Wilsons Sandbox
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No, they are not "very bright". The efficiency of all halogen bulbs of the same voltage and wattage is essentially the same. What they are is "much brighter in the center of the field" while throwing much less light to the edges. So you may perceive the bulb as much brighter, while in fact you are much less likely to see that deer (or pickup truck) about to dart onto the road from the edges. If you want a brighter bulb, you need to use a higher wattage. In an ideal world, you could get a higher wattage bulb with the same DOT- required beam pattern, because it throws adequate light to the edges of the field, which most non-DOT "brighter" beam patterns do not. Oh, and the "blue light so it's brighter" stuff is crap, too. Putting a blue coating on the bulb does _nothing_ but reduce the total amount of light output. Thor> Arrowhead lists some 55/60 Watt headlight bulbs that are very bright > but not DOT.
--- In DSN_KLR650@yahoogroups.com, "Yan" wrote: > > Arrowhead lists some 55/60 Watt headlight bulbs that are very bright > but not DOT. Has anyone had any experience with these? Are they so > bright that I would be doomed to be stopped by the cops and given a > ticket or they don't stand out that much? Like some upscale cars (BMW, > Mersedes) have these blueish lights that seem awfully bright but they > must be street legal if they come equipped with them. > > Thanks. >
On 10/25/06, Thor Lancelot Simon wrote: > > On Wed, Oct 25, 2006 at 02:14:04PM -0000, Yan wrote: > > Arrowhead lists some 55/60 Watt headlight bulbs that are very bright > > but not DOT. > > No, they are not "very bright". The efficiency of all halogen bulbs > of the same voltage and wattage is essentially the same. > > What they are is "much brighter in the center of the field" while > throwing much less light to the edges. So you may perceive the bulb > as much brighter, while in fact you are much less likely to see that > deer (or pickup truck) about to dart onto the road from the edges. > > If you want a brighter bulb, you need to use a higher wattage. In an > ideal world, you could get a higher wattage bulb with the same DOT- > required beam pattern, because it throws adequate light to the edges > of the field, which most non-DOT "brighter" beam patterns do not. > > Oh, and the "blue light so it's brighter" stuff is crap, too. Putting > a blue coating on the bulb does _nothing_ but reduce the total amount > of light output. > > Thor > [Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
The bulbs that are *actual* HID bulbs require a special ballast transformer and new wiring. Aerostich (among others) now sells a system that should be usable to replace the stock KLR headlight with an HID bulb. These are gas-discharge light sources like a photographic flash (except that they're on all the time) or a neon light in a store window. They use a fundamentally different technology than the incandescent (which includes halogen and so-called "xenon" incandescent) bulbs that can be used with your KLR's stock lighting system. They are more efficient, but they are also much, much more expensive -- the Aerostich system is almost $200. So-called "HID" bulbs that do not require a ballast and new wiring are being sold to you by people who are, to be quite simple about it, lying. If it is an incandescent bulb of the same wattage as the stock light, and its manufacturer claims that it is brighter than the stock light, which is already a halogen, its manufacturer is lying. It is possible to make halogen bulbs more efficient using bulb coatings that reflect infrared light back into the filament so that it runs hotter, but such bulbs are a fire hazard even in many stationary applications with fixtures that are designed for them, and would melt the socket and possibly start a fire if used in an enclosed space like a motorcycle headlight housing. Thor> > Thor, what about HID bulbs, how come they provide more lumens for the same > wattage?
On 10/25/06, Thor Lancelot Simon wrote: > > On Wed, Oct 25, 2006 at 02:59:31PM -0400, Yan Vinogradov wrote: > > > > Thor, what about HID bulbs, how come they provide more lumens for the > same > > wattage? > > The bulbs that are *actual* HID bulbs require a special ballast > transformer and new wiring. Aerostich (among others) now sells a system > that should be usable to replace the stock KLR headlight with an HID > bulb. > > These are gas-discharge light sources like a photographic flash (except > that they're on all the time) or a neon light in a store window. They > use a fundamentally different technology than the incandescent (which > includes halogen and so-called "xenon" incandescent) bulbs that can be > used with your KLR's stock lighting system. They are more efficient, > but they are also much, much more expensive -- the Aerostich system is > almost $200. > > So-called "HID" bulbs that do not require a ballast and new wiring are > being sold to you by people who are, to be quite simple about it, lying. > > If it is an incandescent bulb of the same wattage as the stock light, > and its manufacturer claims that it is brighter than the stock light, > which is already a halogen, its manufacturer is lying. It is possible > to make halogen bulbs more efficient using bulb coatings that reflect > infrared light back into the filament so that it runs hotter, but such > bulbs are a fire hazard even in many stationary applications with > fixtures that are designed for them, and would melt the socket and > possibly start a fire if used in an enclosed space like a motorcycle > headlight housing. > > Thor > [Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
On Wed, Oct 25, 2006 at 03:47:44PM -0400, Yan Vinogradov wrote: [Please do not top-post. It makes it very hard to respond to your messages while preserving any context for the other readers. I have reformatted your message so that it uses proper quoting format. I have also trimmed the quoted material, which is also something that it would be polite to do.] > On 10/25/06, Thor Lancelot Simon wrote: > > > >On Wed, Oct 25, 2006 at 02:59:31PM -0400, Yan Vinogradov wrote: > >> > >> Thor, what about HID bulbs, how come they provide more lumens for the > >same > >> wattage? > > > >The bulbs that are *actual* HID bulbs require a special ballast > >transformer and new wiring. Aerostich (among others) now sells a system > >that should be usable to replace the stock KLR headlight with an HID > >bulb. > > Thor, what about LEAD lights? I do not know what a LEAD light is. If you mean an LED (light-emitting diode) light source made to fit into a standard socket for an incandescent bulb, I'm unaware of any that would be suitable for replacing our headlight bulbs -- if you know of one, could you provide a URL? Thor
have> > On Wed, Oct 25, 2006 at 03:47:44PM -0400, Yan Vinogradov wrote: > > [Please do not top-post. It makes it very hard to respond to your > messages while preserving any context for the other readers. I
that it> reformatted your message so that it uses proper quoting format. I > have also trimmed the quoted material, which is also something
for the> would be polite to do.] > > > On 10/25/06, Thor Lancelot Simon wrote: > > > > > >On Wed, Oct 25, 2006 at 02:59:31PM -0400, Yan Vinogradov wrote: > > >> > > >> Thor, what about HID bulbs, how come they provide more lumens
a system> > >same > > >> wattage? > > > > > >The bulbs that are *actual* HID bulbs require a special ballast > > >transformer and new wiring. Aerostich (among others) now sells
HID> > >that should be usable to replace the stock KLR headlight with an
emitting> > >bulb. > > > > Thor, what about LEAD lights? > > I do not know what a LEAD light is. If you mean an LED (light-
incandescent> diode) light source made to fit into a standard socket for an
headlight> bulb, I'm unaware of any that would be suitable for replacing our
Thor, Thanks for the great lesson/discussion on lights-electricry-magic. You add a lot to the list-wisdom. Looking forward to your next post. revmaaatin.> bulbs -- if you know of one, could you provide a URL? > > Thor