Brighter Headlamp Bulb, Will it Fry My Wires?

[Guest dwallen]

I find the stock 55w bulb is insufficient for my driving conditions and would like to upgrade to the 100w bulb for the high beam. When I look at the wire that is currently connecting the front bulb it looks to be about 20 guage wire (very thin). Is the whole harness that powers the bulb this small guage or is the wire that supplies the plugin a thicker guage wire. I am concerned if the small wire will just get cooked. I am also concered if the reflector in the headlight housing will take the added heat of a 100w bulb. Does anyone have any exsperience with upping the bulb wattage or have any suggestions.

Thanks

[Guest]

My advice as an electrician is to stay with the stock wattage lamp size.

I have seen my friends headlight lense all melted after he left his high beams on while riding. After upping the wattage of the stock lamp.

It wasn't worth the costs of the replacement lense and socket that melted.

Go with a HID kit before you decide to risk a fire with upping the wattage of the lamps.

YMMV

[Volfy]

You definitely don't want to use the stock wiring harness for 100w bulb. You could wire up a 25A or 30A relay so as to power the 100W bulb direct from the battery, with an inline fuse of course. But... I seriously doubt the stock reflector can handle the intense heat put out by 100w bulbs. I had 80/100w H4 bulbs in my VW GTI E-code lamps long time ago. The light output was phenomenal, but so was the heat. Back then, head lamps were glass lenses with metal cans, so the heat was not a problem.

I think you'll be better with going with aux lights. Some of the LED driving lights these days are pretty bright. The good ones are expensive though.

[texasvfr]

+1 on going with HID lights . Be forewarned, a bud of mine got stopped and a ticket from DPS who noticed how bright they were from behind him! About $50 and easy to install.

[Willy]

I installed a pair of Sylvania H4 SilverStar Ultras in my bike a few months ago. They work very well. Much wider and whiter lighting. Some have noted that they don't last as long. So far so good for me but again it's only been a couple months. Ernie

[Guest]

_{Thanks for all the advice. I am going to look into the HID setup. I am worried about the heat melting the reflector with the 100w bulb. I see there is another thread about someone who has installed them. Waiting to hear back on a couple of questions I had.}

[interceptorrider]

I installed a pair of Sylvania H4 SilverStar Ultras in my bike a few months ago. They work very well. Much wider and whiter lighting. Some have noted that they don't last as long. So far so good for me but again it's only been a couple months. Ernie

Ditto. Works good. Last long time.

[Volfy]

HID doesn't work well for high beam, mostly because even the best HID take a few seconds to warm up and to achieve max brightness. This delay isn't acceptable with the way most folks use high beam. If you ride on a desolate road with no other traffic, it'll be good. Otherwise, the constant switching ON/OFF will mean the high beam may not warm up at all most of the time.

[CBRent]

I agree there is takes a moment for the high beam to produce 100% illumination. It does come on immediately. So, it still works if you want to flicker your highbeam at the mouthbreathing, white knuckled, beret wearing, leftist with the turn signal blinking to move out of your lane.

I believe the warm up time improves as I ride. The first time I hit the high beam I'm aware of it achieving full wattage. The next time it seems faster. This is a perception. It isn't like I've set this up in the lab and timed it.

It hasn't been an issue for me. The trade for vastly superior night illumination is worth it.

I also think the HIDs attract more bugs. The bike definitely gets coated faster than it did before the HID mod.

Have we stressed that the 100W bulb is a very bad idea?

Good luck!

Brent

[vanion2]

Also consider putting an HID bulb in your stock housing is not legal, produces excess beam scatter and blinds oncoming traffic (this being apparent with the "more bug" factor CBRent describes). Do a projector retro fit with the proper cut off though and you should be good to go. Less light into oncoming traffic with a wider spread over the road where you need it = win. You could do this with the low beams and will find that you probably wouldn't need high beams any more.

Using stock wiring for HID lights is also a bad idea as the initial power up of the ballasts pulls significant current and will over time reduce the life of the stock wiring. You can work around this by wiring up the ballasts and lights with beefier wires and just using the stock wiring for activating the relay that turns on the ballasts.

HID is the best way to go without melting your wiring or housing but only if done properly (which isn't cheap).

[Volfy]

Yes, once the HID bulb warms up, if you switch it off momentarily, then back ON, the birghtness is maintained. If you switch it off for a while and the bulb cools off, then the delay will return. Not sure what happens if you keep halogen on low beam and HID on high beam, in the same lamp housing like the VFR1200. May be the heat from the halogen bulb would keep the HID bulb sufficiently warm? Dunno.