Night riding

Bluedog 55

Bluedog 55

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Aug 3, 2015
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picked up my bike Friday from Brisbane after having speedo fixed and bike remapped, good service there at Brisbane motorcycles I have to say, rode home two up it’s about a 10 hour trip but having to detour to the airport to pick up car added around an hour, bike went great I was two up for the best part of the trip and due to a few delays de numbing butts ended up doing the last two hours at night.

So short story I wasn’t that impressed with the lights. high beam was passable as a light but despite just leaving it on in the end no one at all flashed me to dim them so I’d only assume that my thoughts are correct, it’s not overly bright the low beam was woeful.

I’m not in the habit of night riding, Aussie bush roads aren’t the best place too many animals but on the off chance I get caught again has anyone tried to improve the light and what did you do to make it better.
 
Bright light alternatives either LED or different H4 bulb. Also properly aim it to maximze your light path.
 
I have a Mk2 and thought the lights were pretty good, could maintain high speeds along country lanes. My headlight was set too high after I had speedo changed at the factory and I was constantly being flashed on my ride home by other drivers when on low beam so I had to pull over and realign the beam. Don't know what bulb is inside but is factory fitment.
 
Completely lost it with my 2015 Sport headlight, looked ever so pretty and was OK if you wanted to look at the cows in the fields or roadside signs but if you wanted to see where you were going it's bloody useless.
After a lot of messing around with different bulbs etc I decided the reflector was crap and looked for a replacement. I found a 'Cibie' unit which fitted in the original shell but took a bit of adapting with old fashioned British clips and silicone. The reason I went for a 'Cibie' is the memory of my 750 Fastback in the late sixties which I fitted with a concave unit and turned night into day every ride. It looks a little old fashioned compared to the original but what a difference when out at night,it has the the lovely slash dip pattern that means no dazzling oncoming traffic and best of all a penetrating main beam into the dark distance, should have done it a lot earlier instead of straining my eyeballs at night.
 
peebee said:
Completely lost it with my 2015 Sport headlight, looked ever so pretty and was OK if you wanted to look at the cows in the fields or roadside signs but if you wanted to see where you were going it's bloody useless.
After a lot of messing around with different bulbs etc I decided the reflector was crap and looked for a replacement. I found a 'Cibie' unit which fitted in the original shell but took a bit of adapting with old fashioned British clips and silicone. The reason I went for a 'Cibie' is the memory of my 750 Fastback in the late sixties which I fitted with a concave unit and turned night into day every ride. It looks a little old fashioned compared to the original but what a difference when out at night,it has the the lovely slash dip pattern that means no dazzling oncoming traffic and best of all a penetrating main beam into the dark distance, should have done it a lot earlier instead of straining my eyeballs at night.
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I’m confused. Did you install the JW SPEAKER LED headlight?
 
No no you silly billys, I bought a modern Cibie unit from a supplier last year with a H4 fitting, and put that into my original shell with the aid of 'W' reflector clips as used in the old British headlight and a modicum of silicon to hold it place, then fitted a led bulb to finish off. The reason I went for a modern Cibie unit is because of my past experiences in the sixties and the terrific reputation that Cibie lights have worldwide.:):)
Bluedog, Used to live in Warners Bay near Newcastle for a while and the boss had his plane up at Singleton airport as I remember.
 
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peebee said:
No no you silly billys, I bought a modern Cibie unit from a supplier last year and fitted that into my original shell with the aid of 'W' reflector clips as used in the old British headlight and a modicum of silicon to hold it place. The reason I went for a modern Cibie unit is because of my past experiences in the sixties and the terrific reputation that Cibie lights have worldwide.:):)
Bluedog, Used to live in Warners Bay near Newcastle for a while and the boss had his plane up at Singleton airport a I remember.
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Well why didn’t you say that ?! ;)

I didn’t know you could get Cibie units still, can you share a link ?
 
Fast Eddie said:
Well why didn’t you say that ?! ;)

I didn’t know you could get Cibie units still, can you share a link ?
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Cibie have been going for donkeys years.
Before LED bulbs, if you had a powerful enough generator, i used to fit 80/100w bulbs difference was amazing on a dark moon less night, even the bats used to follow me to get a flying morsel of food
 
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