Woeful headlamp…may have to settle for spot/driving lights?

[fastbikes76]

Absolutely hate to be that guy but can’t help think my only option is a pair of spots or driving lights mounted down low ? The factory headlamp on my B-king is dangerous, even with the best most expensive upgraded bulbs I could buy. On the few occasions I’ve ridden at night ive had Mrs Fb ride in front so I can see where the fk I was going !!

I have some nice metal rad pipes either side of the engine to mount them so need some recommendations on some small, bright and with a focused beam that will shine on the road rather than blind everyone around me

[black-k1]

Have you tried HID?

If you really want additional lights then this might be useful.

https://products.motorcyclenews.com/accessories/te...

[Chipchap]

Get some Denali D4's I have them on my bike and run them at 40% whilst I am on low beam and 100% when on high beam or the horn is pushed. They are epic lights.

[fastbikes76]

black-k1 said:

Have you tried HID?

If you really want additional lights then this might be useful.

https://products.motorcyclenews.com/accessories/te...

I’ve not tried HID in this bike but past experience says they are bright to look at but the beam is scattered more .

I’m not overly keen on adding auxiliary lights given the B-kings already subjective looks , but at this stage I’ll take seeing where I’m going over how the bike look. Oh how my GS friends shall laugh after all the years of ribbing they’ve endured from me

Chipchap said:

Get some Denali D4's I have them on my bike and run them at 40% whilst I am on low beam and 100% when on high beam or the horn is pushed. They are epic lights.

Ooooft, great reviews but that price is a little spicy for me. It’s a pain because I rarely ride at night, but the odd occasions I get caught out it’s been downright dangerous !

[black-k1]

fastbikes76 said:

black-k1 said:

Have you tried HID?

If you really want additional lights then this might be useful.

https://products.motorcyclenews.com/accessories/te...

I’ve not tried HID in this bike but past experience says they are bright to look at but the beam is scattered more .

I’m not overly keen on adding auxiliary lights given the B-kings already subjective looks , but at this stage I’ll take seeing where I’m going over how the bike look. Oh how my GS friends shall laugh after all the years of ribbing they’ve endured from me

I fitted HIDs to both my K13000Ss ant they were brilliant. Clean cut off on dip, superb range and clear light. Give them a try before writying them off.

[fastbikes76]

black-k1 said:

I fitted HIDs to both my K13000Ss ant they were brilliant. Clean cut off on dip, superb range and clear light. Give them a try before writying them off.

I’ll take another look and see if there is any space for the ballast, being a naked it’s very crammed behind the headlight with not much room for anything.

Gotta be worth a try for <£50

[Sidecar Man]

Yep another vote for HID. fitted one to my last couple of bikes. Great lights.

[creampuff]

Chipchap said:

Get some Denali D4's I have them on my bike and run them at 40% whilst I am on low beam and 100% when on high beam or the horn is pushed. They are epic lights.

I have Denalis. They are bright, but they still have only a very small reflector and spray light everywhere. You must use the dimmer if there are other vehicles around. And even then, you end up pointing them down so most of the stray light doesn’t blind other drivers.

Denalis are the good ones; the cheapies are even worse for spraying light everywhere.

[creampuff]

OP, also consider just trading your bike on another one which has functional lights. No point having a bike which is dangerous to use at night.

[bsidethecside]

If they really are poor, then I'd look at LED. Avoid eBay like the plague and stick to good brands like Philip, Osram etc.

You will likely need to correct CANBUS errors with a plug-in module, but with a decent supplier they should be able to sell these as a package. Also, with a good unit, the emitters will be in exactly the same place that the filament was and so focus properly, not scattering and dazzling others. There is a UK importer for the good US brand Cyclops, so that could be worth a punt as well. In my research to sort out a halogen unit on my old KTM, Cyclops were consistently recommended.

I went aux lights, but being an ADV, it wasn’t going to spoil the looks.

Edit - the reason I suggest LED over HID is longevity / durability. HID's are rapidly slipping away to being yesterday's tech.

[Prof Prolapse]

creampuff said:

OP, also consider just trading your bike on another one which has functional lights. No point having a bike which is dangerous to use at night.

Agree with this. I think it's flogging a dead horse getting LED spotlights and uprating bulbs, they're often poorly set up and blind/ps off other road users.

Obviously someone will say their beam pattern was perfect after fitting aftermarket HID, if that's true, then my criticism doesn't apply.

My CRF1000L Africa Twin was immense at night. LED as standard, great beam pattern.

My CBR600F is like holding a candle. The solution is riding slow or not riding at night.

[Freakuk]

I was half expecting this to be about a Ducati 916/996/998.... form over function, candles would be better at night

[fastbikes76]

creampuff said:

OP, also consider just trading your bike on another one which has functional lights. No point having a bike which is dangerous to use at night.

No chance…. I’d have to sell overly single one of my bikes as none have decent headlights

I ride socially only so very rarely out at night, occasionally get caught out leaving a summer bike night later than intended which is when I could do with something better than Suzuki decided was adequate. It’s not so much I can’t use it at night, but there’s gotta be a better solution!

bsidethecside said:

If they really are poor, then I'd look at LED. Avoid eBay like the plague and stick to good brands like Philip, Osram etc.

You will likely need to correct CANBUS errors with a plug-in module, but with a decent supplier they should be able to sell these as a package. Also, with a good unit, the emitters will be in exactly the same place that the filament was and so focus properly, not scattering and dazzling others.

I currently have a LED bulb which on face value looked brighter, beam pattern remained the same as standard bulb . It seems to be the design of the headlamp that’s the limiting factor as I’ve even tried 100W off road bulbs with no real improvement.

Prof Prolapse said:

Agree with this. I think it's flogging a dead horse getting LED spotlights and uprating bulbs, they're often poorly set up and blind/ps off other road users.

It’s the reason I asked for recommendations really, to see if anyone can point me out some that don’t dazzle the world and do actually have some form of beam pattern. They will be adjusted and setup up probably as to ensure they don’t dazzle. That’s if I fit any, going to try a HID kit to see if that’s better than the LED bulb currently fitted.

Freakuk said:

I was half expecting this to be about a Ducati 916/996/998.... form over function, candles would be better at night

ha ! It was actually riding my 996 home on Wednesday evening that prompted this post reminding me to sort out the B-king lights Mrs Fb hasn’t complained about her 748’s lights yet which is strange as they are equally as ste

All my bikes are old beasts so no fancy LED headlamps on any of them. I can cope with what I have but always room for improvement

[David Beer]

Not done much on bikes forum, but my 1978 z650 which I have now got out has so poor headlight. Checked and the bulb is seeing 10v. ! Adding a relay direct to the bulb the voltage is now 13 and it is night and day !! So adding biggywattage bulbs will not help .

[creampuff]

fastbikes76 said:

No chance…. I’d have to sell overly single one of my bikes as none have decent headlights laugh

I ride socially only so very rarely out at night, occasionally get caught out leaving a summer bike night later than intended which is when I could do with something better than Suzuki decided was adequate. It’s not so much I can’t use it at night, but there’s gotta be a better solution!

Seems like no brainer man-logic to upgrade your entire garage worth of bikes in order to get better headlights, but there you go, each to their own

I don't think there is a cheap way out for you. You have tried brighter bulbs in the existing housing and that doesn't work.

This leaves stand alone LED driving lights. The ones you see on eBay spray light everywhere and have dubious weatherproofing. This leaves a set of Denalis with a dimmer, at about £400 or so. Still spray light everywhere, but not to the extent of eBay superspecials. They will actually light up the road on high beam. Low beam they are so so, as they have the dimmer on and you have to aim them down as even with the dimmer they will blind other drivers if you point them straight ahead. They should last you through several bikes though, you won't be spending that just to fix one bike.

Although maybe you could turf one of your bikes and get just one new bike with decent factory lights for when you go out at night. You know you need a new bike

[Tyre Smoke]

I bought Osram LED H7 bulbs from Halfords for my Chimaera.

These are crap and only for offroad use you know? Said the chap in Halfords.

Fitted them and they are brilliant (pun intended) in as much there is no light scatter, they are bright, yes, but I don't get flashed by oncoming cars at all. At MOT time I told by garage and they said they'd see what they were like for legality and swap in some halogens if required to pass. Nope, passed fine, good sharp pattern, no problem at all they said.

£74.99 for a pair. I'm guessing you'll be able to get some the right spec for your bike.