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Library Home Page > 1st Generation (1983 to 1993) > Electrical
Headlight Bulb Experiment
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Headlight Bulb Experiment

hello bob, i have been experimenting w/improving the lighting quality of my 85 royale. the headlight assembly being recessed and surround by a black rubber/plastic assembly is not very conducive to producing sign burning quality of illumination. i am also wary of using 100 watt H4 bulbs because this housing may not be able to w/stand the heat produced by a 100 watt H4.  melted/warped reflectors can be expensive to replace i've heard. anyone have any experiences using a 100 watt H4 in an 85 royale?

anyway----ive experimented w/what i call a fake HIGH INTENSITY DISCHARGE H4. nothing more than an H4 w/a blue coating. grade given-- F illumination worse than a stock H4 60/55 watt bulb. light produced is bright during the day on low beam but not bright enought to these 43 yr old eyes at night. next was the so called WHITE HOT METAL PLASMA type H4. this bulb also had a blue coating but was supposed to have some unique halogen gas mixture promoting super high performance. grade given-- D very bright to oncoming traffic during day even on low beam but light produced at night just not acceptable in my view. next bulb tried was an ANTI GLARE ALL WEATHER H4 this bulb has a unique yellowish sort of looking coating which is supposed to create a combination driving/fog light effect. no mention made of any special halogen gas mixtures.. the bulb produced gobs of very bright illumination to on coming traffic during the day on low beam. the light produced depending upon ones viewing angle could appear reddish, yellowish, bluish---very unique to say the least. night illumination was good. grade given-- B

the best combo i have come up (for myself at least) with is to use a stock 60/55 watt H4 and a rectangular BLAZER 35 watt fog light that will mount right underneath the headlight assembly. I believe this is mentioned somewhere on the venturenet sitet by a prior contributor. 2 scew holes are already there like the light was designed to mount there to begin with. sad to say that mounting a light here will partially block the air intake for the upper fairing air vents. an on/off switch can be mounted in the fairing and i used a relay for this hookup. the BLAZER sorta fills in and makes the stock light appear more powerful.

the above mentioned H4s might be used on 86 thru 93 1300s w/much better success simply because the refelector assembly is a much better design than on 83-85 1200s. the HID, WHMP and AGAW H4s tested were all stock USA 60/55 wattages. all of the 3 bulb types were considered off-road only types and all were available out of the JC WHITNEY catalog which has a gigantic selection of lights that may or may not be adapted to motorcycle use.

hope this helps someone wanting to improve the lighting on their bike.

paul marsh

 

Last update: 10:22 AM Sunday, September 26, 2004

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