Philips Bulb Kit for Falco

[crosstowntraffic]

Need to get a bulb kit today anyone know which one I need for the Falco Philips offer a H7/H1 or a H4?

[Gio]

I've got H7's (well that was what I was told they use)

[crosstowntraffic]

Thanks Gio.

[D-Rider]

Ive been oggling these:

Philips X-Treme Power

Although slightly cheaper on ebay, they're not that cheap ..... but 80% brighter than standard sounds good and a hell of a lot cheaper than HIDs.

Also on ebay are some "50% brighter" bulbs at a good price:
Falco Bulbs

Ignore the text that mentions HID .... they aren't - they are Xenon bulbs (like the Philips ones above).

[danowat]

I brought a set of Philips X-tremes, blimey do they light up the road, TBH, the single buld low beam is now almost enough on it's own without the high beam!!!!

[Thumper]

I used a extra capacity head light 80w bulb for a while during the winter but I noticed a heavy drain on the battery over time, something worth considering before spending your cash as the standard falco charging system is a little dubious.

[D-Rider]

I think these Xenon bulbs are rated the same as the standard bulbs in terms of input power - they are just more efficient in converting it to light output.

(Note: Not 100% certain but I'm fairly confident that's right)

[Gio]

I think these Xenon bulbs are rated the same as the standard bulbs in terms of input power - they are just more efficient in converting it to light output.

(Note: Not 100% certain but I'm fairly confident that's right)

I've got a pair of Xenons, but the ones on the bike (standard?) seem plenty bright enough. Trouble with Xenons is the heat they produce, I'm pretty sure on the Falco/Mille/Tuono, you'd need extra airflow to keep the temp within reasonable limits.

[danowat]

55W is 55W regardless, that inculdes tempurature and battery load

[Gio]

55W is 55W regardless, that inculdes tempurature and battery load

You sure?

I had Xenons on my BMW they kept blowing (but not with the standard lights) A BMW mechanic said they needed extra cooling as the holders get to hot.

[D-Rider]

This is an interesting one.

My idle musings on this:

55W of electrical power going in, then 55W comes out.
This will be electromagnetic radiation - some in the visible spectrum, the rest outside the visible spectrum - a lot of this as heat. If more comes out in the visible spectrum, then less must be emitted in the invisible spectrum.

This may have little bearing on how hot the bulb gets. If the glass/other bits of the bulb absorb more of this radiation they will get hotter - and I did read something about the glass being designed to stop UV passing .... so it will have to dissipate this energy somehow.

I also read:

The results have been achieved in the same way as the 30 and 50 per cent lamps-by taking the allowed tolerances right to the edge. This time though as well as reducing the filament and burning it hotter, Philips has shrunk the glass casing.

.. but this could also be misleading. The fillament burns hotter but it's a smaller fillament which means there is less of it to emit heat. Unfortunately this doesn't really tell us enough to confirm whether the bulb itself gets hotter.

So basically, I don't know!

[Fausto]

I only know that you need to be careful with upgraded bulbs for 2 reasons -

1 - Burning out the wiring

2 - Damage to plastic lens covers

Both very applicable to our babies.

[Tweaker]

Just go HiD and quit worrying - it's only money and, as we all know, money was invented for spending on bikes

[falcomunky]

Amen. Could somebody PLEASE explain that to my Wife though...

[sabestian]

I'm going to buy a set of two bulbs + ballasts on Ebay. It works out 50 quid per biker for a decent (branded) one. It is not too bad, is it?