08 Transalp lights

[StumpyFingers]

If you get one off Ebay make sure it has a shield on the underside of the bulb otherwise it reflects off the high beam reflector as well.

[cpp01]

Hi,

Did anyone come up with a solution to the headlight bulbs? I don't need a replacement yet but having looked around it looks like it might be difficult. I cannot find the Halfords extreme brilliance bulbs previously mentioned or even the PIAA ones.

I'm also thinking of installing some daytime running lights (DRLs), basically two spots consisting of LEDS to improve he chances of other drivers seeing me in the dark (something like Buy DRL LED - Round 15 LED lamps (pair) by PRI Racing Ltd. buy online), daylight a bonus too. My daily commute consists of busy roads so rarely use main beam. Anyway, does anyone know where these can be mounted without drilling new holes? Also don't want anything fouling!

Thanks for your help.
cpp01

[jarl]

Wow thats an insane amount of money for something that's not very good. Give me a couple of weeks and I'll have a DRL DIY tutorial up. £20 will get you something better if you don't mind bodged solutions.

nb: If you want better headlights, you want spots, not DRL's. Anything suitable to be a spot is not suitable to be a DRL, and vice versa. And I wouldn't worry about not being seen at night, you'd have to have your eyes shut to miss a headlight in the dark, in which case even spots aren't going to help.

[Nareef]

Hi,

Did anyone come up with a solution to the headlight bulbs? I don't need a replacement yet but having looked around it looks like it might be difficult. I cannot find the Halfords extreme brilliance bulbs previously mentioned or even the PIAA ones.

I'm also thinking of installing some daytime running lights (DRLs), basically two spots consisting of LEDS to improve he chances of other drivers seeing me in the dark (something like Buy DRL LED - Round 15 LED lamps (pair) by PRI Racing Ltd. buy online), daylight a bonus too. My daily commute consists of busy roads so rarely use main beam. Anyway, does anyone know where these can be mounted without drilling new holes? Also don't want anything fouling!

Thanks for your help.
cpp01

Halfords don't do any H11 bulbs as far as I've seen, I had to order the Osram Nightbreakers online (don't remember where, but they seemed good, shame the bulbs didn't last...)
Again I've only seen H11 PIAA bulbs online... and they were not cheap (but they do claim they survive on bike and claim to have a limited warranty...)

I got some LED lights to use as running lights from Halfords, think they were Ring ones for cars. At the moment I've just used the sticky pads that were supplied with them to attach them to the underside of the plastic under the headlight. I'm not entirely trusting of the sticky pad and will probably screw them in place sooner or later...

[blemco]

nb: If you want better headlights, you want spots, not DRL's. Anything suitable to be a spot is not suitable to be a DRL, and vice versa. And I wouldn't worry about not being seen at night, you'd have to have your eyes shut to miss a headlight in the dark, in which case even spots aren't going to help.

The main problem I know of is T junctions at night
Where if you're riding across the top of the T with a car say 10-20m behind you
Now the car waiting to turn on at the junction can see the two lights of the other car coming down the road. But the single motorbike light dissappears as it has become one the the cars lights
In this case you can be right on top of them and they'll still pull out

This is where I think the extra light either side can help, espesially if their at a different height, helps it stand out in front of the car.

I put 6 small white LED's on the back of each mirror on my old bike, really made it stand out in the dark, (they also had the strange effect of making road signs glow long before the the headlight caught them)

As for bulbs, not sure about H11s, they look similar to HB4’s and HB3’s from images I’ve found online.
If they are the same then bikebulbs.com have some.
I know some of their H4's are proper bike bulbs, not sure about others, but the HB4's and HB3's seem to be Philips, I've been running a H4 of this "car" type Philips for maybe 2000 miles over 3 months and ok so far.

Could be worth a try.

[Dogmatick]

XL700 HIDden gem, bad pun but great lights !

Bluff, fitted HIDs last summer, never looking back. Though as Stumpy says try to get the H11R type bulbs

Cheers

D

[Dogmatick]

Bluff

Chaps name is Iain Tivey on Ebay this is what I got from him

HID H11 Digital Conversion NEW for Kawasaki ZX6R 07 08 on eBay (end time 03-Feb-10 23:37:06 GMT)

He's very helpfull too

D

[cpp01]

Give me a couple of weeks and I'll have a DRL DIY tutorial up

Have you made any progress with this tutorial? I am keen to see what you suggest, especially mounting points. Plus if you can save me a couple of quid that'd be nice

DRL's are what I need for my daily run, unless you can suggest some dipped beam spots in which case I would jump at them for more road light and better visibilty. Most of my routes involve me running on out of town single lane A-roads. I very rarely use main beam so additional main beam spots are of no use unfortunately. I don't like running lights which can dazzle as its inconsiderate and dangerous.
Although they are tempting, I'm not keen on the HID lights for the reasons other people have given on this forum. If I could be sure they were legit and were blinding others then I'd go for them on my bike.
As Blemoc says, its T-junctions which are the main problem as well as roundabouts (dissappearing behind pillars in the car) so a larger target to spot is a bonus. I have a set of SW Motech bars fitted now so they offer some new mountings points for me to consider.

As for the H11 bulbs, I may invest in a set of PIAAs eventually when I have some more money! How much are the replacement bulbs offered by Honda out of curiosity?! Also how long do the standard bulbs last? Due to the bad weather I've only done a grand total of 80 miles on the bike, hopefully get to use the bike for commuting this week if the snow stays away.

Thanks for the advice everyone,
cpp01

[jarl]

Have you made any progress with this tutorial? I am keen to see what you suggest, especially mounting points. Plus if you can save me a couple of quid that'd be nice

Snow came and so progress stopped. Restarted now

[Nareef]

Here's a thought, has anyone tried an H9 65w bulb in an H11 socket?
Just read on the Daniel Stern web site that they are supposed to have a different fit but it's not different enough to actually stop it fitting...

They'd give an extra 10w of light over the H11 55w jobs...