another headlamp burnout

[wjduke]

Replaced last Sept, one out again today. Originals went almost two years. Tried Silverstar from Walmart. Said 85 hour life....guess not much more. Trying another cheap one from local supply house, Heliolite. $5.00 ea. Have a ride tonight, so can't shop around. At $5, can't complain too much. Glad they're an easy swap!

[stevenolts]

My original OEMs lasted 3 years and 38000 miles. I bought a replacement at Advanced and it is about a year old now.
stevenolts

I have read that the extra bright headlights do not last. The regular OEM headlights last a long time.

[F6Dave]

I've had the same experience. Those bulbs don't last long. I was reading the packages at Walmart and not surprisingly, the brighter and more expensive H7 bulbs have a much shorter life. I think one of the bulbs was rated for something like 70 hours. That would barely get you through a week of full day riding! I just use the 'Basic' H7 which has a longer life, costs less, and still works very well.

[ka7aku]

You might shop around for a H7LL bulb. The LL is supposed to indicate Long Life. I don't know any ratings but it might be worth a try.

[yellow rex]

Osram German bulbs will stay on the bike, I buy them 10 @ a time because some one always is in need on a ride, my self I use led head light bulbs.

[shortleg0521]

LEDs are the way to go, the money you spend on them will be the same in the end
and they have good light.

[VStarRider]

LEDs are the way to go, the money you spend on them will be the same in the end
and they have good light.

I need to replace a burnt out low beam bulb. I am thinking of going to an LED. Are there any that I can just plug in to the existing socket and ride away without any additional work? Any recommendations?

[BigAl1952]

Just went thru this myself. I wanted brighter light for the daytime to have a little more chance of being seen. I went with the Pathfinder LEDs. I like them alot and they were easy to install. Use some velcro on the inline box and the kit comes with a couple of clamps to help you keep the wires out of the way. I also just put in a set of there sequential turn signals. They werent as bad as I thought they would be to install either. You tube has some install videos that will give you some help. Al

[PapaJT]

A couple years ago on a Honda Shadow with the old standard H4 Halogen bulb I took a chance and switched to the Cyclops H4 LED replacement bulb.
Yes... it was more expensive. But after installing that one LED bulb, I got reflected light back from signs a half mile down the road, clearly had more light output than my riding buddies with their HD light bars on, and there was a distinct horizontal line that prevented it from shining in the eyes of oncoming drivers. I thought I'd died and gone to heaven.
Now, with my F6B and 4 headights, plus after cataract surgery and less night driving, I have not bought more but DANG, I would always recommend LED over the old style bulbs.
Here is a link to the H7 they offer:
https://www.cyclopsadventuresports.com/48-Platinum-H7-LED-Headlight-Bulb_p_86.html

With the H4 LED on my Shadow, I only needed to make a tiny clearance slit so the bulb was an easier fit thru the rubber storm collar. My guess is that all LED's have that small attached electronics box; I was able to just tuck it in the headlight bucket - but perhaps there is a different solution on the 'wings. All I can say is I was blown away by that bulb, and with the projected lifetime on these LED's you would probably never need to replace them. And if 4 of them were on a bike? Yikes... it might be like turning night into day.

[Draxsr]

+1 on the Pathfinders. Easy install, great lighting.

[Brasco]

I went with the H7 LEDs (3600 lumens 40 watt) from Big Bike Parts (Show Chrome Accessories). Purchased them from Rick at Value Accessories. No fuss. No muss. All good!

[grendl]

I went with the H7 LEDs (3600 lumens 40 watt) from Big Bike Parts (Show Chrome Accessories). Purchased them from Rick at Value Accessories. No fuss. No muss. All good!

Brasco is that 3600 lumens per bulb ?

[Brasco]

Yes, per bulb. This is for the low beams. Have left the high beams OEM as they're harder to access and not often used. Will upgrade them when doing other work on the bike. Here's a link to the one's I purchased. http://store.valueaccessories.net/LEDH7HeadlightBulbsGL1800.aspx