Bandit Alley
MODEL SPECIFIC => SUZUKI BANDIT 600 thru 1200 - AIR/OIL COOLED TECHNICAL => Topic started by: jbrough7 on April 29, 2006, 07:31:06 AM
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Just been riding for 1.5 years so have not had a lot of experience at night. Seems it's really hard to see anything on lo-beam when cages are coming at me- is it the same for everybody or am I just going blind?
Jim
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I've read here that the headlights on the B12 are pretty ordinary, but I've never had an issue with them.
Here's a couple of suggestions, in no particular order:
1. Open your eyes.
2. Don't use a tinted visor at night.
3. Take your sunnies of when it gets dark.
4. If you are also experiencing difficulties in seeing in the daylight , try getting your eyes checked.
:stickpoke:
Seriously, I don't have a problem with the low or high beam on the B12. However, a trick my dad told me, which is actually quite obvious, DON'T LOOK AT THE HEADLIGHTS FROM ON COMMING VEHICLES, instead direct your eyes towards the (in Australia) left side of the road, so I suppose in your part of the world it would be to the right side of the road...in either case, look away from the light......
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Yeah, I've read in my 'how-to motorcycle book' that you look at the 'fog-line' on the right side of the road (your left) - I guess my beef is I live in the country so there are dead raccoons every mile or so on the road . When a cage is coming at me, the 100 ft. or so in front of the bike on my side seems pretty black. I don't think I could see a coon and that would be game over for me!
Jim
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The headlights do suck! Both high and low beam. I use highbeam all the time unless I'm in town where there is extra lighting or right behind a LEO!
Do a search. There are several ways to get better lighting. The best I believe is total replacement.
I haven't tried anything yet but I don't ride at night very often. Definately on the to do list.
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The low beams are lousy on my B-12. (Or should we say low beam, singular?) I usually leave the high beams on all the time, and cars rarely blink lights at me.
In fact, the only person who really gripes about me using high beams is my riding buddy who complains that they are in his mirrors. Which makes me think he has his mirrors adjusted wrong.
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You know those blue lights volvos and bmw's have? I think they're called xenon? they would look cool...
Jim
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You know those blue lights volvos and bmw's have? I think they're called xenon? they would look cool...
Jim
Especially if you want to blind oncoming traffic! I'm all for brighter headlights, but let's make sure they are lighting up the road, not looking for aircraft!
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And here I was hoping the all-new headlights of the 3G bikes would have cured the issue the 2G owners were always complaining about. They look like the same kind of setup the V-Stroms use, and I thought those folks liked their headlights.
Do you know what bulbs your 650 uses? If it uses the same ones as the 2G, you can replace the stock halogen bulbs with HIR bulbs. (See the 2G Headlight thread in the FAQ.)
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You know those blue lights volvos and bmw's have? I think they're called xenon? they would look cool...
Jim
Especially if you want to blind oncoming traffic! I'm all for brighter headlights, but let's make sure they are lighting up the road, not looking for aircraft!
Acutally you are quite wrong, I have projectors on my BMW (car) and they point more light at the road than most.. next step HID's.
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HID (High Intensity Discharge) lights are quite spendy (like $350 or more per bulb) and can be a bit of a challenge on a bike since you have to find somewhere to put the ballast.
OTOH, HIR (Halogen Ifrared Reflective) lights are almost as good as HID's at a small fraction of the price (like ~$30 per bulb) and are barely more difficult to install than stock bulbs. (You have to trim one tab slightly so they'll fit, then it's plug-N-play.) They also don't tax your electrical system any more than the stock bulbs, so you don't have to worry about melting wires or installing relays like you do with high watt standard halogens. Just like any other light, they will output more if you do use a relay setup, but you don't HAVE to, like you would with high watt bulbs.
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How about HUD? Now that would be cool on a bike! Has it ever been tried/done??
Jim
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You have the new "3rd Gen" style headlights, doncha?
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How about HUD? Now that would be cool on a bike! Has it ever been tried/done??
Jim
Yes, there's a kit out there that puts a HUD on a faceshield.
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Paulvs: yeah, I do.
Jim
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You know those blue lights volvos and bmw's have? I think they're called xenon? they would look cool...
Jim
Especially if you want to blind oncoming traffic! I'm all for brighter headlights, but let's make sure they are lighting up the road, not looking for aircraft!
Acutally you are quite wrong, I have projectors on my BMW (car) and they point more light at the road than most.. next step HID's.
I don't know about YOUR car, but the ones I meet on the road are irritating enough that I want to smash them with a sledgehammer.
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you're just mad cuz the preds are out!! Am I right??
Tough luck, big guy...now you know the maple laffs cheer, "Wait till next year!!"
Jim
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I guess the 1st question for me would be.... what kind of bulbs do the 3rd gen's take?
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you're just mad cuz the preds are out!! Am I right??
Tough luck, big guy...now you know the maple laffs cheer, "Wait till next year!!"
Jim
Ha! If I were upset at the Preds, I'd probably change my avatar in protest or something...
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Cool! Is that you?
Jim
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xenon lights, I'm not a fan of those. There's a lot of new cars have them here in Oz, and to be honest they Shyte me to death cause they seem to always be 'flashing you' and with the Nazi style coppers we have in NSW I get quite paranoid.
A mate of mine fitted a set of small round driving lights to the front of his ZX12R, very effective....
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And here I was hoping the all-new headlights of the 3G bikes would have cured the issue the 2G owners were always complaining about. They look like the same kind of setup the V-Stroms use, and I thought those folks liked their headlights.
Do you know what bulbs your 650 uses? If it uses the same ones as the 2G, you can replace the stock halogen bulbs with HIR bulbs. (See the 2G Headlight thread in the FAQ.)
Hey Paul:
From what I recall, the new Bandits although it's hard to tell from the pictures have a stacked headlight system like the Busa. (Not like the strom) I am unsure of what bulb type they use.
I am wondering if they are using the same harness as spoken about in other posts?
Here is a link to a good headlight shot of the 2006 Bandito. I could not get the photo's to link up as this site does not use an itentity file that ends in JPG.
http://www.bikepics.com/pictures/568012/
http://www.bikepics.com/pictures/546116/
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Here is a link to a good headlight shot of the 2006 Bandito. I could not get the photo's to link up as this site does not use an itentity file that ends in JPG.
http://www.bikepics.com/pictures/568012/
http://www.bikepics.com/pictures/546116/
Sure, they use photos that end in .jpg - see:
(you just have to go the "properties" of the pic)
(http://www.bikepics.com/pics/pics/suzuki-gsf650-06-bikepics-568012.jpg)
(http://www.bikepics.com/pics/pics/suzuki-gsf650-06-bikepics-546116.jpg)
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I've put a Philips Crystal Vision on my '02B6N.
It is very simple to install, and it has the same specs from stock - H4 55W/60W 12V - meaning that it won't affect the system. No adaptations required.
Its beam is white, instead of the stock yellow, and specially at dark night rides, I feel a lot less tired than before. Quite inexpensive upgrade.
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Sylvania Silverstar would be the first thing I'd try.
(Probably essentially the same as the Phillips Crystal Vision)
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HID (High Intensity Discharge) lights are quite spendy (like $350 or more per bulb) and can be a bit of a challenge on a bike since you have to find somewhere to put the ballast.
I just bought a HID kit for my BMW under $300, two bulbs, two ballasts and P-N-P wiring.
Installs coming soon.
One problem is you can only get single filamnet HID bulbs. Tought for us single bulb bandit owners.
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OK, so you're under $150/bulb then. You still would have to find a place to stuff the ballast and it's still a far site more than the $27 for a HIR bulb