600 TA headlight upgrade?

[ChrisH]

Just ordered one of those, Grendel. No idea why the other option was so expensive, must be a different animal...

[soloyosh]

Thanks for that Grendel... what I found most interesting in that eBay listing was the mention of an XL1000 Transalp - I want one

Ummm, just had a look at Consumabulbs.... they do an HID H4 conversion kit for £85! There must be something I'm missing here?

The "Xenon" bulb in the ebay link is a fillament type bulb. Pops in where the old bulb was.

The HID is a different animal. Rather than a fillament, it strikes an arc between two electrodes. The install is a little more involved (ballast, extra wiring).

Cheers
Brett

[StumpyFingers]

Thanks for that Grendel... what I found most interesting in that eBay listing was the mention of an XL1000 Transalp - I want one

Ummm, just had a look at Consumabulbs.... they do an HID H4 conversion kit for £85! There must be something I'm missing here?

I got mine for £74.00p
So that sounds like inflation.

[ChrisH]

I'll try this Xenon one for now and see if it makes a big enough difference, otherwise I'll save up for the HID... do they fit in the same way that normal bulbs do? I read about the extra wiring etc but no mention of fitting.
Yeah it does look like inflation alright StumpyFingers, but with the Euro getting strong against the Pound should just about cancel out

[StumpyFingers]

They come with the wiring to fit them, it includes the socket to plug the existing wiring in.

[Grendel]

Ok time for a thread revival:

I fitted one of these:
Honda Transalp all Xenon headlight bulbs H4 501 on eBay (end time 01-Mar-10 14:28:55 GMT)

Back in Nov 2008 which is ok for the everyday commute around Southampton with dipped beam but noticed when I went down a pitch black country lane it was still fairly crap on full beam.

So have there been any better bulbs developed that will give better/stronger light without going the HID route?

[StumpyFingers]

The bulbs are still only 4500K, try looking for some that are 6000k, these are whiter and throw out a lot more light.
If you wish to try a HID kit I have a 35 watt kit for an 'Alp.

[Grendel]

How do you find out what K rating the bulbs are?

Since the other ones i looked at say 90% brighter but compared to what?

H4*Osram*Night*Racer*Plus*90%* :: H4*Bulbs :: Upgrade...

H4 Ring Xenon Max + 100% 12v 60/55w (pair) NEW!

http://www.halfords.com/webapp/wcs/s...egoryId_165582

[jarl]

blue bulbs will always be worse than clear- you're filtering out all light that isn't blue. So, you're filtering out light. This means there's less light hitting the road. Also, blue scatters more than other colours and so it's harder to see with blue light.

I've had a bit of a poke, and it seems that you can get 65/70W bulbs which are a fair bit more effective than the standard 55/60 but you don't risk frying wiring or melting reflectors. The only source I've found is daniel stern for these at $22 a pop, unfortunately. (I say unfortunately because he's not UK based). Alternatively there's a site offering 100/80W H4's for £10 for 2- see here though I have no idea what will happen to your reflector, electrics or how long they'll last once fitted.

I seem to recall hearing reports of early alps fitted with 120W bulbs with no reflector issues though, so it should be ok? Electrics aren't hard to modify to allow for the extra current if you did want to though.

[StumpyFingers]

The ones on Ebay have "XENON GAS ICE WHITE (4500K) HEADLIGHT KIT INCLUDES:" in the advertising
On the box it should give the rating 4500 is still yellowish, 8000k is blue but 6000k is white.