Shoodaben gets new eyes (dual headlight!)

[Steve in Sunny Fla]

Shoodaben just survived major surgery. New tires (avon storm ultra front, mich pr3 rear) flushed and re-oiled forks, cleaned and greased stem bearings / wheel bearings/ speedo cable; 320mm wave rotors, fork gaiters and a new dual headlight kit from Murph's. Gotta tell ya, the headlight system is really a work of art. Very well made. I'm looking forward to enjoying what is does for my night riding. Here's some pics - Steve

[Steve in Sunny Fla]

more  -

[Electroken]

Shoodaben is stealthy-lookin'!

I need to check into that headlight. Everyone knows the stocker sucks, and I have little faith in the DDM HID kit I installed a month ago.

[snarf]

Looking good Steve.  I am really digging those fork gators you have on.  Where did you get those?  If they dont protect the forks, aint nut'n gonna.

[Steve in Sunny Fla]

Looking good Steve.  I am really digging those fork gators you have on.  Where did you get those?  If they dont protect the forks, aint nut'n gonna.

  From the rear shock of a kasaski voyager. Though i have some that a friend gave me from an aftermarket 4 wheel drive front suspension that would work great too, except they're red. Steve

[Jeremy Mitchell]

I love those headlights for the C10, it really makes it look so much more modern.  Money well spent.  Great looking bike!

[zsiska]

  From the rear shock of a kasaski voyager. Though i have some that a friend gave me from an aftermarket 4 wheel drive front suspension that would work great too, except they're red. Steve

Red would be perfect for my 92 (Currently getting some powdercoating done and will be mostly black with red accents).  Any idea where I can pick some up?

[Steve in Sunny Fla]

Check out a 4wd shop - Steve

[Tele130]

So you goina go riding tonight and let us know how much better the Dual system is?

I wish we had that little "Poke ya with a stick" icon thingie   She's looking really sweet Steve.

[Daytona_Mike]

I really do like that light. Just think, for $15 you can  install true   HID  H9 bulbs  ( I know you already have the  wire harness and ballasts sitting in a box) and go from a max of ~1000 lumens up to 3200 lumens and that is for the 35watt kit. For $20 you could  get two  55 watt bulbs each rated at 4200 lumens.
At those intensities you should be able to vaporize  those  love bugs into  wisps of smoke  before they collect on your windshield.

[Centex]

I also recently installed one of Murphs headlight kits.  I'm retired and daytime heat has been a total bear here lately, so I've been doing LOTS of night riding (1AM to 4AM jaunts for pleasure and therapy) since getting these eyes.

I can attest that these lights are amazing.  The really great thing is the extraordinary control of the light pattern for each beam.  I can run with high-beam on a narrowly divided highway and not get any "drop your beam" warning flashes from opposing traffic.  The low-beam cutoff is similarly super controlled so you are never disturbing traffic but you get great illumination of your path.

I can't help but think that inserting an HID bulb, which does not have the filament in exactly the same location as a spec H9 bulb, would only screw-up the tremendous beam-pattern engineering that Hella did on these modules.  Its worth noting that the Hella 90mm Halogen modules on which this unit is based are different for left and right-hand drive markets due to the beam pattern.

[DarrellB]

Great job. She just keeps looking better and better.

[Centex]

Looking good Steve.  I am really digging those fork gators you have on.  Where did you get those?

Chris & zsiska - Google "Daystar D69" for fork boots that will fit the Connie, available in lots of colors at most dirtbike shops.  Model D69 fits the OEM Connie tube diameter nicely (you might want to check other numbers for your oversize fork, Chris), you'll need to cut the length to suit how you want them to look.  Mine are installed over a 2004/5 vintage KB fork brace on the stock fork:

[snarf]

Hey thanks Centex, nice info.

[Rick Hall]

I really do like that light. Just think, for $15 you can  install true   HID  H9 bulbs  ( I know you already have the  wire harness and ballasts sitting in a box) and go from a max of ~1000 lumens up to 3200 lumens and that is for the 35watt kit. For $20 you could  get two  55 watt bulbs each rated at 4200 lumens.

Ehh, a bit off. A stock H-9 puts out 2100 lumens and a stock D2S (HID) 3200 lumens. Many lamp mfg's hype their product... a lot. For comparison a standard H-4 puts out 1650/1000, and a hi power 130/100 H-4 puts out 3250/1820 which is close to an HID.

I'm running a Murphs headlight, and the key factor is the engineering that Hella did in mating an H-9 bulb to excellent optics. The key is the optics, not necessarily the bulb or wattage.

The Murphs headlight might be a candidate for an aftermarket HID kit, but if the 'filament' is the least bit off...

Rick