in spotting things that are reflective from much further away :-)

[embee]

Philips X-treme Power are pretty decent for the regular filament H4 design.

I think a lot of sports bike headlights are a triumph of styling over function. I still haven't found many better lights than the Bosch round thing in my 35yr old BMW, simple and effective.

[fizzwheel]

I think a lot of sports bike headlights are a triumph of styling over function.

My GSXR has awesome headlights on it, was such a contrast after the SV and the lights on Liz's 749S are better again.

Neither bike actually needs the main beam, dip is more than enough.

[ice]

Philips X-treme Power are pretty decent for the regular filament H4 design.

I think a lot of sports bike headlights are a triumph of styling over function. I still haven't found many better lights than the Bosch round thing in my 35yr old BMW, simple and effective.

i just got the new philips extreme vision. they cost me £36.00 but they are fantastic... better then my car... would recomend them ... :)

[Niall_farley]

Thread resurrection! Can anyone point me to a half decent set of HID's that ain't to expensive?

I'm useless at looking for things like this! Such as are they all universal or fit certain models?

2006 sv1000 if it helps?

Thanks in advance :)