I want a visibly BLUE headlight (H4/9003) 7500k vs 8000k

I recently bought my first motorcycle, and love riding it.

It seems like people at night can't really see me coming or don't notice me, and like to pull out in front of me.. and it's just happening too often. I feel very unsafe driving at night.

I want a blue-tinted headlamp to help me stand out at night. I understand the legalities behind them, but I'd rather be safe than sorry. If worst comes to worst, I can take out the blueish light and put the stock one back in. I also understand tinted bulbs are NOT as bright as non-tinted bulbs.

I don't know a lot about color temperatues, or brands, but have been trying to do as much research as possible.

http://www.mediacollege.com/lighting/colour/colour-temperature.html

I found this color temperature chart. I don't know what range I should be looking for to get that "blue" appeal from the light. I'm not sure if the higher number is whiter/brighter or "bluer".

Searching around on amazon.com , I found a lot of PIAA bulbs:
PIAA 7500K H4 Bulbs:
http://www.amazon.com/PIAA-Plasma-Spark-7500K-Headlight/dp/B000F5J6CS/ref=sr_1_1/102-3325880-1285737?ie=UTF8&s=automotive&qid=1174013012&sr=8-1

PIAA 8000K H4 Bulbs:
http://www.amazon.com/PIAA-SPARK8000-8000K-Headlight-Bulbs/dp/B000F5W3UU/ref=sr_1_3/102-3325880-1285737?ie=UTF8&s=automotive&qid=1174013090&sr=8-3

Do you guys have suggestions on temperatures, brands, or places to buy them from?

Thanks for all the help.

I heard blue was harder to see than some other colours... harsh on the old peepers.

Someone with more knowledge will chime in I'm sure.

A typical automotive bulb will be about 3100K. A color temp of 8000K (Very, very blue) would be what an incandescent bulb would look like if you could heat it up to that temperature without its filament melting (happens around 3600K) To make the bulb look more "blue" (higher color temp) a lot of the light has to be filtered out.

Honestly, I think your best bet if you could afford it would be to go to HID, and to get 4100K -- which looks stark white like a typical fluorescent tube, NOT blue at all. That's where you'll get the most lumens, and the most useful output to actually see by. Higher color temps even at the same lumens won't help you see as well. 4000-5000K range does look distinctive though compared to the 3000K halogen bulbs. Especially if you're going for filtered incandescent and not HID I'd say try something in that range before going to something extremely blue -- as blue incandescent has horrible efficiency, and will be downright difficult to see by.

Another (not legal) option you could consider if you want to make your headlights have a cooler color temperature would be to mount a few forward-facing Cree LEDs wired in series as auxiliary lights. That ought to get some attention (probably from the cops...)

Thanks for the replies.

The bike is almost 10 years old, and installing a true HID setup would probably cost about half the price I paid for the bike LOL

What I'm worried about is other people seeing/noticing me. I know I'll stand out with blue light.

I understand that these bulbs are tinted/filtered so only about half of the actual light is emitted. I understand human eyes pick up blue light the worst.

So I guess in this scenario, I'll be looking for an bulb in the 8000K color range?
Any suggestions of brands or vendors? I'm looking at PIAA bulbs, but they are $80+ for a set, whereas I can get some cheap knockoffs on ebay for like $10. I guess you get what you pay for in this sense?

What are the legals issues in this, I'm afraid I don't understand. :huh2:

I'd just get an HID retrofit kit for the H4 for just over $100. HID is so much brighter than halogen people will see you a lot better no matter what color temperature you choose (Even though I'd reccomend 4300 to 5000k).
You can get kits on ebay for just over $100. Heres one

PIAA sells you a name and a lie. no incandecent (hotwire) bulb in the world burns at 8000K output color, paying $80 to a company that claims their bulbs do, only further justifies and enables their lies, do not support companies that blatantly lie to you.

I recommend a quality 50W HID conversion kit. plan to spent about $150 on a bulb and ballast.

Be careful buying HID on ebay I know of one investigation by a well known manufacturer of HID kits that are pirated with their name, so what may appear to be a bargain might become a disappointment. It is not the link shown above.
Norm

Do your forward amber directional lights also serve as running marker lights? If not, you may want to rewire, with relay, so that they serve as both directional and marker lights. I did this rewire some years ago and the improved visibility helped to better identify me as a mc at night. Commercial alternative: http://www.kriss.com/frontrunlights.htm You could also try a higher wattage in these fixtures or even experiment with some led conversions.

<<What are the legals issues in this, I'm afraid I don't understand.>>

The thread originator already understands the issues, so my reply is for the benefit of Alteran and others.

Many aftermarket LED or Incan headlamp, taillamp, turnsignals, etc... lamp assemblies do not meet DOT and or individual State requirements. A deeply blue colored lamp will almost certainly not meet DOT requirements as well as any required State Inspection requirements. It may also be considered a violation of the motor vehicle code and subject the operator to fines and points.

Alchsbox - Have you considered one of the pulsating / flashing headlamps? They operate like a single wig-wag on a police car. I am not a motorcycle expert, but I believe they meet DOT criteria and I believe they are legal in some states. They seem to work, and using that would preserve the proper lamp color and avoid any legal issues (As long as they are acceptable to your state and local community). Just a thought.

Exactly what mdocod just said! A claim of 8000K is just complete sillyness.

I believe that two of my HIDs are around 6000K and the beam is really annoying to look at after a while.

As some of the others have already said, a 4100K HID conversion would be outstanding! You're goal is to be noticed/seen by other motorists. They'd definately see you with an HID. IMO, they should be able to see you just fine with a good H4 incan. Is it possible that your headlamp is aimed a bit too low...?

alchsbox said:

I recently bought my first motorcycle, and love riding it.

It seems like people at night can't really see me coming or don't notice me, and like to pull out in front of me.. and it's just happening too often. I feel very unsafe driving at night.
[...]

Click to expand...

That's a good thing. Because you are very unsafe at night...any time, really. And it's not even your fault. Car drivers, by and large, simply do not watch out for motorcycles. Short of a strobe, there's not much a light can do about that.

I first started riding 35 years ago, and it seems it's when you're NOT feeling half-terrified that accidents happen. Statistics say you're more likely to have a bike accident within the first six months of getting a new bike, too. Getting as adept and proficient with your bike as you possibly can will save your hide better than tinted lights.

Speaking of hide, wear leather. I've scrubbed more gravel out of people's flesh than I care to remember.

If you must mess with the lights, add a headlight modulator...don't make the main one harder to see. Modulators are legal in all fifty states, and they're relatively inexpensive.

Add a couple of 5-inch diameter lights along side of your headlight like the old Harley police bikes. Hell, even get blue ones. You'll be surprised just how suddenly visible you are to Joe Citizen when you resemble a cop bike.

As long as you're rewiring, don't forget about your rear-end, either. Those flashy brake circuits help to wake up the old man driving the cage behind you.


Drive like everyone's out to get you, and you might live longer.



http://www.gadgetjq.com/headlightmodulator.htm

http://www.brakeflasher.com/cycle.htm

http://www.autolumination.com/images/auto_bulbs/mercedes_animation.gif

(I am not associated with the above companies, yada, yada, yada...)

when switching to HID, dont you have to change the reflector housing to a projector housing? that's what i was told when i wanted to change my car lights to HID. apparently HIDs in a normal reflector would be blinding to the oncoming traffic

XtreMe_G said:

when switching to HID, dont you have to change the reflector housing to a projector housing? that's what i was told when i wanted to change my car lights to HID. apparently HIDs in a normal reflector would be blinding to the oncoming traffic

Click to expand...

I think people are more understanding when they see a motorcycle with exessive glare. I see motorcycles with HID retrofits all the time that look like a train is coming at you but I just think to myself "He's just trying to stay alive."

On the other hand, cars that use HID conversions at night with improper housings really annoy me (I only used the HID driving lights in my avatar during the daytime and have since sold them).

Is alchsbox still with us? ..should have gone with HID :sigh:

I think people are more understanding when they see a motorcycle with exessive glare. I see motorcycles with HID retrofits all the time that look like a train is coming at you but I just think to myself "He's just trying to stay alive."

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/agree 100%
I see the "train" effect on motorcycles all the time... I live with it don't mind for that very same justification...

It's the civic with 123,000,475K ultra super cool (duper cool even) HID conversions in the stock reflectors with his FOG lights on (on a clear night in the middle of a friggen city) (and pointed way up for some reason) at the same time that pisses me OFF!!!

I'm thinking of ordering an HID setup for my motorcycle as I've noticed they've dropped in price considerably.

I want a bi-xenon setup as my bike uses an H4 bulb, but I just don't know if there is enough room in the housing for the extra bulk of that bulb.

I guess if I do decide to do it, I can modify it in case it wont fit in there I just need to find a place to mount the ballast and ignitor as my bike has no fairing at all to mount it.