Stock Headlamp Brightness

He Man · March 15, 2011, 07:08:20 PM

I just need some type of confirmation that I'm not the only one, but is our Monster headlights completely crap or what? Even with respectable bulbs inside, a mono headlight just sucks. its too big to focus light anywhere real. I ride at night often and i always flicker to the highbeam to see that my headlight is actually on. I actually depend on cars to light up the road for me.

Which is why i just bought an HID projector. This one is going to be interesting....

rockaduc · March 16, 2011, 02:16:33 AM

I thought the stock bulb was crap also, so i switched to a PIAA exteme something or other. I'm much happier now. A couple guys did the HID thing on here and I am pretty sure there is a write-up someplace.
Keep us posted...

BTW, aren't you going on a trip REAL soon?

zooom · March 16, 2011, 06:18:10 AM

on my old street monster, I put in a Sylvania Silver Star and then spent a little time putting some rubber dampener washers made from some spare blown out bicycle inner tube and aimed my headlight properly and put those rubbers in the headlight mounting bolts and it was immensly better.

He Man · March 16, 2011, 10:52:18 AM

Quote from: rockaduc on March 16, 2011, 02:16:33 AM
I thought the stock bulb was crap also, so i switched to a PIAA exteme something or other. I'm much happier now. A couple guys did the HID thing on here and I am pretty sure there is a write-up someplace.
Keep us posted...

BTW, aren't you going on a trip REAL soon?

I only know Taft/theo who did a true Projector conversion, which is what im going after. and yea trip is in 30 days. Leaving April 15th, i dont think this would take more than 2-3 hours to install to be honest. Will post up some pics later.

i had the Piaa extreme but at $25 bucks a bulb that die every 3-4 months.... sorry. too $$ for my taste.

thought · March 16, 2011, 12:03:19 PM

Quote from: He Man on March 16, 2011, 10:52:18 AM

i had the Piaa extreme but at $25 bucks a bulb that die every 3-4 months.... sorry. too $$ for my taste.

did you get the motorcycle specific bulb? not sure if piaa has them, but i use these:

http://www.amazon.com/Sylvania-H4ST-BP-SilverStar-Performance/dp/B000AM8BN6

the st tag at the end means it's been designed for bikes... meant to take a lot more vibration than the normal bulb, which is what supposedly kills the non bike bulbs so quickly.

ran it for over a year on m old SV and never had a prob with it... traded in the bike for the 796 and it was still going strong when i had it. i have one for the monster right now, but been too lazy to put it in.

He Man · March 16, 2011, 02:12:06 PM

that might of been why. but its too late now anyway.

HID HERE I COME!!!

live2ride · March 16, 2011, 05:32:44 PM

what projector housing are you using?

I agree the stock lighting is pretty bad. I've thought maybe they were aimed wrong but aiming was dead on.

I'm curious how much halogens in projector housing would improve the lighting. I personally like the look of halogens on the monster

Duc796canada · March 16, 2011, 09:39:13 PM

Quote from: thought on March 16, 2011, 12:03:19 PM
did you get the motorcycle specific bulb? not sure if piaa has them, but i use these:

http://www.amazon.com/Sylvania-H4ST-BP-SilverStar-Performance/dp/B000AM8BN6

the st tag at the end means it's been designed for bikes... meant to take a lot more vibration than the normal bulb, which is what supposedly kills the non bike bulbs so quickly.

ran it for over a year on m old SV and never had a prob with it... traded in the bike for the 796 and it was still going strong when i had it. i have one for the monster right now, but been too lazy to put it in.

I would go with the 55 Watt version on the new monsters(recommended), don't know about the old ones. Also, about the ST designation on the end, I don't believe it is specifically for bikes. SU is ultra and ST Sliver star. Anyone else can chime in on this one.

He Man · March 16, 2011, 10:44:21 PM

Quote from: live2ride on March 16, 2011, 05:32:44 PM
what projector housing are you using?

I agree the stock lighting is pretty bad. I've thought maybe they were aimed wrong but aiming was dead on.

I'm curious how much halogens in projector housing would improve the lighting. I personally like the look of halogens on the monster

Morimoto Mini H1. I am getting them on Saturday and I will throw in some Halogens and snap a pic. Full write up when im done. I dont have a ballast yet ( thats coming next week) so im holding off on the install until then.

rockaduc · March 17, 2011, 02:14:52 AM

Quote from: thought on March 16, 2011, 12:03:19 PM
did you get the motorcycle specific bulb? not sure if piaa has them, but i use these:

http://www.amazon.com/Sylvania-H4ST-BP-SilverStar-Performance/dp/B000AM8BN6

the st tag at the end means it's been designed for bikes... meant to take a lot more vibration than the normal bulb, which is what supposedly kills the non bike bulbs so quickly.

ran it for over a year on m old SV and never had a prob with it... traded in the bike for the 796 and it was still going strong when i had it. i have one for the monster right now, but been too lazy to put it in.

I've had my PIAA for over 2 years now...

thought · March 17, 2011, 09:49:57 AM

Quote from: Duc796canada on March 16, 2011, 09:39:13 PM
I would go with the 55 Watt version on the new monsters(recommended), don't know about the old ones. Also, about the ST designation on the end, I don't believe it is specifically for bikes. SU is ultra and ST Sliver star. Anyone else can chime in on this one.

http://www.sylvania.com/ConsumerProducts/AutomotiveLighting/HighPerformance/Silverstar/ProductLine/

H4 SilverStar Headlight
High Performance Halogen Headlight - Dual filament for both high beam and low beam - For Motorcycle Use - part number: H4ST

hmmm... after reading the link a bit more, i think it means that only the H4 silverstar is for bike use... because going through the rest of the list shows that a lot of the other ones arent listed for it even with the st designation.

and i think the amazon link lists the bulb incorrectly, it's 55 watts for low, 60 watts for high, so it is a 55 watt bulb in the end

Duc796canada · March 17, 2011, 04:05:44 PM

The Sylvania link says the SU is brighter, funny I had accidentally bought it for my brights, so lucky me, because the highs are not on as often as the lows. Reason I say this is that the brighter lights are supposedly shorter life!

He Man · March 18, 2011, 10:35:37 AM

projectors came in

Heath · March 18, 2011, 10:59:20 AM

Quote from: rockaduc on March 17, 2011, 02:14:52 AM
I've had my PIAA for over 2 years now...

+1 I have had mine since October 2007 and it is still going strong.

He Man · March 18, 2011, 12:08:21 PM

it really might be the vibration from riding in the city commuting and constant flickering of my high beams on/off.

My current sylvania $5 bulbs have been on my bike for about a year now. But i stopped riding daily for about 3 months. and only occasionally now.

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Stock Headlamp Brightness