head lamps

[derek]

In the process of fitting haloygen bulbs, 45/45 watt and 23watt pilot. The heat given off seems quite excessive front and back, can this damage the many cables and flasher unit inside the headlamp shell.Dose any one have any fixes to prevent this, as there is not a lot of room within the shell?

 

[timetraveller]

I run a 120/90 watt quartz halogen headlamp bulb with a flashing indicator relay within the headlamp shell with no problems. Just make sure that the dip switch can take it.

 

[Alan J]

naughty, naughty! I suspect 120 watts is illegal on a bike! Any way, I run 60 watts for years with no overheating problems-make sure your dynamo or whatever can cope!

 

[timetraveller]

naughty, naughty! I suspect 120 watts is illegal on a bike! Any way, I run 60 watts for years with no overheating problems-make sure your dynamo or whatever can cope!

Not so. My understanding is that provided that the bike in question is over a certain age, and ours certainly are, then there is no restriction on the power of the headlight bulb. I checked this out with 'someone who should know' but if we have a legal eagle out there then perhaps some feedback would be useful. The more powerful bulb certainly makes a difference and on twins is easily balanced at tick over with our alternator kit. The Appletons have a different solution and use a modern 'plasma discharge bulb' which produces more light and takes less power.

 

[John Appleton]

And render even a 120 watt bulb "ineffective". Highly recommended and only 35 watt consumption. John

 

[vince998]

And render even a 120 watt bulb "ineffective". Highly recommended and only 35 watt consumption. John

Hi John,
(A lot) less consumption, whiter, more visible light & i believe they run a lot cooler to. So where´s the catch?

I´ve seen kits for motorcycles offered on the internet at around 80 quid.
Are these any good or are there other things to take into account?

Thanks

 

[vince998]

Hi John,
(A lot) less consumption, whiter, more visible light & i believe they run a lot cooler to. So where´s the catch?

I´ve seen kits for motorcycles offered on the internet at around 80 quid.
Are these any good or are there other things to take into account?

Thanks

Sorry Derek,
That was very rude to "steal" your thread. I wanted to answer you first but got carried away.
I´ve used a 65/45 watt halogen in my D for a good 8 years without any damage to the wires in the headlamp shell.

 

[John Appleton]

Hi John,
(A lot) less consumption, whiter, more visible light & i believe they run a lot cooler to. So where´s the catch?

I´ve seen kits for motorcycles offered on the internet at around 80 quid.

Hi Vince,the kit that I fitted cost £35 inclusive of postage from Hong Kong! The only catch is that you have to find a home for the power pack , which is an aluminium box about 100mm x 80mm , and the operating relay, which I have fitted in the headlamp shell. There is another consideration about what happens when abroad, and the bulb fails? Not a problem as the bulb holder and its wiring readily accept a standard halogen bulb. My kit has been fitted since 2008, and completed the trip around eastern Europe and the three continental rallies and is still going strong, but I do know of two others where the dip beam shield failed but the light still worked . Possibly the more expensive kit will overcome this issue. The only other minor problem is that ,if you are into headlight flashing, the warm up time (about 6 seconds) renders the flasher useless. John

 

[Alan J]

"Todays technology for yesterdays bike" comes to mind! I suspect most of do not ride that much in the dark, anyway-when I "chugg off" on my 1928 B.S.A. I carry, just in case the weather turns nasty some "state of the art" l.e.d. lamps so that I can at least be seen by others.As my "gas lights" are purely for decoration.

 

[John Appleton]

Yes, you are right about todays technology Alan, but if, like me, you have tried to follow Mr Kemp over an Alp, in the dark, with a 35watt halogen bulb to light the way, and some clown leads a herd of goats onto the road in front of you.....well. On the other hand you could well ask "what sort of clown would do that on a 58 year old bike" . Well, I can now say "the clown with the HID headlamp".

John

 

[timetraveller]

With regards to Alan J's comment above; it is one of the reasons we are so lucky with our Vins. The post war bikes were so well made and so advanced for their time that with a bit of tweeking they still make perfectly reasonable transport in todays traffic conditions. And as for the 'A's, well ask the chap who turned up at the Dutch rally last weekend on his 'A' twin. All the way from Lancs and Chesire land. Good for you Sir.