Was told by Brent of Newbonneville.com that the perfect headlight replacement for the Bonneville is the Sylvania H6024 sealed beam halogen unit.
I bought one but have yet to install it as I was able to clean the fogging off of the reflector and the inside of the lens of my original unit using a soft cloth sprayed with Windex poked through the bulb opening.
I'm going to try both the original unit and the Sylvania to see which has the best performance.
The only problem that I can see with the Sylvania bulb is that the parking light function is lost.
Have you noticed what low milage, totally original 100th anniversary model Triumph T100 Bonnevilles have been selling for recently? The point is that this admittedly minor and probably less than useful original feature is lost when the stock headlight is replaced.
I'm considering the same mod so please keep us informed. Swap on the new one and take a night ride out to Esperanza. That stretch of I 10's beautiful at night...
The "parking light" is useless. I think it's in there to comply with a European safety requirement, just as the side reflectors are there to comply with US requirements.
I unplugged the parking light and stuffed the connector in the headlight shell when I replaced the headlight with a Hella. I saved the parking light and its connector in case I ever want to use the connector to power an accessory, not likely. In any case, I can easily put it back to original, not that I can imagine a reason to do so.
Let us know what you think of the Sylvania. Not everyone likes it.
I tried several different bulbs and found that the real culprit was the cheap plastic stock reflector. Once I installed a Cibie reflector the Sylvania was a good match.
I'm sure you are correct re the reflector. My T100 came with an H4 bulb, and the headlight was really bad. On the other hand, my W650 also came with an H4 bulb, and the headlight was excellent. I now run a 6024 on the T100. Much better than the stock setup. Do keep in mind that the 6024 is an automobile headlight, and the lens isn't designed to provide more light to the right side of the road (USA) as are lights with lenses specifically designed for motorcycles.
I replaced the reflector & bulb with the Sylvania 6024XV sealed beam. I find it sheds more light on the road when I ride with friends that have stock. Yes you loose the parking light, but in Canada it is not required. Small price to pay to get better night vision.
From the site:
"Sylvania XtraVision 65-Watt High Performance Halogen Headlight delivers three times more foreground illumination which is designed to create up to 20% more strong illumination and increasing down road visibility with no added glare. It adds 850 hour of a higher wattage light source which is twice the standard sealed beam. This sealed beam project more uniform beam pattern thereby helps to evident better at night which enhances driving safety. This XtraVision headlight been designed for maximum durability and performance."
I replaced the reflector & bulb with the Sylvania 6024XV sealed beam. I find it sheds more light on the road when I ride with friends that have stock. Yes you loose the parking light, but in Canada it is not required. Small price to pay to get better night vision.
Are the Hella and the Sylvania compatible with the stock bucket? I'm looking for something brighter now that I'm riding at night a bit more often. I've tried other bulbs but it doesn't seem to make much difference.
Hella 002395031 or 002395071 from Amazon. I wasn't able to get the one with the parking light when I bought mine, it looks like they have it today. I have the 5031.
I also upgraded the wiring with a relay kit from Eastern Beaver and bought a PIAA super-deluxe-ultra-extreme something or other H4 bulb. Put all together, it was a good upgrade.
The lens on the Hella and probably the Cibie are far superior to the stock lens, which is the whole problem. I tried the Sylvania and for the cheap Walmart price it was better than stock. Then I went to the Hella mentioned above and the light pattern is way better, crisper with a broad pattern. Those Europeans make good lights.
A few people have not liked the Cibie light pattern, and it's expensive. The Hella can be had for a bit more than $30. I think that I paid $31 for mine from Amazon, and I put a PIAA extreme-something-or-other bulb in it.
Note that some people with the later EFI bikes have had trouble mounting the Hella. Something subtle seems to have changed in the headlight bucket. They drop right into the older-style buckets.
I also upgraded the wiring with an Eastern Beaver rewiring kit to put the headlight on relays and connect it directly to the battery. Side benefit is much less current through the ignition and headlight switches--it mostly goes through the relays now.
Altogether, it was a noticeable improvement in lighting.
Thanks for the info, Balto. I'll be looking into the Hella based on your recommendation. I rode for the first time at night last night and this mod has likely moved up the list a bit... I don't ride at night often but when I do, I need more than the stock setup provides. Thanks again -- enjoy the weekend.
I went to the Sylvania sealed beam unit, cost about $35 at the auto parts store. Great improvement over stock and is a very sturdy unit as well. I may try a relay unit as well sometime, but bang-for-the-buck, I'm very pleased.
It probably gets hot in the headlight bucket. If the converter can live with the heat then it should work. I have no idea how warm it is in there, though.
I'm coming to this discussion a bit late. I just noticed that my stock lens is corroded and a replacement is $200 + so I'm interested in a Hella replacement. As I have no need for the parking light what becomes of it? Do you just stuff the bulb, socket and wires somewhere back in the headlight assembly?
Pull the bulb out, maybe cover the socket up with electrical tape and tuck it in the bucket, no worries. You might use those leads for power one day if you install an after market tach or something.
Can't you just look at it and see? If it has two bulbs in the reflector or it lights up real dim when you use the parking light function, then yes it has one.
Has anybody fitted a Sylvania H6024 in a late model bonnie?
I got the Sylvania H2064 at Wally World and attempted to fit it today. It wasn't wanting to go and as it was getting dark and cold, I gave up for the day.
TWinOKC , did you get it to fit ? I had trouble on my 11 Thruxton as well. Same as you gave up because of the cold and lack of light. Couldn't get the retainer ring back on.
Same problem as you, couldn't get the retainer to go back on.
The headlight has 3 tabs on the back that make it too thick to get the retainer back onto the outer ring assy. Haven't mucked with it since, maybe after the holiday I will give it another look.
If I remember correctly , the fitting problem affected the Hella also on later models of the Bonny and the Thrux. That was the reason I tried the H6024 instead of shelling out the extra money for the Hella.
After reading as much as i could find on this topic, i just put the sylvania sealed unit. it was $15 at an auto parts store. the plain sylvania bulb was a dollar or two less. the sea;ed beam went in with no problem (i left the 'parking light' connecter in the back of the bucket; i too might try a USB or accessory hookup at some point.
i figured before i dropped $80-100 on bulbs, relays, reflectors, etc. it was worth the $15 to try the sylvania. i think i was right; the light's much better, and if i ever go to sell it i can put it back to stock in 10 minutes or so. the relay comments are intriguing too -- i might try that someday too... but for no, riding home from work on these short & dark days should be a lot better than before.
fyi - i've got a 2012 efi bonnie t100.
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