Philips X-treme H4 Headlight Bulbs from murphs

[h2smokin]

Are they much better at night for those who are using them? It says about 80% brighter . Looking for a cheaper way to get more light w/o going to HID. I'm going to be traveling at night on my trip in a couple of weeks just to avoid the az. heat. thanks

[Bob]

Yes the Philips Vision +80 H4 are much better than OEM. They make quite an improvement. It's probably the easiest and cheapest way to upgrade the lighting other than adding extra lights or modifying the lights to use HID!

Here's the link somebody asked for!

http://www.murphskits.com/catalog/product_info.php?cPath=130_137&products_id=304

[Tactical_Mik]

+1   I use them and they make quite a difference. 

[VirginiaJim]

Make sure the stock lights are aimed correctly.   Many, many bikes come with them aimed straight down.  I know mine were.

[S.Ga.Rider]

I noticed when I was in advanced auto parts yesterday they had some after market lights for the 14. I cant recall the brand but they were $20 and a name brand. I was thinking of trying them out.

[mikeboileau]

I just bought those from Murphs.  Didn't ride at night yet.

[B.D.F.]

Yeah, that is the second test the C-14 gives new owners, right after the test to see if we can remember to 'press, release, turn' to get things started. Fail either one of those tests and you might as well be riding a Honda.

I am currently running one HID headlight and one H4 Halogen. It makes a funny yellow / white pattern on the garage door. One of my HIDs failed so I swapped it out with a spare H4 while waiting for the new set of HIDs to arrive from China. I should be installing the HIDs shortly.

Brian

Make sure the stock lights are aimed correctly.   Many, many bikes come with them aimed straight down.  I know mine were.

[maxtog]

Make sure the stock lights are aimed correctly.   Many, many bikes come with them aimed straight down.  I know mine were.

Mine were too.  I still can't seem to get them adjusted just perfectly... yet.

[B.D.F.]

I think the easiest way is to point the bike at a white wall or garage door and move it very close to that surface. Note the height of the cut- off line of the headlights. Then back up 20 or 25 feet or so and see where the cut- off line appears; adjust the cut-off until it is slightly (an inch or two) below the height that it was when the bike was close to the wall. This will ensure that the headlights are aimed down slightly below horizontal and will give you good light coverage while not blinding oncoming drivers.

Note that the adjustments have to be turned the opposite direction of the other one to move both headlights in the same direction. For example, to move the right headlight up, the knob must be turned clockwise. To move the left headlight up the knob must be turned counter-clockwise.

Brian

Mine were too.  I still can't seem to get them adjusted just perfectly... yet.

[h2smokin]

I did have to reaim mine when I got the bike as well. Gonna check again on the height though. Wanna check and see how they are side to side as well, did'nt bother with that. Got the new bulbs ordered now tonight. Thanks for info

[Bob]

I just take it to a dark quiet road and aim them. Then go for a short ride and fine tune if need be!

[SVonhof]

Yes the Philips Vision +80 H4 are much better than OEM. They make quite an improvement. It's probably the easiest and cheapest way to upgrade the lighting other than adding extra lights or modifying the lights to use HID!

Here's the link somebody asked for!

http://www.murphskits.com/catalog/product_info.php?cPath=130_137&products_id=304

Anyone noticed decreased lamp life with these?

Just wondering as I was considering getting new, brighter bulbs for my car and on the back of the packaging, it had a chart for brightness and also one for durability and when you went brighter, the durability went way down.

[Bob]

Anyone noticed decreased lamp life with these?

Just wondering as I was considering getting new, brighter bulbs for my car and on the back of the packaging, it had a chart for brightness and also one for durability and when you went brighter, the durability went way down.

Some have said they have. I have not. But I'm one of those guys with the flashing headlight. I heard one of those headlight flashers (modulators) increases bulb life!

[B.D.F.]

Aha! It is Cap'n Bob! There are only two people with those headlight annoyers in use and the other one knows that any increased bulb life is the result of KiPass, not headlight annoyers.

I knew it.

 

Brian

Some have said they have. I have not. But I'm one of those guys with the flashing headlight. I heard one of those headlight flashers (modulators) increases bulb life!

[maxtog]

Yes the Philips Vision +80 H4 are much better than OEM. They make quite an improvement. It's probably the easiest and cheapest way to upgrade the lighting other than adding extra lights or modifying the lights to use HID!

Here's the link somebody asked for!

http://www.murphskits.com/catalog/product_info.php?cPath=130_137&products_id=304

I know this thread was hijacked about modulators and other things, but I will bring it back on track....
I took the plunge and ordered (and just got) the even newer Philips "X-treme Vision +100% H4" bulbs from Murph's.  They make the seemingly ridiculous claim that it is now TWICE the brightness of "typical" bulbs.

I have not installed them yet (it is raining AGAIN), but some people said they were able to replace the bulbs from under the dash without any bike disassembly.  Is that true?

Pictures are generally useless for before/after brightness stuff with lights, because cameras will auto-adjust the iris/exposure.  And I don't have a light meter (like, how many people do??)  But I am going to try and get a picture of JUST ONE BULB replaced at first, so it should be possible in a photo to directly compare left to right....

[Tom J.]

I love the headlight discussions, so I'll weigh-in..
Yes, the bulbs are easy to replace, no disassembly required. Just pull the rubber boot, disconnect the connector, flip the metal tab that holds the bulb in it's proper position and then they just pull right out.
I am curious how much you paid for these bulbs from Murphs. Why? Because I did upgrade my H4 bulbs with a kit from HID Nation.  The installation of bulbs and ballasts was easy (at least on my '08 it was). I am thrilled with their performance, AND with shipping and an additional $20.00 for lifetime warranty on bulbs and ballasts, I paid $76.00. 
After 6 months of use (I ride 60 miles a day) they are working perfectly.

[maxtog]

Yes, the bulbs are easy to replace, no disassembly required. Just pull the rubber boot, disconnect the connector, flip the metal tab that holds the bulb in it's proper position and then they just pull right out.

Great!  Thanks

I am curious how much you paid for these bulbs from Murphs.

$48

Why? Because I did upgrade my H4 bulbs with a kit from HID Nation.  The installation of bulbs and ballasts was easy (at least on my '08 it was). I am thrilled with their performance, AND with shipping and an additional $20.00 for lifetime warranty on bulbs and ballasts, I paid $76.00. 
After 6 months of use (I ride 60 miles a day) they are working perfectly.

Well, I did perform SOME research on HID conversions.  But didn't go that route because  I had just finished performing a lot of very involved mods and I am worn out and there just wasn't enough information I could find about reliability, installation, legality, hi/low beam stuff, beam patterns, etc.  Plus, without testimonials, I just didn't want to take the chance, especially after being badly burned by the whole failed "LED replacement bulbs" stuff.

And I didn't know that HID could be had THAT cheaply, and I would have assumed they would be "crap", which your post is helping to countermand.  But I did check out that site, and the H4 kit is $99 with no warranty and large ballasts.  WITH lifetime warranty and slim ballast,  it is $149... and those are the "on sale!" prices.  (And ground shipping is $16).  While that is still cheap for HID, it is a quite a bit more expensive.

I am very pleased you are happy, and who knows, I might take the plunge later.  Of course, if these work as advertised, they might be almost as bright as HID, but require no wiring or effort, and still cost considerably less.  Thanks for sharing.

[B.D.F.]

The claims of XX % more light are very misleading- it would lead us to think that a 100 % increase is double the light output but that is not the case. The higher output is measured using a complicated system that amounts to + 80 (80% more than stock) being about 9 % brighter. The real thing to look for is the lumen output, which is the actual measure of light produced. High performance H4's are rated at 1000 / 1600 lumens (low / high beam respectively) and the highest output bulbs will be about 10% more than that. Compare this to 3200 lumens for stock, 35 watt HIDs and I think it becomes pretty obvious that they are not even in the same realm.

The expected life is between 3,000 and 3,500 hours from an HID capsule. Again, compare that to any halogen (tungsten) automotive headlamp available and again you will find that the HID is far superior.

35 Watt "bi- xenon" kits are about $60 from DDM Tuning.

All 'non approved' lamps are illegal when used on US autos. Even perfectly legal headlight assemblies moved to another car that never came with that type of lamp is illegal. It is really more of a backwards thing- any and all non- DOT approved lamps are illegal for use on US autos so HIDs are illegal just as any higher than 55 watt H4 is illegal. A specific lamp in a specific vehicle is type approved for use in the US by the Dept. Of Transportation and that is the only headlight that is legal for that vehicle. If one removed a pair of E-55 HID projectors from a Mercedes Benz and put them in a Volkswagen (a fairly common modification) to yield far better lighting, that modification is just as illegal as hacking an HID 'kit' into the Volkswagen because neither type was approved for that car. So it is not a matter of better or worse lighting, merely different.

Brian

I had an error in my post and corrected it before you finished your reply   See above.

Ah, you got the hi/low kit, not the bi-xenon kit.  That means no HID high beam.  So yes, that costs less too.  But I wouldn't want to go through all that expense, risk, and labor and end up with non-HID high beams.  Can't imagine why that would be illegal- my G37 has HID high beams.  The legality I was thinking of had to do with the shape of the beam.

Ironically/theoretically, I might end up with considerably MORE light on the high beams using the X-treme Vision than the "classic" Xenon high-beams included on the non-bi-xenon HID kit.  Of course, high beams are used a lot less, but still.

[maxtog]

The claims of XX % more light are very misleading- it would lead us to think that a 100 % increase is double the light output but that is not the case.

You are right, that is exactly what any sane person would think/conclude.  Just like if I said I would give you a 100 % increase in your pay, it would be double the money.

The higher output is measured using a complicated system that amounts to + 80 (80% more than stock) being about 9 % brighter.  The real thing to look for is the lumen output, which is the actual measure of light produced. High performance H4's are rated at 1000 / 1600 lumens (low / high beam respectively) and the highest output bulbs will be about 10% more than that.

I just hate marketing.  So I just did some additional research.  Supposedly a typical H4(US Spec) is 910/1580 or 1000/1600 lumens.  I found ONE claim on the X-treme Power is 1150/1895 lumens.  I can't find a SINGLE measure of the X-treme Vision, even after more than an hour of searching.  But it is safe to say that it is unlikely it is double 910/1580.  Of course, there are other factors, but they are not tangible like lumens are.  There are many people swearing there is a huge [positive] change with the X-treme bulbs... more than just a 10-15% light output would account for.  Guess I will soon know.

Compare this to 3200 lumens for stock, 35 watt HIDs and I think it becomes pretty obvious that they are not even in the same realm. [...] legality [...]

From what I can tell, the HID retrofit kits have no precision in the beam and no cutoffs in the bulbs.  Halogen headlight assemblies rely heavily on the EXACT placement of the filament and the cutoffs.  I suspect that would mean the HID retrofit low beams would throw light everywhere and blind oncoming traffic.  Re: legality- changing anything could have a huge negative effect, that might be primary reasoning.

[Murph]

More  light output with the same power in put.. thats the thing about these bulbs. I was turned on to them from a club whos bikes had not a watt to spare.  40 50 100  what ever, the output in lighting is a noticable improvemt over standard bulbs,, and they pull the same watts, C14 and C14 can be changed with small hands  .. these HID units come with thier own reflectors?  I have one a company sent me, Its on my tool box but I was thinkin' the input wattage was pretty high..


murph
COG 2769
Industry Member