Headlight question

I have had a "super-white" bulb in my 01' SS for about 2 years and love it. Looks as if it is an HID and puts out way more light than the OEM bulb. The only bad thing is that it makes the parking light inside the headlight look like a candle.(Very yellow looking when on) Can anyone tell me what type of base the parking light bulb is? Is it a "T-10" base on it? I found some Super bright LED's with the T-10 base but don't know if they would work. Thanks guys!

I don't know about the '01 model but my older SS has a wedge base for the pilot bulb. PIAA make LED bulbs with a wedge base.

Interesting you should post this... I've thinking the same thing for a while. The little light looks pretty crappy! I have a stock headlight bulb and the parking light looks yellow and dim compared to even that. I noticed the bulb itself (glass part) is dark from heat. On my light, the chrome plating inside that little area has flaked away. I have been meaning to get a new bulb but just haven't got around to taking it out to see what kind it is. Your idea of using diodes is excellent! Please let us know if you find anything out.

Well I have done a little bit of research. I placed an order for a "Super White" LED that should fit right in the OEM bulb place. OEM bulb is a 5w unit. The LED is rated at putting out 10w of light but only draws .7w . When I get it in about a week, I will post and let you guys know if it fits, or if it fried my bike.

UPDATE

The LED wedge bulb came in today. Fits perfectly. I am however a little bummed on the color. Me thinks I am going to get pulled over by the popo now. (Although getting a "fix-it" ticket while on the bike is the LEAST of my worries) They said it was an "HID look", and yes it does have the look. But once installed, it looks more blue. Still alot better than the candle burning yellow the OEM unit had IMHO.

Here are some shots of it I took in the garage. Oh yeah, it should add at least 5 more HP also.


OEM Parking light with "Super-White" headlamp bulb.


LED parking bulb. (It actually has 4 LED's in the one bulb) Nose cone is off of the bike, that is why it has a different outline.


Just the Parking Light on.


All lights on against the inside of the garage door.


Let me know what you guys think.

Here are a couple of shots before the camera could adjust out the bright headlamp.


And...


Last one...

Aside from the effect the camera and our computer monitors might be having on what we see in the pics, how does it look in person? Is it actually that blue? I like it, but I'm not sure of the local LEOs reaction. Do you have a link to the site you got it from?

I had the bike apart this weekend for other maintenance, so I decided to pick up a new bulb just to see if there was a difference. None. The new bulb looked as dull as the old, heat darkened bulb that was in there. I don't remember it being that dull when the bike was new. I even took some sandpaper to the contacts to see if it was a dirty connection.

Went to AutoZone. In the bling-bling light section, I found something called "XC Xenon chromes cromandos" (yes, that's how they're spelled) for $6.00... Squidly, yes. They give off a very white light, just not very bright. It does look a lot better than the dingy yellow of the regular light though.

Okay, cough up the pics redduck!!

Man, it's hard to get a decent shot directly into a headlight! Here you go. As you can see, whiter light than a regular bulb, but not very bright.

With headlamp on.



Just the Marker light



Still on the lookout for a decent LED light too. I went to a Radio Shack looking for some 12VDC white LEDs... That place just isn't what it used to be. They couldn't help me with the diodes, but I am thinking if I needed any cell phone accessories, I was in the right place!

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by redduck &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">Still on the lookout for a decent LED light too. I went to a Radio Shack looking for some 12VDC white LEDs... That place just isn't what it used to be. They couldn't help me with the diodes, but I am thinking if I needed any cell phone accessories, I was in the right place!</TD></TR></TABLE>

So true. They do seem to know more about cell phones than anything else.

The light looks good. Looks alot better than the yellow candle!

cali duc were did you get your led light and what was the part number for your light redduck

What brand/model of bulb are you using for your regular lowbeam/highbeam - the stock buld in my SS SUCKS!

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by duclover &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">what was the part number for your light redduck</TD></TR></TABLE>

The part number on the box is XC-194W. It is a chrome colored 194 size bulb. Not sure if they're available everywhere. It was in the lighting section at the Auto Zone in the same section as the colored diode tail light bulbs, red, blue, and green marker lights, and various neon accessories. I think you could call it the "ricer" section.

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by hubert &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">What brand/model of bulb are you using for your regular lowbeam/highbeam - the stock buld in my SS SUCKS!</TD></TR></TABLE>

Not sure what CaliDuc is using, but since this discussion came up, I started to think I could find something better than the stock bulb I was using. The morning I took the pics above, I installed a PIAA H4 bulb. Much brighter and whiter than the stock head light bulb. I haven't tried it at night yet though.


Modified by redduck at 7:10 PM 1/31/2005

Got the LED off of Ebay. Their application is for marker light on cars. As long as it is a 12v with a wedge base, any should work. As for the headlight bulb, I got that off of Ebay two years ago. I couldn't tell ya the make for the life of me, because I can't even remember what I had for lunch today. Come to think of it, damn I forgot to even eat lunch. I believe it was called a "Super-white xenon" bulb. Only paid like $6.00 for it. Much brighter than the stock, and much whiter. Sorry I couldn't be of more help. Any H4 bulb should work fine. May want to check Autozone, Kragen, etc. I have seen them there before.

hey caliduc is this what you have or something like it. Don't know exactly what the wedge shape is

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors...=WDVW

Thanks for the link duclover.

Here's the real deal for a non-HID bulb which a buddy of mine w/ a BMW M5 (I think thats what it is) installed. He says they're way better than stock. Better than a PIAA, I dunno, maybe. Kinda pricey but here's a link:

http://tinyurl.com/5jleb

JK

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by duclover &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">hey caliduc is this what you have or something like it. Don't know exactly what the wedge shape is

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors...=WDVW</TD></TR></TABLE>

Yes, that is the same type bulb base. (T-10) Mine are "4 Clip", meaning they have four LED's in each bulb, thus making them brighter. Try emailing the seller and ask them how many they have. I am guessing for that price that they are "2 clip". My bases are not blue either, but look close to the same shape, just a different color. Hope this helps!!!

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by mr_vfr &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">Thanks for the link duclover.

Here's the real deal for a non-HID bulb which a buddy of mine w/ a BMW M5 (I think thats what it is) installed. He says they're way better than stock. Better than a PIAA, I dunno, maybe. Kinda pricey but here's a link:

http://tinyurl.com/5jleb
JK
</TD></TR></TABLE>

SilverStar bulbs are supposed to be the $hit. They don't go out like normal bulbs. Instead they just get dimmer when they need to be replaced. They are supposed to look as close to HID as you can get.