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Stock, the SCR950's headlight is abysmal. I can't see a **** thing at night. Oncoming traffic completely washes out my headlight, and I cannot see the road for a second or two. That's BAD on a dark country backroad, where a curve can come up without warning. So, I'm testing various headlight bulbs from the Internet and the auto parts stores, to see if I can get some vision on the street.
First off, I'm starting with an AdvMonster R3 H4 LED conversion.
I like that it's only 20 watts, as that leaves more power available for heated gear and accessories. I like that I could use my headlight with the bike not running to illuminate my campsite while I set up my tent, and not worry as much about draining the battery. I LOVE the instantaneous nature of the passing beam that a LED provides. (flashflashflash instead of flash............ flash........). I like that when the high beam is activated, the low beam stays on. That puts a lot more light on the sides of the road, and in deer country that's a great thing.
Unfortunately, it just don't throw a lot of light onto the road. The low beam is only marginally better than the stock H4 bulb. It's bright enough to just barely see when oncoming traffic is blinding me, but it's not what I'd call Good. The high beam, on the other hand, is slightly above average. I can actually see when the high beam is on. It's not stellar, but it's more than livable.
The low beam hotspot is flat at the top, without an uptick to the right to illuminate the side of the road. It's also a very tall pattern, which tends to put less light where you need it, and is somewhat more blinding for oncoming drivers. The low beam hotspot is invisible to the naked eye - it just looks like a wide field without a brighter part to it. When I first installed it in the daylight, my thoughts were "this is it? It doesn't even illuminate my garage wall". At night it's still better than the stock H4 though. It's a close tie though.
Note in the photos my bike is on the side stand. I have a rock guard on my headlight, which is where the crosshatch pattern comes from.
Charles
First off, I'm starting with an AdvMonster R3 H4 LED conversion.
I like that it's only 20 watts, as that leaves more power available for heated gear and accessories. I like that I could use my headlight with the bike not running to illuminate my campsite while I set up my tent, and not worry as much about draining the battery. I LOVE the instantaneous nature of the passing beam that a LED provides. (flashflashflash instead of flash............ flash........). I like that when the high beam is activated, the low beam stays on. That puts a lot more light on the sides of the road, and in deer country that's a great thing.
Unfortunately, it just don't throw a lot of light onto the road. The low beam is only marginally better than the stock H4 bulb. It's bright enough to just barely see when oncoming traffic is blinding me, but it's not what I'd call Good. The high beam, on the other hand, is slightly above average. I can actually see when the high beam is on. It's not stellar, but it's more than livable.
The low beam hotspot is flat at the top, without an uptick to the right to illuminate the side of the road. It's also a very tall pattern, which tends to put less light where you need it, and is somewhat more blinding for oncoming drivers. The low beam hotspot is invisible to the naked eye - it just looks like a wide field without a brighter part to it. When I first installed it in the daylight, my thoughts were "this is it? It doesn't even illuminate my garage wall". At night it's still better than the stock H4 though. It's a close tie though.
Note in the photos my bike is on the side stand. I have a rock guard on my headlight, which is where the crosshatch pattern comes from.
Charles
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