The little bulb in the headlight?

[FelixLeiter]

I was looking at an 06 in the dealer and noticed a small bulb in the bottom half of the headlight reflector inside the headlight. It was the size of an indicator bulb. I don't think that my 04 has this (it is in storage right now so I can't check). What is it for? Since this is Canada and both headlights are lit during low and high beam it doesn't make sense that this little bulb is for a marker light.

Does anyone know if the pre-2005 bikes had this little bulb and what it is for?

[Captain_Rat]

Your '04 has one too, Those of us that have replaced our reflectors with things like the Adjure lights have had to work around them. I don't expect that Triumph would change this feature just for the US and Canadian markets.

Capt.

[crashmasterd]

I don't know entirely why these are here, but those are "Running Lights" supposedly for use when ridding when the headlight is out. (mandatory in some countries) However, it is also my understanding that the Triumph wiring harness doesn't even provide for a headlight on/off switch so the purpose is moot. These lights are on all the time when the ignition is on.

They do have one other function: They are the front parking light. If you turn the key to "Park" the tail light and these running lights come on. Although, it's beyond me why anyone would turn on the parking lights and kill their battery after 5 minutes.

I picked up a strobe kit and I'm thinking of installing it in place of these lights. In blue, of course. Then see if I can get arrested for impersonating a police officer. :-D

[FelixLeiter]

On 2006-03-05 17:34, crashmasterd wrote:
They do have one other function: They are the front parking light. If you turn the key to "Park" the tail light and these running lights come on. Although, it's beyond me why anyone would turn on the parking lights and kill their battery after 5 minutes.

Ahhh, that makes sense. When I turned on the "park" position on my ignition I thought that the headlights were just on really really low beam... I recall somewhere in the driver's handbook that if you abandon your broken down vehicle on the road that you must engage some sort of hazard lights--provincial regulations.

I picked up a strobe kit and I'm thinking of installing it in place of these lights.

I was thinking something similar :razz:


I have a crack in one of my headlights so I won a used one off ebay for $30 shipped from the UK (it is a euro headlight though so it'll still dip to the right on low beam). Cheaper than the $110 the Triumph dealer wants. Anyroad, when it arrived I noticed the hole for this little bulb and became concerned. Thanks for setting me straight guys!

[Speed3]

The little bulbs are parking lights. Maybe a nod to the original Triumphs, My '74 Trident had one. Good for draining your battery when you turn the key too far on a bright day.

[Pig9r]

Maybe a nod to the original Triumphs

Those are called pilot lights. For some reason Triumph has held on to them since the WWII era. During the black outs when the German's were bombing Britain you could not have your lights on at night. Hence the pilot lights. You could be seen by those on the ground but not up in the air.