where can I get decent 7" h4 or better head lamps

72Combat said:

Hello Keri Norton, The problem with " The Rules" is that the guys I have struck at testing stations are thick.
I had a Ducati vinned with a RHD dipping lens which it came with from Aussie, the guy at the Testing Station was adamant that Ducati was Italian and they ride on the right....despite it having a ADR plate from AU.
I swapped it out for a LHD one and he still fiddled with it and his "lightbox" I would not leave these guys in charge of a BBQ.
I did find a very bright 'park' lamp for the Ducati for daytime city riding.
How about fitting a ring of LED's inside the lens ...for that Audi look.

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FFS. If it wasnt so typical, it would be unbelievable. Find somewhere else to get your WOF.

WELL, THE G E NIGHTHAWK HAS JUST ARRIVED. no instructions on whether it can be fitted to positive earth. I have emailed this question to G E. Hope they answer soon as I want to test it.

From http://www.norbsa02.freeuk.com/goffyleds.htm

LEDs are polarity sensitive ie if your vehicle is + earth and you fit a - earth LED, no damage will be done but it won't light.

Thanks for that David. I thought it would be neg earth , but just needed confirmation. Hopefully I can just swap over my power supply cables but something tells me I will need to do something with the switching as well. the new light doesn't have a park provision but that's not necessary when you run head lamps on during the day as well. only 1.8 amps on low and 3.6 amps on high. [ 4.5 - 5.2 for a std 55-65 bulb ]

Thanks for that David. I thought it would be neg earth , but just needed confirmation. Hopefully I can just swap over my power supply cables but something tells me I will need to do something with the switching as well. the new light doesn't have a park provision but that's not necessary when you run head lamps on during the day as well. only 1.8 amps on low and 3.6 amps on high. [ 4.5 - 5.2 for a std 55-65 bulb ]

Car running hi beams


CP on battery ontop car hood

Well, that G E Nighthawk is going in this weekend. The body is painted black aluminium and is definitely heavier than a std h4. Last night I wound insulation tape twice round the perimeter and checked to see if it fitted in the rim. this may last a reasonable time in order for me to insulate and test the lamp unit. I will reverse the wires on the relays in such a way as to make it work.
regards, dereck

see my comments also in the "conversion to negative earth" thread.

Its a stormy night outside, up to 120 kilometres per hour winds, and pissing with rain. What a good night to get the Nighthawk wired up. Its Just about pissing round with the wiring on the relays and disconnecting the red earth wires from the headlamp circuit and plugging them into the head light nacelle. That's done and then connected the new Nighthawk to the wiring. WTF, high beam only. Shit, put the old one back and same thing . Phew!!! Wiggled the master switch on the headlamp then remembered that had happened before. [ that's the problem with relays, they don't take as much current through the switches so the switches don't "burn" themselves clean every time they are switched. Bet they last longer though.
Got my 2 sons down as witnesses and worked the old H4 up against the garage wall. Swapped over to the Nighthawk and what a difference. No. 2 son said the old one put light everywhere in the garage, and the new one put a really bright light in a narrower beam. Big big smile man. Just what I wanted. Cant wait to get it out on the road now. [ the new one works both beams on high beam, hence the amperage used is 1.8 on low and 3.6 on high, compared to 4.4 and 4.8 amps. Its a bit tricky getting it fitted as it is slightly bigger in the sense that it sticks out front half as much again as the Wagner lamp, and having to insulate it with tape round the outside and the retaining clips and locating tags. Worth it though.

The new headlamp weighs 1.29 kgs whereas the old one weighs only 525 grams.

F..k listen to that rain.
all the best. Dereck

ps didn't have to convert to negative earth after all.

THROW YOURSELF AT THE GROUND AND MISS.

Thanks for the info my t160 headlight is like a candle, and country roads at night you never know what you might hit !

kerinorton said:

ps didn't have to convert to negative earth after all.

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Sweet!

How was the wind up there? I heard 190kph in places. At least we didnt loose power this time.

Its a stormy night outside, up to 120 kilometres per hour winds, and pissing with rain. What a good night ...

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My 1st 5 yr here I was addicted to night rides mostly for the off hwy paths. One of my forever memories was trying to find someone's place at night on a full summer moon with a thunder-lightening front winds hitting this way and that under canopy of over lapping tree limbs with swirling leaves blown off flashing in hi beam and completely carpeting the Gravel rutted path among many small limbs everywhere plus whipping past helmet at diagonals and major limbs to full trees in path here and there leaving gaps in canopy to see clouds racing over cutting moon beams as light drizzle made whole atomsphere sparkle with diamonds and laser tracers...

Flashed me back to a kid b/w TV show Lassie braving a storm to save someone and making it. By the 6th year the Gov't could afford too many wardens so deer population and collisions rates spiked and had to quit it even if the deer were lit up only means ya see em better before they hit like an arrow with LED light aimed at ya from across the street.

I think we were lucky. No damage that I could find apart from a treliss falling over. Last time we had a big wind there was debris averywhere. This time I think the wind was higher as it looks like all the debris has been blown over to Australia. { kidding . it all ended up in front of my shop. ]

Steve, one year when I was first here I had to go to a meeting in Rangitane. No streetlights. [ used to Wellington ] so when I thought I had gone too far, I backed the Ute back over someone's entranceway and straight into a culvert. Had to ring the guys to come and pull me out [ that was after I had groped my way down someone's "S" shaped driveway to ring up .I don't use a cell phone nor did I have a torch ]

The last elephant I saw in Kerikeri was part of a circus and he/she wasn't happy. Heard later the same elephant backed into its new owner and she went to heaven. Elephant wasn't too happy with that either I heard.

Yep Keri even best lights can't reveal everything that can stop our safe travels. I'd trade elephants in the road than smaller more jumpy animals or black bulls or bull elk that just don't reflect light or leave distinct shadow till too close for comfort. Laser lights will soon be out and maybe with radar scanner incorporated in them to boot.

yep, they are definitely better. Went for a late ride tonight to test it out in the country. Will report later as I am stuffed now so off to bed. Dereck

I went for a ride on the darkest roads I could find last night [ not hard up here ] Its still hard to see round bends when you are leaning over so that is another problem I have been thinking of as well. [might have to source a pair of LED beams that will do this. I think they would have to be a cross between flood and search light beams though. Has anyone tried this ]
The night Hawk is quite bright and made ride with more confidence. I think it is going to take a bit of getting used to as it is different. Its a very flat beam with a central denser area. Can see the sides of the road quite well too. The high beam is where there is a difference, A bit more like a search light, and it still sends light up high on the outsides, but not quite as much as the older H4. the light at the edges is brighter than the H4 though.
I seem to have fitted it slightly rotated clockwise from the siting position so I will look at that tonight.
if I go the extra lights for cornering we might end up with a Norton the looks like the scooters used in the days of the Mods & Rockers. YEh Right!

I think this link will still work. This is the multi LED Truck-lite some are recommending. I plan to get one at some point.

http://www.amazon.com/Truck-Lite-Round- ... B002IFRROM

The military uses them and you can shoot out a pretty high percentage of the little bulbs and they will still light.

Kind of pricey still but they might come down yet.

Hi Motorson. Go get it and let us know what its like. The Nighthawk is pretty good, but not so good on the really tight corners where you are down in first. I went out again tonight to check it out. Its really good on the straights and long sweepers but as the bike leans over more we do loose a bit. Where you have to strain your head back to see round the corner. Bikes been starting first kick since the last problem I had which was mentioned in the other thread.

I HAVE JUST BEEN IN FOR MY WOF CHECK. I asked the technician to measure the out-put on the new Nighthawk. 73 lumens. Compared it with the high beam on a 2003 Nissan Bluebird which had only 32.5 lumens. Its very bright. Haven't been able to compare with the old H4 on the other bike yet as I have had the flu and the weather has been a bit awful. Cant see round corners on the unlit back streets in Opua. Will let you know as soon as I can
Dereck

Ps
My indicators started going funny. would work one side and not the other, then not at all then the other way round,. First time it happened I removed the switch assy and cleaning it with electrical cleaner,. seemed to work yesterday until I went for the wof check. Failed. While testing, I noticed the flasher was getting slower and slower. Didn't like the idea of disassembling the light switch so went and bought a new 2 pin flasher from Repco. That fixed the problem, and passed the wof check.

We counter steer to make turns over 12 mph so the more ya lean and sharper ya turn the more ya aim light away from area of interest. Before the STATE put in more game wardens and poachers kept deer down I rode as much or more at night and had two driving lights I aimed beams cross eyed so could see into turns better but glare too much in narrow wooded paths so didn't use or need them in those conditions. Lights don't phase leaping deer or dogs and ya'll never see the ones with your name on it in time.