Brighter dual bulb headlights?

I'll chime in here.... I run the PIAA super Plasma bulb and have noticed that my bulb doesn't see to dim like the standard halogen bulb at low rpms and the coating on the bulb makes the light appear cooler and brighter rather than the yellowish cast of the Halogen bulb. Also have had no complaints from other riders either passing or following as for the bulb being to bright. As long as your lights are aimed properly you shouldn't have an issue with blinding oncoming traffic. And as stated above some people seem to ride like they are running a snow cross through the woods which at those rates of speed and admittedly bright possibly blinding light could cause an accident.... but so does near out of control reckless high spped riding through the tight and twisties... I also know from experience as a few years ago I almost had a head on collision with a guy (2 guys) that was trail racing his buddy... You can guess that I was upset that I almost got taken out by this type of rider.... Many people think that since there are no lines or speed limit signs in the trails that they can do as they wish... as with anything one bad apple spoils the bushel....
 
tripplec said:
Well the fact being that both me and my son are usually sledding together and trained and do the same thing together.

Given advanced spotting of on commers we always pull to the side either fully stopped or at a bear crawl the squirl wouldn't get run over stopping in front of us. We pull away and contine on after all oncomers have passed. Likewise those coming up our rear are given free passing (we pull to the side and wave them by) we are not very fast sledders on the trails but enjoy a shot of speed on long straight stretches now and then but back to civil speeds 40-60km/hr max on the trails with turns in them.

Its those who appear out of knowhere going like a bad out of H...l that scare us coming into a turn. Night riding much the same and cannot avoid these misused HID's or whatever they are. You don't need 3 HID's to travel bush trails weaving left right etc. I just know from past experience catching even a small 4-6" maple tree at even 10km/hr will make really big impact on any sled and not much faster to make you become super sledder (super man flying through the air) and if you hit that same tree with your helmet on you're likely a goner either way the tree remains unscathed. I have learned in the school of hard knocks over decades of sledding, trees, rocks, rock faces, deep dropout and ice cover declines are to be avoided at all cost. The results are never good unless you ride with horseshoes and real luck. I have been a number of times. I have told my son and we don't venture to experience them and avoid them. We ride to ride and not to fly but get back to ride another day. Thats anothe reason we don't have the latest sleds I like the big old touring designs with its comforts.

Sorry it some earlier post are coming off the wrong way. Thats my fault but too bright it still too bright for many trails in Ontario.
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I apologize also, I think were on the same page. Reckless drivers are reckless drivers no matter what light or sled they are driving. Sorry for being so defensive and ride safe ;)! ;)! Chris
 
Agreed that is why my son and I also pull over always and give way to people coming behind. Clearly they're going faster than we ride having caught up. So we just pull over let them go by and continue at our own pace and them ahead at there pace.

No point trying to ride fast just to keep ahead of them if posible. But not likely. We just want to ride and get from point A to B etc at our own pace.
 
super1c said:
I apologize also, I think were on the same page. Reckless drivers are reckless drivers no matter what light or sled they are driving. Sorry for being so defensive and ride safe ;)! ;)! Chris
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Maybe some people reading this thread will slow down and think about the situation they're creating and that someone else is or maybe around the next turn on the trail. With lowered lights as well.

We all win then.

Cheers
 
Phew.....Good deal.
Glad everyone mellowed out. Here I thought I started a Sh*t storm. Kinda was starting to turn into a nosboy oil opinion thing for a while there. :-p

Did anyone read anything that I linked to that dude's site about lights? He makes a good point about shading on the bulbs actually appearing to make them brighter, but actually letting less light through. He said that one should ONLY use a clear lens.
Reason why I ask is that EVERY one of the PIAA bulbs has some sort of shading. The Night bulbs have light blue, clear, and then darker blue at the tip. There are also supposed legal limits of levels of brightness, and they get away with things due to shading. I wonder if all the shaded bulbs aren't all smoke and mirrors like it says?

I was also considering some bulbs that I got at NAPA several years ago. they were a "BL"(Bright Light) designation. As in a part # 9003BL for an H4. A Xenon boost bulb with a clear lens, and they definitely were brighter and had a wider, taller beam.
Got to work one day and one of my headlights were out in a Mazdarati that I was driving at the time, I replaced them both with the BLs. As luck would have it, on the way home we got our first snowstorm of the year. Big, sticky flakes. With the new, brighter bulbs, and the broader, taller beam, they looked like dinner plates coming down at me. Couldn't see a thing on the way home. Worse than turning your brights on at night in a blizzard. Definitely brighter lights, but still the regular, but brighter yellowish visible spectrum. Not blue, or "white". Not 100% sure, but they may have been replaced by the "TV"(true view) series which is lightly shaded blue.
Thoughts?
 
I read some but that been around a long time. Blue tint issue if visual benefit only not better lighting. Go with GE Nighthawk Platinum's (I have only seen them in pairs). Canadian Tire sells them and I think Walmart may have picked them up but CTC used to have and exclusive. You won't be disappointed with them. They have a narrow blue ring near the tip of the bulb. It give a slight blue hew to the fixture if looked at from the side. You have to look for it as its not obvious to me. The also last having them in two SUV's for at least two years now. Unlike Silverstars which have a reputation of failing early.
 
tripplec said:
I read some but that been around a long time. Blue tint issue if visual benefit only not better lighting. Go with GE Nighthawk Platinum's (I have only seen them in pairs). Canadian Tire sells them and I think Walmart may have picked them up but CTC used to have and exclusive. You won't be disappointed with them. They have a narrow blue ring near the tip of the bulb. It give a slight blue hew to the fixture if looked at from the side. You have to look for it as its not obvious to me. The also last having them in two SUV's for at least two years now. Unlike Silverstars which have a reputation of failing early.
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Big negative on Wally-World. Stopped there tonight and all they had were a bunch of Sylvania Silverstars, and some other high buck Sylvanias that had some stupid name like XTravision mega hella xtreme or some some sort of stupid skate punk snowboarder name.

Puzzling though. I see them on ebay, and some have the silver tip, and some have a black tip without the blue ring. What's the dealio?
 
I put the piaa in my sx. Have converted to the dual headlight on my sx so have to run the 35 watt ones, but do like the light they put out. Think you would like them. Probably be easiest option
 
Hids Used in reflectors not designed for them are typically too bright for oncoming traffic.

In cars, the use of hid bulbs in incandescent housings is illegal. Even on low beam, they can be too bright for oncoming traffic. It has to do with how the reflector is designed, compared to where the filament is.

If you get people doing the vampire at you as you go by, your lights are too bright.
 
sleddineinar said:
LOL!! I were your ears burning? Long time no see here on the TY board.
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I sold my vipers and still haven't bought new sleds... Got some kidney stone/ bladder issues that kept me from riding until Jan 2013,, so,,,, It's a slow process..... Got my RACECAR tore apart all over the garage floor right now and I am in RACECAR MODE until the end of August.... I still check TOTALLYAMAHA from time to time,,but,,, not on it everyday... Glad I am remembered around here... either good OR bad !!!
peace... G.
 
GD23......Did you pull the trigger on something? The viper I just picked up has SOME BRIGHT *** LIGHTS! Not BRIGHT like HIDs but BRIGHT non the less. Cant tell for sure what they are (havent pulled a bulb yet) ut they have a blue ring around the base/stem of the bulb themselves.
 
No I didn't yet. On a trip to Wal Mart I looked for the GEs and they didn't have any.
I picked up a cheap poo as a started sled for my kids. Tearing things apart and making things right pretty much wiped out the last 2 weeks I could have ridden mine. Figured why bother to change it now that the season is over.
I DID buy a 9003BL(think they are Wagner)from NAPA for the poo. Basically just a Xenon boost bulb.
Don't know how that will be on the snow, but it's better than what was in there. Low was burned out on the poo when I got it.

Not sure what those would be with a ring around the base. The GE Platinum Nighthawks have one around the top, and the PIAAs that JD was talking about I think have that, and wider, lighter blue band around the bottom.

If you find out what they are, give me a shout. With just a thin blue ring, they should still be on the more "yellow", or white spectrum, and not that gawd-awful blue glare.
 
I will pop one out and let you know. Changes the look of the sled even when not lit up. Kept looking in the rear veiw (loaded sled in back of truck) at the almost evil looking head lights!
 
Devilin AblueDress! said:
I will pop one out and let you know. Changes the look of the sled even when not lit up. Kept looking in the rear veiw (loaded sled in back of truck) at the almost evil looking head lights!
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Thanks bud.

Yea....Headlights on Vipers pretty much just plain look mean to start out with too. :mrgreen:
 
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