FOAK: Question about headlight bulbs

Is it ok to swap 45/45w headlight bulbs ( which look very much llike
normal car H4's but are not) in a cbr1000f for standard H4 55/65
bulbs by bending the tabs ? There is a 20A fuse for headlights , I
calculate that on full beem it'll need 16A. Amazingly Honda want
£16+vat each for the bulbs . It seems my bike's an American import,
which I kind of suspected, am I supposed to tell my insurance company
this though ? Are the light switches, wiring harness and alternator the
same on all models ? Please tell...



Simon

 

Is it ok to swap 45/45w headlight bulbs ( which look very much llike
normal car H4's but are not) in a cbr1000f for standard H4 55/65
bulbs by bending the tabs ? There is a 20A fuse for headlights , I
calculate that on full beem it'll need 16A. Amazingly Honda want
£16+vat each for the bulbs . It seems my bike's an American import,
which I kind of suspected, am I supposed to tell my insurance company
this though ? Are the light switches, wiring harness and alternator the
same on all models ? Please tell...

It's not an electrical issue in this case. Even if you do manage get the H4
lamps to fit into the lampholders, the beam pattern will be both crap and
illegal. The H4 has a completely different LCL (light centre length) to the
OEM lamp, so the optical centre of the filament(s) will not be at the focal
point of the reflector and therefore will not perform as the original spec.
If the bike is an import, the headlamps may not even be 'E' or 'ECE' marked
and therefore illegal anyway. Do they have an 'E'-mark moulded on the lens
anywhere?

JB

 

There's a site somewhere that sells the not-quite-H4 bases with 55/60W
bulbs on them.

 

HTH

 

Is it ok to swap 45/45w headlight bulbs ( which look very much llike
normal car H4's but are not) in a cbr1000f for standard H4 55/65
bulbs by bending the tabs ? There is a 20A fuse for headlights , I
calculate that on full beem it'll need 16A. Amazingly Honda want
£16+vat each for the bulbs . It seems my bike's an American import,
which I kind of suspected, am I supposed to tell my insurance company
this though ?

They only seemed interested in WHO imported mine. When I told them it was an
American import, but had been imported before I bought it (in other words,
*I* didn't import it), they weren't interested and just insured it as a
normal bike would be..



Are the light switches, wiring harness and alternator the
same on all models ? Please tell...

No. Well I'm not sure about all Honda's, but my imported VN has no light
switch, just a dip/main switch. A pal has an English VN and his has an
on-off switch too.


--
Beav

VN 750
Zed 1000
OMF# 19



Simon

 

Do they have an 'E'-mark moulded on the lens

dunno, I'll check but it's sailed through 3 mot's since I've had it...