Following on from my spotlight / driving light thread.I took the headlamp off earlier, as I knew that the Bosch unit was getting a bit opaque, the lens is plastic. Due to the design; there is a metal “shield”? in front of the bulb, there seems to be no access to be able to attempt to clean the inside of the lens. I tried (weakly!) to prise the lens from the metal framework, but, obviously for waterproofing, it is bonded.So unless anyone has a suggestion, I will be going along the route of buying one of these:1 x CIBIE 7" ROUND HEADLIGHT MAIN & DIP WITH SIDELIGHT …
1150GS2013-09-14 14:14:15
I just filled mine up with soapy water and splashed it about a bit then emptied it and dried it with a hair dryer.
It made a lot of difference.
I will give that a try. 1150GS2013-09-14 15:19:05
The metal shield is a deflector and is part of the projection and dipping system so it’s alignment is quite critical and, sadly, it’s not removable. If the reflector doesn’t clean up by ‘Demon’s’ method then you need to replace it. Some MOT testers can be a bit picky about cracks, corrosion and stuff like that.
I found out that new bulbs with the black “cap” on do not work as well in the older type headlamp reflector where the headlamp has an actual lens, in fact I got some old style bulbs “onion” shaped ones from a real old style auto shop, got them all in a deal , new but very dusty
Lower wattage than new bulbs BUT much better light beam and spread in the older headlamp, a heck of alot better on unlit Country roads than the new one as fitted to the V11 Le Mans and some Ducati’s
Not so god - how
I ask 'cos I was out on mine in the dark the other day and on main beam it appeared that it made a more light but didn’t “apparently” shine out the front any more!!
I even took the bulb out to make sure it wasn’t in upside down!!
As far as I can tell newer headlights use the reflector to “focus” the beam along with the bulb shape and format.
The headlamps with the glass lens uses a parabolic, as opposed to angled reflector so the bulb is focused by that and the actual lens configuration so it requres the bulb to match that system.
That is how I fugured it just by looking and working out how the lower wattage bulb seems to give more focus to the beam.
It made sense to me anyroadup. I DO know the older type Cibie lens on the V1000 is far better then the plasticy thing with the cap etc on the V11 Le mans, so I popped an older style headlamp and lens onto the Le Mans and now I can SEE at above 30MPH on the unlit lanes here in the dark.
'Course it may just be my aged eyes and all a load of rollocks I can only report what I found on my bikes …
There are two basic types of headlight design, the parabolic reflector type and the projector type. The latter is easily recognised by the thick lens on the front, rather than a patterned or plain glass/polycarbonate front.
Assuming you have the twin filament H4 bulb fitted, then this works only in a reflector system.
You may have the earlier E45 bulb with the larger round flange. I think this type did usually have the built in shield. You can get two versions of the E45, normal filament and the tungsten/halogen type.
Beam pattern is a combination of filament position and glass moulding. I have known bulbs to be faulty and give poor beam shape, indeed daughter had an MOT advisory on one headlight in her car on poor beam shape which was cured by fitting another new bulb.
I have bought a glass lensed reflector without the shield. Have to see how it goes. My 11 year old Renault clio has plastic headlamp lenses, which have turned opaque on the outside. I polished this off, and the headlamp brightness has improved no end.1150GS2013-09-16 21:37:32
New reflector fitted, c/w a brighter bulb. So much better. Very pleased, a big improvement.
Incidentally, the one I Bought was made by ring @ just over £20.
H4 bulb was the bulb used on both reflectors, new one does not have the metal shieldfitted.1150GS2013-09-18 21:20:00
good job the glass lens does work better on a bike I find Newer is sometimes just cheaper not always better
The H4 bulb doesn’t need the shield as the end of the bulb is always painted black.Have you added relays into the headlight circuit? If the new brighter bulb is a higher wattage then relays would help.
Top Tip:-
The relays sold by “Pyro Dan” work great as
Headlamp/dip relays
Spotlight relays
Accesory relays
horn relay
starter relay
AND you can buy a relay base to pop them in making changing them easy as per the V11
Not a higher wattage bulb.
Even so, still might help…
I have fitted relays to my Yamaha FJ1200, before fitting the voltage to the bulb was only 11.4, when the battery was showing 12.6.
If you are not getting the full whack at the bulb then higher wattage may not help, as I found out, the older bulb lower wattage gave better light> I could go into all the clever calculations as to why and all that guff but it is largely pointless.
My take is the older bulb is made for the parabolic reflector and lens so makes the beam better.
Last year at MOT just to check on the beam thingy I swapped the bulbs and the older one DID give a better beam spread … even Mark was surprised.
True, once tried a 100W bulb in the single h/l unit, no real discernible difference whatsoever, so changed it back, reason was the extra power means even more Voltage drop because the current is doubled. HTH
Ahhh you saw the light … One other thing I found out is some of the aftermarket, ok cheap H4 bulbs from that well known auction site seem to fall apart real quick they can’t stand the vibes of the Guzzi i reckon.
The last one although it worked the filament shorted somehow and caused the charge warning light to come on and I lost the lights BUT once the bike had stopped and cooled I got lights and all seemed well …took me a little while to figure it. I checked the obvious, switches/relays and when they were Ok I was left with the bulb!!! swapped it…all good very weird.
LOL, I haven’t told you the story have I, it were on the T140V, tail light filament went (most likely vibration), then it came back on, but extra bright ~ the short bit of the snapped filament had sagged across onto the other terminal wire ~ so it ‘re-lit’ ~ didn’t last long like that though …