SV650S Headlight Upgrade Opinions
 

Hi,

It's heading towards the time of year when every journey will be in the dark. So I'm looking for improvements over the standard Pointy headlights. Really I'm limiting myself to conversions that don't require physical changes, except possibly wiring modifications. Would prefer something MOT friendly, or that could easily be reverted if need be.

So what are the current thoughts on HID conversions, LEDs, vs relays and upgraded wiring, or just better bulbs?

I'm quite tempted by these, but the price is a little high just for an impulse buy, I'd need to be reasonably confident that they'd do the job ..

https://www.classiccarleds.co.uk/col...nversion-9-32v

Re: SV650S Headlight Upgrade Opinions
 

Osram Nightbreaker H4/110

Re: SV650S Headlight Upgrade Opinions
 

I'm more than happy with Xenon H4 bulbs.I only have a single headlight but it's not so much that they are brighter it's the quality of light is better at night to me e.g they light up road markings and signs excellently.
I've also rode down unlit country lanes at night and again they are excellent.

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/SUZUKI-SV6...t94W9L6BTJjCcQ

Cheap enough to try :)

Re: SV650S Headlight Upgrade Opinions
 

Bibio upgraded his to LED, check his posts, he has done HID conversions, but I remember he was pleased with the LEDs

Re: SV650S Headlight Upgrade Opinions
 

I've used Osram Nightbreakers in the past and although an improvement over stock they aren't really good enough. The limiting factor is on unlit roads with vehicles close behind. When the road's empty the standard headlights are good enough, better with decent bulbs. Add a modern car close behind and their lights nowadays are so bright that all you see is your shadow on the road in front.

Re: SV650S Headlight Upgrade Opinions
 

Osram Nightracers are a big improvement over stock, and while not perfect, they are bright enough to allow me to ride at a decent pace in the dark.

Re: SV650S Headlight Upgrade Opinions
 

I have fitted one of the classic car H4 led upgrades to my AL7 (single headlight) and it is great, I also fitted their led bulbs to both our cars. The beam pattern is spot on (Legal) with good cut off and spread and white light is great. I had to reroute some wiring in the small headlight shell on the L7 but you should be ok with double headlights on the S as I guess the heatsink will protrude from the rear. The LED were a massive improvement on the Phillips xtreme brite xenon filament bulbs on the cars and make night driving much less of a chore.

If you have a look under ancillaries in reviews section on H4 led headlight upgrades I have posted some photos of the H4 beams on my wife's Honda Jazz. Can't post a link as I am on my tablet.

( HERE IS LINK http://forums.sv650.org/showthread.php?t=227521 )

The Philips chip classiccarleds have a heatsink but no fan, so are silent.

Another thing is current draw on the led is a fraction of filament bulb, which is 5amps per bulb the led are less than 2 amp per bulb, your battery will thank you. One thing, because heat in led comes out of rear heatsink and not the front, they will struggle to melt the ice and frost off your headlamp - the upside is they will not bake the squashed flies and road crud onto the headlight either, and the whiter (6000k) light, which filaments can't achieve is so much more visible in daylight and full Sun, a good safety feature.

Lastly, led chips are solid state and extremely immune to vibration, and on my L7 with its single bulb I wanted to be sure I didn't lose my headlight at a critical moment (ie 60 mph in the dark). I have had these bulbs in our cars for over 6 months now and am very happy with both the quality of light and the amount of light, and where it goes on the road. The quality of these bulbs is like something off a NASA space shuttle, and all connectors are high quality and fully waterproof

Look on YouTube at latest 'headlight revolution' led bulb reviews, he found the Philips luxeon Z-ES chip bulbs had best beam pattern and although not posting the highest lux ratings the actual light pattern meant they had most 'useful' light, and the only proper legal ones in terms of beam pattern - they are literally plug and play

Re: SV650S Headlight Upgrade Opinions
 

Digging up an old thread... has anyone had experience with these LED bulbs linked below? (For a K8 half faired pointy)

Re: SV650S Headlight Upgrade Opinions
 

Exactly same bulbs as in my post above, I have one on my AL7 and in both our cars, beam pattern and brightness are a step change from the filament bulbs. Some discussion earlier if the lower current draw ( about 2 amps per bulb compared to 5 amps for filament) will make RR work harder. These bulbs are about 200% more noticeable in daylight because they are much whiter light ( 6500K as opposed to about 4500K for filament).

These videos are quite amusing but also pretty informative..

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SQF5ESBHLrw


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Sonh4lHu4XE

Have attached a PDF photo of dip and main beam pattern on our garage door, I have one showing the dip and main on an actual road when I can find it will post it. ( found it - attached - bear in mind road in photo is sloping away from car so beams look higher than they are, on the road they are fine ).

Re: SV650S Headlight Upgrade Opinions
 

Fitted a couple of Osram " nightbreaker silver " bulbs to my K6 pointy, noticeably brighter than standard. They came in at around £12.75 for the pair. If you are on a tight budget then wait for Aldi, who now and again sell non branded H4 pairs 90% brighter for about £3.99. I fitted these to an old Triumph Dolomite and was surprised with the improvement.
Might have been Lidl just get confused between them.

Re: SV650S Headlight Upgrade Opinions
 

I've got Osram Nightbreakers in there at the moment. They don't give out enough on the dark country lanes.


I don't tend to ride much at night. Usually just when I get caught out heading home late, so not sure if I can justify big expense and possible reg / rec problems too.


Maybe I would ride more at night if I felt I could actually see down the road though?

Re: SV650S Headlight Upgrade Opinions
 

You have to admit those LED bulbs are damned impressive - much better than any filament bulb I have tried, and I have tried a lot (used to cover between 25 and 30K a year, much of it in dark at each end of the day so bulbs tended not to last very long) I used to change bulbs every 12 months because they did not last much longer than that (the +50% etc. bulbs burn hot and used to generally fail every 13 to 15 months, that includes Philips and Osram as well as Bosch and Halfords own brand).

Re: SV650S Headlight Upgrade Opinions
 

Just updating this thread, my 2016 AL7 passed its first MOT today with the classiccarleds LED H4 headlight bulb fitted - tester never mentioned them at all.

You can buy single bulb for £39 or pair for £70.

https://www.classiccarleds.co.uk/col...nversion-9-32v

Re: SV650S Headlight Upgrade Opinions
 

These are on my list of future upgrades. Definitely before next winter. Even with the auxilliary lights I've recently fitted I still struggle to see well enough riding at night.

Re: SV650S Headlight Upgrade Opinions
 

https://www.classiccarleds.co.uk/pro...ion-5-15-volts


classiccarleds are now doing the 'direct replacement LED H4' means no separate power supply or fan to worry about. They are a couple of mm longer than a standard H4 filament bulb. I have no experience of these direct fit bulbs, but the classicarleds H4 bulbs i mentioned before in this thread are still going strong in my SV 2016 single headlight and both our cars ( the SV passes MOT with the bulb fitted and both our cars used to pass beam test before they tightened the rules on 'ALL' LED retrofit bulbs - so I have to remove the LED in the cars for MOT day and refit after MOT ). The LED bulbs use 2 amps compared to 5 amps for normal filament bulbs, but I fitted a electrex world series RR to replace the standard shunt Suzuki RR, and the Electrex unit runs 30 deg C cooler than the original shunt unit even with lower draw ( or maybe because of ) with the LED bulb fitted. For the most useful light output and by far the best light to show up in daylight ( and believe me it is very visible in daylight ) I used the 6000K white in my SV...



Apparently these bulbs have very latest 'CSP' LED chips, which are very efficient and produce less heat than earlier ones, hence they do not need a fan or large heatsink, the bulb is copper cored and the heatsink is the actual body of the bulb. https://blog.betterautomotivelightin...n-smd-led-chip


There is a section in the description of these bulbs that seems to say that 'the dip beam LED remains on when the main beam is selected' - if this is true this would be a big plus on a motorbike ( and also cars ) - I have emailed the seller to check if this is true. THE SELLER CAME BACK TO ME STATING THAT THE DIP BEAM LED DOES STAY LIT WHEN MAIN BEAM IS TURNED ON..... THIS IS GREAT, I JUST ORDERED ONE FOR MY AL7...


LATE EDIT ON THE DIRECT FIT COMPACT BULB -- THE BULB IS NOWHERE NEAR AS BRIGHT AS THE PHILIPS Z=ES BULB I ORIGINALLY POSTED https://www.classiccarleds.co.uk/pro...nversion-9-32v - i TRIED ON IN A CAR HEADLIGHT, TOOK THE Z-ES OUT OF ONE SIDE AND REPLACED WITH CSP - LOOKS LIKE THE LACK OF A HEATSINK MEANS THEY CANNOT DRIVE THE LED SO HARD.



The average output of a filament halogen H4 bulb is between 900 to 1100 lumens per filament of 3500K ( yellow light ), some of the super bright halogen have up to 1600 lumen of 4200K light ( but in my experience a very short life ), the compact CSP LED above have 1600 lumens of 6000K 'daylight' white light and on main beam both LED 'filaments' are alight. The Z-ES chipped LED have 4600 lumens of 6000K light. I have had the Z-ES bulbs in both our cars and my SV since early 2017 and still going strong, so a good investment.






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Re: SV650S Headlight Upgrade Opinions
 

I found these cheap LED H4 bulbs far superior to the Osram Nightbreakers I took out and at only £8.00 a pair
https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/266381558...r=566198474491
I have been using them for four years and one blew recently, but 4 years and approximately 20k miles, including daytime running, isn't bad at that price; I was more than happy to purchase the same ones again. I originally purchased them because because Nightbreakers x2 (gen 1 S model twin bulbs)+heated grips+uprated carb heaters (2x25w [Carb heater - 13650-20E00 (25w) + temp switch moved to front of fairing = carb icing completely eliminated] instead of standard 2x15w)+USB socket for heated vest and insoles = struggling charging system/low battery; the Nightbreakers are 60/55w nominal but if you look at the Osram data sheet, they actually draw 75/68w. These cheap LED lights are the best I have ever used, car or bike, very white and stand out well during the day. At dusk they seem a little lacking, because they are a similar colour temperature to the remaining daylight, but once it is properly dark they are superb! The dip beam stays on when you select main beam, giving a brilliant spread of light. They are a doddle to fit too; remove old bulbs, remove the plastic mounting disc from the LED bulb (turn ACW) and fit to light unit, fit the rubber boot to the LED bulb, insert the LED bulb and turn CW until the wires point downwards, and finally push the rubber boot onto the back of the light unit.