2 points 1) why do so many bikes only have 1 of the 2 headlights on when on low beam ? It looks crap and so many people try telling me , you have a headlamp bulb out young man. The latest a few weeks ago a bloke got out of his car at railway crossing to tell me that. He was shocked when I told him it was meant to be like that. 2) when will bikes have xenon headlights , or do some already have them ? Cars have had them years, so much better than a yellow headlight
When it comes to xenon lights I would imagine it's down to cost by law they have to be self levelling
I just fit those 'xenon' look bulbs, much whiter than standard. I also just leave my high beam on so both lights are lit, no one has ever flashed me or moaned about it so it mustn't bother anyone.
I've done away with the brighter bulbs and gone for a full HID kit. Nice n bright. So bright that it'll render my main beam, a bit poor as the HID bulb is super bright. But as we all know, bikes have one light to set us apart from cars, so that the public have an idea that it's a bike approaching and not something else.
I have a dual headlight module for sale if you're interested. I was gonna do mine,(this has always bugged me too) but decided to get rid of the blade in the next few months so never fitted it. It's the latest v4 module from Jens. Only want what I paid for it , not looking to make a profit. Btw I use night breaker plus bulbs, huge difference over standard..
You may not have had anyone moan at you, but just bear in mind that if you continue to ride on main beam, not only do you leave yourself open to prosecution or driving without reasonable consideration for other road users (which is a subsection of careless driving), in the event of a crash, even though it may not be your fault, being on main beam in the wrong circumstances (in the face of approaching traffic) leaves you open for contributory negligence so it will affect your compensation, and you will not want me doing the investigation as it is one of my pet hates. I cannot defend the indefensible
1) Don't get it either. 2) I figure it comes down to cost and "space", since xenon requires an auto-leveling system. On super-sport bikes "free" space is hard to come by these days... I did a full retrofit in mine (BiXenon + Projectors + Angels Eyes), because i thought it was ugly to have only one side lit up and also the stock illumination is really poor. Here's a side by side comparison:
I agree I won't ride with hi beam on all the time , also there are lots of other bikes that have twin headlights on and both are on when low beam switched on. Don't know about one headlight being on means a car driver thinks it's a bike rather than a car
Alway heard it's for safety reasons (one light on) as car drivers may get the impression that it is a car a distance away if they had both lights on and could pull out on you.
On one light the reflector is set to a dipped pattern and on the other it is a high beam pattern. To have both lights on at the same time with road legal patterns would probably involve larger light units and so increase the weight,something manufacturers want to avoid on modern sportsbikes. I've upgraded to led bulbs,not sure what they're like in the dark yet but during the day my mate says they're brighter and more noticeable than the Philips X-treme vision bulbs I had in.
It is all down to cost. Many people are under the impression that bikes now have their lights hard wired because of EU requirements/law. Quite the contrary, it is all to do with saving money during manufacture. Hard wiring saves each factor about £2 per bike in production costs, and they have failed to recognise (or maybe they have just ignored) the potential for them to be held at fault in a crash because they create what is called the halo affect in bright conditions.
What bulbs have you put in and how much are they ? Do they draw the same current or lower than standard bulbs ? Cheers
LED Headlamps They use less current than standard bulbs so no issues with wiring and they fit without any modification to existing bulb housing.
Just thought I'd update, I finally fitted my HID system today. Fairly straight forward. The bulb seats in the light housing and the power wires connect up to the main harness simply. I had to cut a small hold into the light cap, to fit the rubber bung that the wires pass through, that lead to the ballast. Removed the offside mid fairing and had a good look at where I was going to locate the ballast and power module. Due to limited space, and looking through my bike service manual, I had to locate the ballast and module in place of my Air Duct Resonator. Removed that and velcro'd the pair in its place. Then, realised that I had no way to re-attach the upper cowl cover under the nose, onto the mid fairing. So made a bold choice to cut the locating tabs for this from the resonator bottle, and fitted the bracket onto the bike. After a little bit of fiddling with the running of the wires, it was done. The main power plug had to be tucked away behind the right inner middle bit of trim, with the wire running to the headlight cap. Nothing you can do about it, because space is massively limited. Then the remaining bulb wires, were taped to the side out of the way, with gaffa tape, because they were fouling on the forks on full lock turn. But, the light is hugely brighter. Not taken any piccies as it was light when I had finished. I'm confident that this kit will give a huge amount of light in the darkness.
I'm tempted to just buy a Philips white vision set of bulbs for £24 40% whiter than normal bulbs and 60% brighter. Although a hid kit will no doubt be better
