I've been on a never-ending quest for the perfect headlight. Spent my hard-earned dollars on a lot of junk (Sylvania SilverStars for instance).

On my morning commute I ride about 12 miles down an old country road with woods on my left and a ditch on my right. Perfect conditions for wandering animals. I see the remains of many skunks and raccoons that didn't quite get out of the way fast enough. Once, I even saw a deer flash across the road about 50 yards in front of me. I need good frontal lighting.

The best I've found so far is a standard H4 halogen in a 90/100 wattage rating with a clear lens. It throws some serious light and seems to last a full season. It has two drawbacks. The life is shorter than standard 55/60 bulbs and sometimes the cagers think my high beam is on and don't dim theirs.

I also adjust my headlight so the low beam will light the road enough so I can safely run on low beam at about 55 mph. I gotta do this because I'm going opposite the normal commuter traffic and there's quite a few cars coming at me at o-dark-thirty. Can't run my high-beam all the time.

It's a compromise and my search for the perfect lighting continues.

Ken

Junk?
Were they the Sylvania light blue tinted ones. ???
Or the imported Osram transparent ones?  8)
Now we need some brand names too.

KenGLong wrote on 12/31/69 at 16:00:03:


Have you ever had your headlight(s) go out like at 70mph about 2am 100 miles out of town? Not fun.

As we get older night vision is not as good.
I don't have a problem w/ running those high output, short life, EU Off-Road/Rally/Marked-Not for Highway Use/ bulbs, however I have had a cop turn around and give lecture on blinding oncoming traffic once.  
At least you know they can see you!
I considered the higher watt/output bulbs and they are OK in a car, but compromising bulb life for output and w/ only one bulb might not be a good idea. I figured since the  Osram (not Sylvania) were prefered in multiple forums that was the way to go.

Quote:

Mr 650 wrote on 12/31/69 at 16:00:03:

I also heard good things about the Sylvania SilverStars so I paid my $25 and got one. I could see no improvement in frontal lighting at all compared to the stock lamp. That's when I got the 90/100 lamp. It cost a whopping $7.95. That's another clue to the true nature of headlight bulbs. The real stuff is priced normally, the smoke and mirrors stuff is priced outrageously...just like audiophile equipment.

There are only two ways to get more light from an H4 halogen bulb. You can focus the light beam so you don't waste light on the clouds or you can up the wattage. Everything else is smoke and mirrors.

I did have a 90/100 go out on me on the way to work one morning as I was switching to high beam. I just switched back to low beam and kept on going then changed the bulb when I got to work.

Ken in Albuquerque

Seems like the 55/60 xenons I bought were about $10 or $11 each.

That would be the blue tinted ones like I have in my truck. The tint soaks up part of the output.
I got the transparent ones from eBay a guy mailed them from the UK.

Also, the bulb makers can get more light by changing the filament. They won't last as long, but you get a little more light or they can put in a little more filament and it will last longer.

KenGLong wrote on 12/31/69 at 16:00:03: