Okay, I'll admit it. I've been lurking around here for the last week or so. My motorcycle, a 2006 Buell Blast had a stock 8 inch headlamp with built-in hi/low beams. Wasn't terribly bright. Although there's a generally accepted mod that switches this sealed beam out for an 8 inch projector housing that takes an H4 bulb, I went and made it complicated by getting a hand-me-down front fairing called a "demon" fairing - it's a cheap chinese knockoff of Acerbis' "Diamond" fairing. Typically, these things are not DOT, and certainly aren't very bright.
http://www.acerbis.com/p107_headlight/3001.html
The one I got didn't have any lens at all in the front of it. Just a couple of dual-filament bulbs in the two center projectors, and a couple of amber bulbs in the outer ones. Thinking I'd be all smart, I went and got a halogen projector fog lamp kit to put in the front, figuring that there's nothing particularly complicated about headlights, right?
Right? :) Uh...yeah. So issues ensued. I scavenged the kit for the plano-convex lens and fitting the H3 bulb into the stock housing, creating heat issues, and a beam patter that is next to useless for practical night driving (although not bad for daytime driving lights - not great, but functional). So here I am. I started trying to do it right, and after lurking here, I'm throwing myself at the mercy of these forums. Is there anything I can do to make this fairing not only servicable but bright enough to be happy with? I know I've got a slew of mistakes here from using an H3 bulb (too squatty of a bulb) to a convex lens that's dispersing my beam into too wide of a pattern to a stock reflector that was never designed for any of this (although in truth, I don't think much thought went into the reflector's design *at all*.
Here's a link to the thread that describes what I've done so far and how I got to where I am now. I don't mind re-purposing the outer reflectors to be headlamps if that would help. I'm also not against scavenging or building a reflector more purposed for proper hi/lo beam pattern use.
http://www.buellforums.com/forum/showthread.php?t=11148
Finally, here's the flickr photo group of all of the pictures I took getting to this point - granted I've described most of it here already, some visuals might help:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/numbski/sets/72157622687040879/
I'm kinda thinking that I might still be able to get away with using the fog lamp projector lens if I direct the light onto the lens properly, but I was going to make a trip to a salvage yard to get a look at what a luxury car's projection lens looked like, compare measurements, etc. So...am I screwed? Go easy on the lighting n00b. I *am* doing my homework and trying to learn! :) Try not to laugh too hard at me trying to hold a 55w H3 bulb in place using weather stripping and rubber. Lesson learned. :P
EDIT: BTW - those center reflector holes are approximately 50mm diameter. I need to get my calipers out on both the outer and inner ones to be sure. Seems to me that if I ditch the reflectors and go with some of the flashlight mods, I might be able to get 900 lumens or better, and if the lens is aspheric, get some decent throw. Am I misunderstanding?
http://www.acerbis.com/p107_headlight/3001.html
The one I got didn't have any lens at all in the front of it. Just a couple of dual-filament bulbs in the two center projectors, and a couple of amber bulbs in the outer ones. Thinking I'd be all smart, I went and got a halogen projector fog lamp kit to put in the front, figuring that there's nothing particularly complicated about headlights, right?
Right? :) Uh...yeah. So issues ensued. I scavenged the kit for the plano-convex lens and fitting the H3 bulb into the stock housing, creating heat issues, and a beam patter that is next to useless for practical night driving (although not bad for daytime driving lights - not great, but functional). So here I am. I started trying to do it right, and after lurking here, I'm throwing myself at the mercy of these forums. Is there anything I can do to make this fairing not only servicable but bright enough to be happy with? I know I've got a slew of mistakes here from using an H3 bulb (too squatty of a bulb) to a convex lens that's dispersing my beam into too wide of a pattern to a stock reflector that was never designed for any of this (although in truth, I don't think much thought went into the reflector's design *at all*.
Here's a link to the thread that describes what I've done so far and how I got to where I am now. I don't mind re-purposing the outer reflectors to be headlamps if that would help. I'm also not against scavenging or building a reflector more purposed for proper hi/lo beam pattern use.
http://www.buellforums.com/forum/showthread.php?t=11148
Finally, here's the flickr photo group of all of the pictures I took getting to this point - granted I've described most of it here already, some visuals might help:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/numbski/sets/72157622687040879/
I'm kinda thinking that I might still be able to get away with using the fog lamp projector lens if I direct the light onto the lens properly, but I was going to make a trip to a salvage yard to get a look at what a luxury car's projection lens looked like, compare measurements, etc. So...am I screwed? Go easy on the lighting n00b. I *am* doing my homework and trying to learn! :) Try not to laugh too hard at me trying to hold a 55w H3 bulb in place using weather stripping and rubber. Lesson learned. :P
EDIT: BTW - those center reflector holes are approximately 50mm diameter. I need to get my calipers out on both the outer and inner ones to be sure. Seems to me that if I ditch the reflectors and go with some of the flashlight mods, I might be able to get 900 lumens or better, and if the lens is aspheric, get some decent throw. Am I misunderstanding?
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