Extreme H4 Bulb on V7 Stone? Yellow film?

[bpreynolds]

Anyone here swapped the bulb on a Stone or recent V7?  Just wondering if the H4 plug and play is worth it or not. 

Also, I read somewhere that just changing the color of a headlight to something like yellow (or using a yellow film on top of it) can have a positive effect on you being seen by other motorists?  But would it reduce the output on the road in front of you?  I understand there are some legal issues possibly with the latter. 

[pikipiki]

If your talking of blue/white light halogen, I tried one it was definitely brighter but I understand.

These bulbs create significantly more glare for other vehicles approaching you.

The white/blue light does not travel as well as yellowish light so things at a distance are no brighter only close objects are more illuminated.

[rodekyll]

Yellow increases contrast, especially in marginal light -- dusk/dawn.  Shooters wear yellow* goggles on the range for that reason.  Fog lights used to be amber.  They were designed to produce scatter and pick solid objects out of fog and rain.  Will yellow help you?  Before getting crazy with the experiments, take some advice from zztop and get yourself some cheap sunglasses -- in yellow.  Any sporting goods store will have the $4 'safety glasses' type and you'll be a well dressed man for the test.

If the yellow works for you, think about a sheet of yellow contact film (like window tint, but yellow) that you could cut and mount in front of the headlight lens as your next step.  I don't know where you go from there or the legalities of tinkering with headlight color.

*  "Yellow" is in the ~3200 - 3500k range of color temperature as applied to headlights.  "Neutral" (daylight) comes in at about 4200 - 4500k, and "ice white" goes "blue" at about 6000 - 6500k.  These are approximations and vary according to who's doing the marketing.  The spectrum range is about right regardless of who's making the chart, and of course your monitor will render colors differently.

[bpreynolds]

Yellow increases contrast, especially in marginal light -- dusk/dawn.  Shooters wear yellow* goggles on the range for that reason.  Fog lights used to be amber.  They were designed to produce scatter and pick solid objects out of fog and rain.  Will yellow help you?  Before getting crazy with the experiments, take some advice from zztop and get yourself some cheap sunglasses -- in yellow.  Any sporting goods store will have the $4 'safety glasses' type and you'll be a well dressed man for the test.

If the yellow works for you, think about a sheet of yellow contact film (like window tint, but yellow) that you could cut and mount in front of the headlight lens as your next step.  I don't know where you go from there or the legalities of tinkering with headlight color.

*  "Yellow" is in the ~3200 - 3500k range of color temperature as applied to headlights.  "Neutral" (daylight) comes in at about 4200 - 4500k, and "ice white" goes "blue" at about 6000 - 6500k.  These are approximations and vary according to who's doing the marketing.  The spectrum range is about right regardless of who's making the chart, and of course your monitor will render colors differently.

I've thought about the yellow film.  Online it says there are cheapy ones to avoid and such.  I do worry that film of any color on my headlight, while making me more noticeable, might decrease the headlight's output. 

Thanks for the color/temp info, but I think my brain just blew a gasket trying to understand it 

[Wayne Orwig]

I've thought about the yellow film.  Online it says there are cheapy ones to avoid and such.  I do worry that film of any color on my headlight, while making me more noticeable, might decreas the headlight's output. 

Thanks for the color/temp info, but I think my brain just blew a gasket trying to understand it 

Any tint or film added to change the color, will also reduce the light output.

I prefer an amber color for my aux lights, but I also like the output per watt that I get from my cheap LED aux lights. They are about a 6000k color, and the amount of light I get is nice, but the bluish tint simply makes street signs bright, and doesn't light up the critters very well. And of course the glare in fog is too much so I turn them off in fog and rain.
I have 4000k HID lights for the main beams, and that color works well in fog and rain. Not a lot of glare from that warmer color.
If it wasn't for the slow turn on time, I would use 4000K HIDs for my aux lights.

[rodekyll]

Yes, anything in front of the bulb reduces light output.  They can also alter the focus and sharpness of the light column.  I'm just telling you how this can be done.  I'm not making any judgments about whether it's a good idea or a legal one.


Draw a line on paper.  Toward the center of the line, make a mark and call it 4500k.  That's your 'daylight' reference.  To the left of the mark things are going from daylight to yellow at about 3500, and then red.  At the left end of the line it's infra red.  To the right of the mark things are getting more blue at about 6500, then purple and on to ultra violet at the far right end. 

You want to stay on the line between about 4000 and 6000 for useful light.  Above that range you're into the 'poser' range of gaudy purples and greens.  Below it you're headed to oranges and reds that not only annoy other traffic, but cause a lot of problems (visibility and brain stress) for the driver.  Also, the human eye works best in the daylight range, so the closer you can stay to daylight the better the visibility.

Hope this helps.

[O]

I swapped out the OEM H4 for a Philips X-treme Vision H4 last year.  It's definitely brighter, but the diffusion is all over the place, and I do occasionally get high-beamed by cagers.  Also, there's not much of a discernable difference between low and high beams.  Overall I'm not that impressed.  I'm going to give this a try next, per Jas67's recommendations in other threads: 
http://stores.advmonster.com/h4-mesh-monster-led-headlight/

[bpreynolds]

I swapped out the OEM H4 for a Philips X-treme Vision H4 last year.  It's definitely brighter, but the diffusion is all over the place, and I do occasionally get high-beamed by cagers.  Also, there's not much of a discernable difference between low and high beams.  Overall I'm not that impressed.  I'm going to give this a try next, per Jas67's recommendations in other threads: 
http://stores.advmonster.com/h4-mesh-monster-led-headlight/

Much appreciate the input. 

[canuguzzi]

If you want to be seen, adding a secondary light helps. The triangle of light has been said to be the most noticeable, two below spaced apart framed by then main light.

Don't forget the moth to a flame phenomenon, make your light too unique and some drives will unconsciously turn toward it as they stare.

The secondary light don't need to illuminate the road, just be bright enough to give a bigger picture to oncoming traffic.

Frankly, I'm more worried about the drives behind me. The feeble tail lights don't do much.

[pikipiki]

Do you know why the sun is Yellow at dawn or dusk.
When sunlight has to travel though more atmosphere the blue light is mostly blocked out. Bulbs which produce a yellower light of the same power as bluer lights enable you to see further. These bluer bulbs are brighter but the yellow component of the light is no more or slightly less than conventional bulbs. The result is they cause additional glare to oncoming vehicles but do not allow you to see further.
The main improvement you will get with the bluer bulb is on dip. It is very difficult to judge the difference when you take one bulb out and put the other in. You need two bikes side by side to see the difference properly.

Another point of note: brighter halogen bulbs have a shorter life!
I can't remember exactly but say if a bulb was twice as bright as another it may only last a 1/4 the life of the other!

Yellowed glasses are to reduce glare and reduce the contrast between near and far. Useful for driving reducing glare from oncoming vehicles and useful for shooting when th target is dim and distant.

The light to illuminate an object to the driver at 100yards travels 200yards the light to glare in the face of an oncoming vehicle at 100yards only travels 100yards. Increasing blue light without increasing yellow will increase glare to oncoming vehicles by 4 times what it will increase vision to the driver with the bluer lights.

[pikipiki]

For reference standard bulbs are 3200K.
High beam 3000 to 4000 is OK.
Low beam 3500 to (definitely not more than 6000)