Dim headlight

andym · World Chat Champion Joined: 16 Nov 2010 Karma :

Not really a workshop issue, so figured this would be the best place for it.

Last night I went out about 10pm and still noticed my headlight was a bit dim on dipped, it was fine on streets etc, but part of the motorway was unlit and I couldn't see very far ahead of me unless I used full beam.

At the moment there is an H4 60/55w fitted (allegedly), but to give you an idea of how crap light is, when I turn on the sidelight and then the dipped light they are throwing out about the same amount (just that dipped is a bit more wide spread).

Now I'm considering just buying a brighter bulb to see if that helps any.

Anyone used these bulbs? or is there any that could be recommended?

cimbian · World Chat Champion Joined: 27 Sep 2012 Karma :

If battery is okay and charging is okay then look at excessive series resistance somewhere... switch, fuse, relay, wiring or grounding.
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Vincent · Banned Joined: 16 Oct 2006 Karma :

Does the light get brighter when revving the engine?
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stinkwheel · Bovine Proctologist Joined: 12 Jul 2004 Karma :

A 60/65 H4 is illegally bright to start with.

Increasding the wattage of the bulb is not going to address this problem, it should be brighter than any standard car headlight.

Your problem is that the current required to light up a 60W bulb is not being supplied for some reason.

What bike is it in?
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c-m · World Chat Champion Joined: 12 May 2006 Karma :

It sounds like your bulb is on the way out. All filament bulbs degrade over time as the tungsten evaporates/burns away. Eventually the filament fails.

Stick in a spare bulb and test with that.
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andym · World Chat Champion Joined: 16 Nov 2010 Karma :

cimbian, I tried wiring it direct to a battery and it done the same thing, battery is about 12.5 (ish) v before starting and about 14.5 when revving

Vincent, slightly brighter, but still crap on dark roads

stinkwheel, 60/55 (that's what it says on the bulb anyway), the full beam works as it should, just that the dipped beam is about the same as the side light... also it's the GPz

c-m, the light has been that way since it was put in there, I have a spare bulb which I can try, but I'd have thought bulbs lasted longer than about 3 hours as that's all it's been on for... I'll try the spare bulb though

angryjonny · World Chat Champion Joined: 01 Sep 2006 Karma :

reed · Nearly there... Joined: 28 Oct 2012 Karma :

HID kit

I fitted one a couple months ago and it is so much brighter. The beam pattern is fine also, fitted in a honda hornet circular headlight
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andym · World Chat Champion Joined: 16 Nov 2010 Karma :

angryjonny, I think it must be cataracts then.... I just took the headlight off, used the zxr battery and connected up the spare bulb, spare bulb in the headlight, spare bulb in a different headlight, and they are all the same brightness.

Reed, if the bike was actually worth caring about I might have looked into something like that