Bull
Well-known member
I switched out the stock H4 lamps today - replacing them with Osram Night Breakers. I heard from Mr Warchild that these might be a step in the right direction, so I thought I'd give them a swing [thanks WC]
First of all, I took no pctures because I've always thought that most of the 'before and after' replacing the H4 pictures I've seen in the past are pretty much useless. You get a yellowish shot - then a brighter shot. So if you like pictures, just pause for a moment, close your eyes, imagine one that's yellowish - and one that's more whitish, then you'll be about bang on. Right. Back to business....
First impressions - the night breakers definitely shoot out a more crisp, white light than the stockers - even though they are stamped as 60/55 (same as stock lamps). I just put one in so I could do a real time LHS versus RHS comparison (at noon, dusk and dark). The stock bulb had a slightly orange colouring - the night breakers were more crisp white without moving into blue (so your bike won't resemble a kid's tricked out honda prelude with pretend HID's). I'd always thought that the stock lamps were white, until I saw them next to the osram, which unquestionably makes the stock look orang-ey.
A brief warning for the uninitiated! Switching out the bulbs is fairly straightforward - but replacing those rubber dust covers on a Gen II bike, once the new bulbs are in place took about three years off my life today. :blink: I think the assembly workers in Japan who build these bikes must have tiny, little hands like squirrels. At one point I had one hand coming in over the glove box and the other, coming in from below and all the while, my pain contorted face was struggling between curses to keep visual contact of the action zone. I did discover a technique eventually that was helpful, but it would be very difficult to describe. If you ever get stuck, drop me a PM and I'll see if I can explain what I eventually did to make it work.
I got my bulbs from: www.powerbulbs.com and they shipped fast, were well packaged, and cost 24 British pounds. If you were interested in a set, you could use this coupon code which was attached to my invoice. Quote RLKHQ1883 and get 10% off. (no relation, not commission, etc, etc, etc.....)
So far - I'd say they're a noticeable improvement over stock - but that's an assumption based on the bike standing still. I'll post a ride report once I've had a chance to get out for a spin.
cheers all - Bull
First of all, I took no pctures because I've always thought that most of the 'before and after' replacing the H4 pictures I've seen in the past are pretty much useless. You get a yellowish shot - then a brighter shot. So if you like pictures, just pause for a moment, close your eyes, imagine one that's yellowish - and one that's more whitish, then you'll be about bang on. Right. Back to business....
First impressions - the night breakers definitely shoot out a more crisp, white light than the stockers - even though they are stamped as 60/55 (same as stock lamps). I just put one in so I could do a real time LHS versus RHS comparison (at noon, dusk and dark). The stock bulb had a slightly orange colouring - the night breakers were more crisp white without moving into blue (so your bike won't resemble a kid's tricked out honda prelude with pretend HID's). I'd always thought that the stock lamps were white, until I saw them next to the osram, which unquestionably makes the stock look orang-ey.
A brief warning for the uninitiated! Switching out the bulbs is fairly straightforward - but replacing those rubber dust covers on a Gen II bike, once the new bulbs are in place took about three years off my life today. :blink: I think the assembly workers in Japan who build these bikes must have tiny, little hands like squirrels. At one point I had one hand coming in over the glove box and the other, coming in from below and all the while, my pain contorted face was struggling between curses to keep visual contact of the action zone. I did discover a technique eventually that was helpful, but it would be very difficult to describe. If you ever get stuck, drop me a PM and I'll see if I can explain what I eventually did to make it work.
I got my bulbs from: www.powerbulbs.com and they shipped fast, were well packaged, and cost 24 British pounds. If you were interested in a set, you could use this coupon code which was attached to my invoice. Quote RLKHQ1883 and get 10% off. (no relation, not commission, etc, etc, etc.....)
So far - I'd say they're a noticeable improvement over stock - but that's an assumption based on the bike standing still. I'll post a ride report once I've had a chance to get out for a spin.
cheers all - Bull
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......and yes, I fully AGREE that replacing them bastards is a major pia.. I can't imagine how anyone could replace these bulbs on a lonely road in the middle of the night after having been up for, oh, say, 18 hours staight.
