Head light bulb suggestions

[brumbackkid]

My new to me 08 GS managed to lose the headlight immediately upon taking delivery of the machine. Not quite ready to add the xenon light upgrade...can someone give me your thoughts on replacment bulbs?

[Bruce H]

I am using Piaa bulbs, in the year I have had the bike (22,000 miles) I have put in 4 bulbs. Get cheep ones at the auto parts store.

[marc]

Philips Vision PLUS put a little bit more light on the road. I think they are about $12 each (I buy them in 2-packs). I get about 10k miles/bulb and make a point of carrying a spare. Although, in an emergency you can always move your high beam bulb to the low beam postion. Note: they are euro spec bulbs. Otherwise use the cheapest H7 bulb you can find at your nearest auto supply place.

[brumbackkid]

thanks for the input. It does lead to another question...my 05 V-strom went 40K miles and twice to the arctic...never replaced a bulb...lucky or does the BMW eat bulbs?

[marc]

Did your strom use H7 bulbs? The GS is known as a bulb eater with some folks getting around 12K/bulb plus or minus a bunch. Some have suggested that the H7 bulbs are known for short life. I don't have enough experience to know. I just plan on replacing a bulb once in a while.

My last bulb failed on a ride Sunday at about 63K miles. The bulb before that went in Jan '09 at 42K miles. 20K miles is more than I usually to get. That probably means my next bulb will only last 8K. Or maybe it means I forgot to note a change in the last 2 years.

[mikec]

I've only had two BMWs, a '07 K1200GT and my current mount, an '09 GSA. Both have eaten bulbs like popcorn. When I rode Harleys, mostly dressers in the last few years, I hardly ever replaced a bulb. The Harleys have have a big 7" bucket for one H-4 bulb while BMWs have very small headlight housings. Being no expert, I would think heat plays a big roll in bulb life.

I've switched over to an HID unit from One-Off Motorsports. It's a 35W kit with a CANbus decoder and it has been great. Occasionally, on cold mornings, I'll get a LAMPF but a restart cures that for the rest of the day. It has been installed since October of last year and, so far so good. The HID seems to emit a much brighter light.

Mike

[brumbackkid]

thanks guy... all great comments and assistance. I think the V-strom did use H-4 ...no big deal to carry a spare bulb on long trips.
I have a long list of farkles...so i will had "lights" to the list...and I really don't even like riding at night...too many things to go bump!

[SteveH85396]

I installed a pair of Osram 65 watt bulbs in my GS about 7 months/12,000 miles ago. So far, so good. I had a pair of PIAA Superwhite bulbs in it for a while (before the Osrams) but didn't like how white the light was compared to my Hella Micro DE fog lights.

[wvm005]

I use non-road legal 80w H7 (rally/off road use) - purely because it's brigher at night. Last one lasted 10k miles, without any effect on my headlamp, the current one lasted about 6k so far. I have 06 Adventure. As they are not approved, they are also cheaper to buy... I buy mine at Halfords (UK retail chain).

[cug]

Originally Posted by SteveH85396

I installed a pair of Osram 65 watt bulbs in my GS about 7 months/12,000 miles ago. So far, so good. I had a pair of PIAA Superwhite bulbs in it for a while (before the Osrams) but didn't like how white the light was compared to my Hella Micro DE fog lights.

I like those Osrams, too. They are bright, have a good color and so far last. I have them in for 2k miles only, though. Will get another set for my Hella FF50 and therefore have 4 identical bulbs in all lights (once the Hellas are installed) and that's a pretty big plus for me as I have to carry only a single spare or none as I can swap them around as needed.