All

I took my TDM out this evening for the first time in the dark and discovered how seriously cr@p the headlights are. Has anyone had any joy with the Phillips or Osram upgrades on a bike? I tried both sets on my car and wasn't that impressed.

Is it worth running to 80W filaments on dipped and main beams? I have to say I'd be worried about burning the loom out.

The TDM has shaped reflectors so one light's dipped and the other's main beam; that's what you're stuck with.

Any suggestions much appreciated.

Cheers
Kav

HID?

HID?

HID on a car are awesome. How easy are they to arrange on a bike?

Try Visordown.com I think there is a few articles on them.

I have the PIAA bulbs in my BMW, the're certainly the best I've tried and seem to last too (in the car as well). The good thing with them is although you can get an equivalent light output of 100 or 120 wattas they still take 55 or 60 watts so they are OK for plastic lenses and reflectors.

You can get HID lights for bikes but its where to mount the ballast resistor as they tend to be a bit large.

I'm just testing a HID set now - expect to have results on MBT in a week or so.

Ballast isn't a problem on a GSX-R (and they're not exactly blessed with huge amounts of spare space) so you should find it dead easy on a TDM.

First impressions are pretty good :)

BUT

It may be a crap reflector/lens design, like a classic Scoob, in which case uprating the bulb will help but it'll still be relatively crap...

SB

Don't try & run high wattage with standard wiring - I did this a few years ago on an EXUP & melted the plug to the bulb.

HID are getting good reviews but it's a case of finding somewhere for the transformer etc which go with it, plus with 2x single filaments I guess you'll need 2 lots of everything.

Not worth looking on the 600 Fazer Forums as I'm sure theres a mod done there as they are known for having poor lights.

Got to admit that after twin units of my last 2 blades, going to a GSXR & now a superduke I'm missing the lighting power.

Also with the TDM being the sort of bike it is (ie quasi off-roader) could you not fit a pair of small paris-daker style spotlights for the winter?

Try this site, as the bulbs dont have a higher current draw or higher heat output there are no worries about heat or wiring. PIAA UK - OFFICIAL DISTRIBUTOR OF PIAA LIGHTS & BULBS (http://www.piaa.co.uk/)

Thanks all!

I retro-fitted HIDS to my E39 with good results. In fact, the outfit I bought them from do a bike kit so that'll be worth a look although it is more quids than I want to spend.

Buying PIAAs for my classic scoob nearly bankrupted me - I went through 4 pairs in as many months. I gather they're suspect to electrical spiking but maybe they're more robust than they used to be.

Food for thought...

Cheers again.
Kav

Went for the H7 PIAAs in the end - Nippy Normans was doing a 'special'. First impressions are very good - a much whiter light and their claim of 110W equivalent of lighting power seems to stand true.

Let's see how durable they are though.

Cheers
Kav

For motorcycle use, brighter does not necessarily mean better. The issue of headlighting is much more subtle than you might first think, there are a number of huge drawbacks to HID lights on a bike:

Deeper shadows
Sharper cutoff
Loss of "night vision"
Incorrect beam pattern
Beam steering (bikes tilt!)

I have used some spectacularly "good" lights on a bike, only to find switching from main to dip is like turning off the lights! You use a lot more peripheral vision on a motorcycle and the brighter the headlight, the less peripheral vision you get. You can't have a broad spread of pattern otherwise as soon as the bike leans even slightly, you'll be dazzling everyone. What's the first thing an approaching car does if they think your lights are too bright?

These issues off the top of my head only begin to scratch the surface of this subject, there are also deeper psychological and optical oddities associated with night lights, including hazard perception and even the effect of colour balance...

Screwd.