What bulb is the brightest yet will not cause any over heating?

 

Stick with the stock light and add some kind of auxiliary lighting. Those aftermarket "brighter" bulbs are junk and will not last.

 

The Sylvania Silverstar has a litle better lighting than the stock bulb. Been using the Silverstars since they came out. Use it in my truck too. H4ST is the one for motorcycles. They don't have any silverstars out for the passing lamps but the Sylvania 881 is a little more light. It matches the healight bulb when you it. Sylvania bulbs are more of a whiter light.

 

For the main lamp a lot of people use the Sylvania SilverStar H4ST headlight and they like it because the blue-white color (4000K) makes thing stand out better at night. But actual “light” (brightness) is measured in lumens not color. (If you want to learn more about color vs lumens: http://www.danielsternlighting.com )

So with color vs lumens in mind…

Taken from the Sylvania website
“…For Motorcycle Use - part number: H4ST
Lumens: Low 910 +/- 10%; High 1500 +/- 10%”
Watts: Low 55; High 60
Color: ~4000K

Cost from an online source: $18.99 plus shipping
From this website:
http://www.amazon.com/Sylvania-H4ST-BP-Performance-Headlight/dp/B000AM8BN6

As you can see the lumens is 910 low beam; 1500 high beam

But if you get the German version of that bulb: (Osram owns Sylvania... don't ask...)
The High Output Osram Hyper Bulb
Lumens: Low beam 1350; High beam 2000
Watts: Low 65; High 70
Color: 3150K

Cost: $19.95 plus shipping
From this website
http://www.rallylights.com/hella/H4.asp

The difference in lumens is:
Sylvania SilverStar 910 low beam; High 1500
Vs
Osram Hyper 1350 low beam; High 2000

You would be getting more light on the road.

Your wiring will handle the 65 watt bulb no problem.

As monstermile pointed out, by going to a “brighter” bulb you will take a hit in “life” about a 100 hours or so. But for me, seeing at night is more important than an extra 100 hours of bulb life.

If you are taking about your running lamps… well that is a different write-up depending on bike model and year.

[font="times new roman"][size=3]For you with a 07 you have 27.5 watt bulbs (881 bulbs: Base PGJ12 - Right Angle) in your running lamps. You can instal

 

Lilarlen... nice post. Thanks for the info and links! I have not been happy with the stock bulbs when running the canyons at night. A little more light would go a long way!

 

If riding a Road Glide, you can replace the headlight assembly with the European version...it's entirely different and when coupled with high quality Osram lamps, throws a wall of light you have to see to believe.

It's better than my Avalanche...and those lights are an upgrade themselves!

 

rkcrwlr Thanks, glad to help!

Little Arlen

 

Blackisfast WOW, nice info!

I did not know that the European lamp assemblies were different than the US ones.

You are correct; the US reflector throw out a “Wide” beam not a focused beam. Which is nice for the “side to side” vision and seeing those “critters” at night, but you can improve your running lamps enough to help with that.

I have been on a search for a better main lamp reflector that would focus the light more “down the road” and I am wondering if the “other” touring models have different European lamp assemblies also.

So, I would ask, how did you find out about the euro reflectors for the Road Glide?

And of course, I am hoping you can you give us a part number…

And do you know (or can you find out) if the other European Touring models have different lamp reflectors?

Little Arlen

 

I got all my info from Daniel Stern...he has a website (link in his text should work) and does great email and is a wizard at knowing what is needed for real world solutions. He can tell you what you need but only sells the bulbs. I ordered the reflector from Zanotti's. I have *NO* connection with him except as a happy paid in full customer (I do not get anything free from him except for advice).

Email from him that I saved to share (hope he doesn't mind):

[blockquote]The Harley part number for the European-spec headlamp optic for use on the RH side of the road (as we drive in North America) is 68995-01, and its beam patterns, both low and high, are much better focused: longer, wider and more effective. This headlamp uses the same configuration (twin reflectors with twin H4 bulbs) but the actual reflector optic surfaces are different.

Once you've swapped in the better optic, put in better bulbs. If you're after maximum nighttime seeing only (my choice), use a pair of Osram ultra high efficacy 70/65W Osram Plus 50: $22/ea at Daniel Stern Lighting

If you need a large improvement in nighttime seeing *and* you need other road users to see you earlier (so they don't do dumb things like pulling out in front of you), put in one Osram 70/65w and one Narva Rangepower+50 ($17/ea) with a CPI reusable selective yellow snap-on balloon ($9).

If you are on a tight budget, you can do the bulb swaps as described above in your existing lamp optic. This will not alter the poorly-focused beam pattern (light distribution) of your headlamps, but there will be more light within the beam.
[/blockquote]

 

Thanks blackisfast, I will send daniel an email.