600 TA headlight upgrade?

[ChrisH]

Now that winter is here I've found out (again) that the headlight on my 600TA is crap.... has anyone put a brighter/more powerful bulb in? Is there an issue with melting the surround doing this? I put those cheapy fog?lamps from Halfords on but they just light up the hedgerow... are there suitable spotlamps? Definitely need to do something to improve it.

[Kjell Lindberg]

You have a nice big square headlamp that can take some extra heat.
But you should use an auxiliary relay and some wires with larger core diameter, if you opt for a bulb with a higher output.

However the best improvement would in my opinion be to convert to HID or as some call them, Xenon, but stay away from the bluish look and keep to the whitest possible, the white type are a lot better when it comes to enforcing light down your road.

[StumpyFingers]

I have a HID on my 650, It is a 6000k so it is a whiter light.
Saturday night it was raining cats and dogs and the south circular had a power cut, normal headlight in those conditions would be useless, my HID lit the road so well I could see all the road markings and signs for a safe distance, Even though my visor was covered in spray, I Never got flashed once so the light was bright but Most importantly not dazzling on coming traffic.

[Jeff@TheQuadShop]

Do you have an HID bulb in the stock lense?

[StumpyFingers]

Do you have an HID bulb in the stock lense?

All I did was change the bulb, everything else is standard.

[FatFergie]

Now that winter is here I've found out (again) that the headlight on my 600TA is crap.... Definitely need to do something to improve it.

I thought you were just going to get one of those german yokes?

I've tried all sorts of things bar getting extra lights. The brighter standard type bulbs are actually the most irritating, instead of having a 55/60 w combination you get something like 80/100 w so that when you switch to low beam it's like turning the light off! At least that's my own impression. . I tried one of those philips daylight types and hated the dip pattern it gave. At the moment I've got a hella standard tungsten because it has the best combination of being able to see a reasonable distance on high beam and still gives a decent pattern on low beam. That said it's still crap (dim) and I do avoid if possible riding in the dark.

[ChrisH]

I thought you were just going to get one of those german yokes?

Did have a go, but I just like my Transalp too much... it feels more thrashable, sounds better, looks better, does better MPG... just maybe isn't quite as comfortable, so I'm going to work on that. Also a certain Cork resident is about to take possession of an F800 which I'd like to have a look at!

The HID bulbs sound the business, but I thought they were crazy expensive?? Any links to where to buy the bulbs? They're not the ones you need a separate power supply for? Have to do something cos at the moment the lights are scary.. thanks for advice.

[FatFergie]

I'm interested to see what your solution is, I suppose I kind of gave up! I just wasn't happy with what I tried but the HID sounds interesting.

[Grendel]

Hi Chris

I fitted one of these:

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/HONDA-TRANSALP...d=p3911.c0.m14

Seems to give a whiter more noticible light.

[ChrisH]

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?