Shafner79
New member
Does anyone know if you can get brighter headlight bulbs for a 95 v-max 600 le? Are they basically the same as an auto headlight bulb or different?




The ONLY way to make the "light brighter" is to add a Hyper white type bulb(PIAA, Sylvania silver star, etc..) which has a xenon/halogen gas mix that makes the bulb burn brighter without adding stress to the electrical system. If you add a higher wattage bulb you may cause damage to the wiring system and your hand warmers will not work as well as they do now. T
jwiedmayer
New member
I've been waiting for someone to try an HIR bulb. I've tried for too many years to rig an HID with no luck.
Get a PIAA H4 bulb and a led tail light bulb. Your lights will never dim when you hit the brakes with the led tail light.
braindead1684
Member
Where can you get the LED tail lights?
braindead1684 said:Where can you get the LED tail lights?
Almost antwhere. I got mine on ebay a few years ago but now almost any automotive aftermarket parts store will carry them. Find a bulb that is a direct replacement for your 1157 bulb
braindead1684
Member
Does it have to be red or will white work since the lens is red?
You will need to use a red led for this.braindead1684 said:Does it have to be red or will white work since the lens is red?
braindead1684
Member
cool thx
horkn
New member
stein700sx said:Get a PIAA H4 bulb and a led tail light bulb. Your lights will never dim when you hit the brakes with the led tail light.
I think I need to do both of these mods. My light dims so badly under braking.
Jweidmeyer, I thought if you had a battery that you can run a HID setup from a car? If that is right, then I will try a HID. I already have a battery on my venture, and the 35w of the HID plus led tail light will only help with keeping the passenger handwarmers hotter. I already hear enough about that. LOL
jwiedmayer
New member
Don't waste your money!!! The battery charing circuit only puts out a minimal amount of amperage (5 amps) which is not enough to handle 35w HID drain. The charing circuit is a separate coil from the lighting coil. So the hand warmers and led tailight have no effect.
If you still don't believe me I will sell you my HID bulb/ballast for 50 and you can try to get something to work.
If you still don't believe me I will sell you my HID bulb/ballast for 50 and you can try to get something to work.
horkn
New member
jwiedmayer said:Don't waste your money!!! The battery charing circuit only puts out a minimal amount of amperage (5 amps) which is not enough to handle 35w HID drain. The charing circuit is a separate coil from the lighting coil. So the hand warmers and led tailight have no effect.
If you still don't believe me I will sell you my HID bulb/ballast for 50 and you can try to get something to work.
I believe you.
I know you spent a lot of time trying to figure it out. I will try the PIAA and led mods and report back

jwiedmayer
New member
I was not trying to be condescending. I would love for somebody to figure it out. I'm going to pull it off my sled this winter and offically give up! I still want to try an HIR.
Has anyone ever tried putting the newer stator on an older sled? One off the sxr like an 01 onto a 97-99 sx? Thought about doing this conversion to run the dual bulb headlight. Prolly need a wiring harness as well as the stator, headlight and cowl.
Shafner79
New member
horkn said:I believe you.
I know you spent a lot of time trying to figure it out. I will try the PIAA and led mods and report back![]()
I found the led's all over the place, but the PIAA bulbs I have only found in sets of 2....about $55 to $75. I guess you could also get an H4 bulb from another manufacture that makes a super bright one.
BE careful when buying "brighter bulbs". Check the power consumption vs power output. PIAA are the only ones that I know that have a higher output with the same power consumption as a regular bulb. Extra loads on the stator can burn it out.
horkn
New member
jwiedmayer said:I was not trying to be condescending. I would love for somebody to figure it out. I'm going to pull it off my sled this winter and offically give up! I still want to try an HIR.
I took no offense fwiw..

If I can solve these little issues on the venture, and get a taller windshield I will be very happy.
I was able to chase down a new sabrecat 500 on my venture 2 up this weekend. I had to catch him and tell him not to tresspass like he did right in front of me. It took a little bit as he was flying as fast as he could on the lake, but I passed him and got him to stop so I could tell him not to do that ever again. He must have been embarrassed that his fast looking new sled got beat by a 12 year old 2 up touring sled. LOL
horkn
New member
centralPAvmax600 said:I found the led's all over the place, but the PIAA bulbs I have only found in sets of 2....about $55 to $75. I guess you could also get an H4 bulb from another manufacture that makes a super bright one.
Yes PIAAs are nice but $$. I might try an automotive one, or the one that bluhm enterprises recommends for a brighter light at the same wattage.
jwiedmayer
New member
Horkn. I got a new idea to try.. It may have potential but equal potential to do damage. Take the wire from the lighting coil and charging coil and swap them... Not sure how the regulator will like all the extra juice and if the tach would work with the charging coil. I might try it before I put my sled away for the summer. That way if I screw it up I have all winter to fix it.
PZ 1
Member
- Joined
- Mar 12, 2005
- Messages
- 987
The following is true for the single headlight sleds. I have no experience with the dual headlight systems, so will leave that out of the discussion.
A brighter headlight bulb can be used on the 95 V-max. The bulb is an H4 which is also used in automotive applications. Do not get a blue bulb, that cuts down on the lumens output. The standard bulb is a 55 watt and bulbs are available up to 130 watt. I currently am using a 90 watt bulb on my 97 Venture. The sled also has footwarmers and at times a helmet light is also used.
An led tail light will use less watts and allow your headlight to be brighter. There are many different designs and wattage draw bulbs. The ones with the least number of LED's are not very bright. It is probably best to get a bulb that also has LED's on the side of the bulb because of the angle of the bulb in the tail light housing. You will want a clear LED bulb, they will put out more light. The red bulbs are for use on autos with clear tail light lenses.
Putting a larger wattage headlight bulb in will not damage the system. It will continuously operate at maximum output without problem (Remember this is the single headlight system. The problem with the dual headlight systems blowing stators is I believe only because of faulty stators). The handwarmers are operated from a separate generator winding. The headlight system has no effect on the handwarmers.
An HID bulb can be used if you have electric start or if you add a battery. The smallest dry cell or absorbed glass mat (Odyssey) battery available would work well. No leakage of acid, long life, and they have a high initial output. A sled without electric start will also require a rectifier to be added to charge the battery.
The generating or lighting coil that supplies power for the headlights also charges the battery. It does supply enough power to keep a battery charged and operate an HID headlight. The "charging" coil is for the engine ignition system only. It is a separate system and has no connection with the lighting system.
I am currently using an HID headlight system on my 1992 Venture. It is made for recreational vehicles and has a built in relay with a separate switching wire to turn the light on and off when it is connected directly to a battery.
Horkn: There were two windshield changes after the original 1997 models if that is what you have. One of them was to improve the airflow around the rider. The other was for less distortion.
The newer sleds have handgaurds for the passenger grips which from what I have read, help a lot to keep the hands warmer. You could add some to your sled.
A brighter headlight bulb can be used on the 95 V-max. The bulb is an H4 which is also used in automotive applications. Do not get a blue bulb, that cuts down on the lumens output. The standard bulb is a 55 watt and bulbs are available up to 130 watt. I currently am using a 90 watt bulb on my 97 Venture. The sled also has footwarmers and at times a helmet light is also used.
An led tail light will use less watts and allow your headlight to be brighter. There are many different designs and wattage draw bulbs. The ones with the least number of LED's are not very bright. It is probably best to get a bulb that also has LED's on the side of the bulb because of the angle of the bulb in the tail light housing. You will want a clear LED bulb, they will put out more light. The red bulbs are for use on autos with clear tail light lenses.
Putting a larger wattage headlight bulb in will not damage the system. It will continuously operate at maximum output without problem (Remember this is the single headlight system. The problem with the dual headlight systems blowing stators is I believe only because of faulty stators). The handwarmers are operated from a separate generator winding. The headlight system has no effect on the handwarmers.
An HID bulb can be used if you have electric start or if you add a battery. The smallest dry cell or absorbed glass mat (Odyssey) battery available would work well. No leakage of acid, long life, and they have a high initial output. A sled without electric start will also require a rectifier to be added to charge the battery.
The generating or lighting coil that supplies power for the headlights also charges the battery. It does supply enough power to keep a battery charged and operate an HID headlight. The "charging" coil is for the engine ignition system only. It is a separate system and has no connection with the lighting system.
I am currently using an HID headlight system on my 1992 Venture. It is made for recreational vehicles and has a built in relay with a separate switching wire to turn the light on and off when it is connected directly to a battery.
Horkn: There were two windshield changes after the original 1997 models if that is what you have. One of them was to improve the airflow around the rider. The other was for less distortion.
The newer sleds have handgaurds for the passenger grips which from what I have read, help a lot to keep the hands warmer. You could add some to your sled.