SuzukiSavage.com - Headlight Bulb Replacement

wearsabrowncoat Junior Member Offline SuzukiSavage.com Rocks! Posts: 78 L.A. - lower Alabama Gender:	Headlight Bulb Replacement 05/09/13 at 09:46:36 My low beam just burned out. I replaced the standard bulbs in my SUV with some high output HIR bulbs (not to be confused with HID). Big difference in light output. Does anyone have a source for HIR H4 bulbs. If not, any other recommendations on bulbs? It is a H4 bulb I'm looking for right?
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Dave

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Re: Headlight Bulb Replacement
Reply #1 - 05/09/13 at 10:28:59

If you are putting in a new bulb, be sure not to go over the standard 55/60 watt rating. The Savage does not have any excess amperage in the charging system, and some riders who take short trips have been able to run their batteries down by just starting the bikes frequently with short rides in between.

I am not a fan of the blue tinted lights......and when you go to the extreme white color lights you are giving up life in exchange for the whiteness.

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WD Serious Thumper 2005 No Login Offline Professional "scooter trash". Posts: 5207 Rosemark TN Gender:	Re: Headlight Bulb Replacement Reply #2 - 05/09/13 at 10:29:19 Yes, it's an H4 bulb. Any 4x4 shop should have vibration resistant high output bulbs. Silverstar are great but don't last long in a bike.
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Re: Headlight Bulb Replacement
Reply #3 - 05/09/13 at 12:16:12

Dave wrote on 05/09/13 at 10:28:59:

I am not a fan of the blue tinted lights......and when you go to the extreme white color lights you are giving up life in exchange for the whiteness.

+1... I feel the same...

They can also be irritating to look at...
Even if they are brighter,.. the object of lights is not only to illuminate the road, but to get you seen by others... If the light is too irritating, people may look away, squint, or flash you with brights, making you both able to see less...
Plus,.. there's the piss'd off, road rage factor... (bikes always lose against cars in road rage incidents)... Huh

...

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ralfyguy

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Re: Headlight Bulb Replacement
Reply #4 - 05/09/13 at 16:39:16

WD wrote on 05/09/13 at 10:29:19:

Yes, it's an H4 bulb. Any 4x4 shop should have vibration resistant high output bulbs.

Silverstar are great but don't last long in a bike.

You're not gonna believe this, but I bought my bike used almost five years ago and put 15,000 miles on it since. When I got it back then I put a Silverstar bulb and a AGM battery in. They are both still in there.

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Re: Headlight Bulb Replacement
Reply #5 - 05/09/13 at 18:45:05

ralfyguy wrote on 05/09/13 at 16:39:16:

WD wrote on 05/09/13 at 10:29:19:

Yes, it's an H4 bulb. Any 4x4 shop should have vibration resistant high output bulbs.

Silverstar are great but don't last long in a bike.

You're not gonna believe this, but I bought my bike used almost five years ago and put 15,000 miles on it since. When I got it back then I put a Silverstar bulb and a AGM battery in. They are both still in there.

Yep......I'll believe that. I put Silverstars in my wife's VW when those bulbs first came out. They lasted about a year.....which is about 20,000 miles as my wife drives 100 miles round trip each day to work. The stock bulbs however......lasted 9 years and 230,000 miles.

For my bike I would consider a Silverstar as I really don't put huge mile on it.....and it is only one bulb instead of 2.

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TheSavagePJ

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Re: Headlight Bulb Replacement
Reply #6 - 05/09/13 at 18:49:29

Dave wrote on 05/09/13 at 18:45:05:

ralfyguy wrote on 05/09/13 at 16:39:16:

WD wrote on 05/09/13 at 10:29:19:

Yes, it's an H4 bulb. Any 4x4 shop should have vibration resistant high output bulbs.

Silverstar are great but don't last long in a bike.

You're not gonna believe this, but I bought my bike used almost five years ago and put 15,000 miles on it since. When I got it back then I put a Silverstar bulb and a AGM battery in. They are both still in there.

Yep......I'll believe that. I put Silverstars in my wife's VW when those bulbs first came out. They lasted about a year.....which is about 20,000 miles as my wife drives 100 miles round trip each day to work. The stock bulbs however......lasted 9 years and 230,000 miles.

For my bike I would consider a Silverstar as I really don't put huge mile on it.....and it is only one bulb instead of 2.

Yeah, come to think of it, I didn't have good luck with the silverstars in my old cavalier... a little less than a year out of them, I just forgot because I sold the car without changing them out.

I agree that the blues and blinding finger of god headlights may cause more problems than they solve, between blinding oncoming traffic and the road rage factor, as Serowbot said.

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wearsabrowncoat Junior Member Offline SuzukiSavage.com Rocks! Posts: 78 L.A. - lower Alabama Gender:	Re: Headlight Bulb Replacement Reply #7 - 05/11/13 at 17:09:21 Thanks for the advice. I also heard back from Daniel Stern Lighting (the shop where I got HIR bulbs for my SUV). He says they do not make a HIR H4 bulb. I'll just go look for a regular one or a hardened off road version if there is such.
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wearsabrowncoat Junior Member Offline SuzukiSavage.com Rocks! Posts: 78 L.A. - lower Alabama Gender:	Re: Headlight Bulb Replacement Reply #8 - 05/12/13 at 15:41:28 Update. Got a new bulb. Original still looked good but I switched it out and still no low beam. Recently did a blue collar bob and switched out the turn signals but didn't touch the headlight wires. How do I check the function of the switch?
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Re: Headlight Bulb Replacement
Reply #9 - 05/12/13 at 17:44:50

The power goes up the harness to the handlebar control, it then is divided by the handlebar switch to a white wire for the low beam and a yellow wire for the high beam. Take a volt meter at the headlight connector in the headlight bucket and see if you get 12 volts to both the white wire when the switch is in the low beam setting, and to the yellow wire when the switch is in the high beam setting. If not.....then pull the switch off at the handlebar and test the yellow and white wires where soldered onto the switch. If you have power at the yellow and white at the switch but not at the headlight bucket...then a wire is broken somewhere in the harness between the switch and light.

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wearsabrowncoat Junior Member Offline SuzukiSavage.com Rocks! Posts: 78 L.A. - lower Alabama Gender:	Re: Headlight Bulb Replacement Reply #10 - 05/12/13 at 19:27:38 Thanks for the help. found a pinch in the harness coming out of the switch. Pried the black plastic cover open enough to see the white wire was split it two. Soldered it up and now everything works great. I have a spare bulb and a better understanding of the system now.
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