Headlight Bulbs - 100/90W

g'day all.

i did some googling on this but had mixed responses so i thought i'd ask you lot.

now the stock bulbs on the pointy aren't the greatest in terms of brightness so i was looking at putting in some aftermarket ones.

was thinking about replacing the stock H4 bulbs 60/55W with some 100/90W bulbs.

what are your thoughts/ideas?

two things worry me:

1. the extra current needed to run these bulbs - do you think the electrics of the pointy would be able to handle it? also would the extra load drawn for the lights make a significant difference in starting the bike?

2. the extra heat generated from these bulbs - would the pointy's plastics be able to handle it? any problems with anything melting, or fogging/ghosting up of the headlights?



cheers!

[yorkie_chris]

I would not do it just because you don't know if it will work until something melts. I would fit HID.

[ophic]

I'd just go for some superbright 60W H4s. Osram Nightbreakers for example. Brighter than stock.

+1 Nightbreakers

[mikerj]

Personally I wouldn't risk 100Watt lamps, they produce a lot of heat which can be detrimental to plastic headlamp assemblies and the current is also doubled. IME Suzuki looms aren't exactly over engineered in terms of wire gauge...

The Osram Nightbreakers or Philip Xtreme lamps give a noticeable improvement over standard halogen lamps for no increase in current. The only downside is they don't tend to last as long as standard ones since the filament is running hotter.

[ophic]

Originally Posted by mikerj

The Osram Nightbreakers or Philip Xtreme lamps give a noticeable improvement over standard halogen lamps for no increase in current. The only downside is they don't tend to last as long as standard ones since the filament is running hotter.

They don't last as long, granted. But do they run hotter? I would have guessed they'd run at about the same temp or lower, as they're dissipating the same power but producing more light.

They,Osram or Philips, don't melt the plastic which is the main thing and give you increased lighting without the expense of a HID System.

[mikerj]

Originally Posted by ophic

They don't last as long, granted. But do they run hotter? I would have guessed they'd run at about the same temp or lower, as they're dissipating the same power but producing more light.

They entire bulb doesn't dissipate any more heat energy than standard ones (or at least not a significant amount), but the filament itself runs at a higher temperature - it's the only way you can get more light out of an incandescent lamp (and improve the colour temperature at the same time).

I've used Nighbreakers in my car for the last few years; personaly I've not yet actualy had one fail but the light output does degrade as they age. I know other people that have head them fail after only a year or so.