[CatCircus]

I am looking to upgrade to Cibies and I see there are domed lenses with the parking light and there are flat lenses with no parking light. Although I don't use it, I would prefer to keep the parking light functionality if possible.

Has anyone installed or seen convex lenses on a street or speed and have any opinions on how they look? Or are flat lenses with parking lights available?

 

[AaronP220R]

No clue here. Might be a good option though. I'll do some research.


Have you tried upgrading from the standard lights to PIAA or Sylivania? I've got the Silverstars in my Striple and they made a WORLD of difference.

 

[CatCircus]

One of my headlamps is broken so I need to at least replace that. I was thinking of upgrading the whole lighting setup. If I stick with the stock lamps I will try the Sylvanias.

 

[rsw81]

The optics in the standard Striple headlight is supposed to be one of the best halogen lights on a motorcycle right now. I wouldn't go messing with them. Like was said before, if you are looking for more light output, just go to a better quality bulb like Silvania, PIAA, or Philips.

 

[Catenaccio]

I'm assuming the Street Triple already has flat lenses? If so, you may have fitment problems with the curved lenses. Just a thought...

I like Cibies. Great lights. Had them in a couple of vehicles including my Renault 5GTL.

 

[rsw81]

I've never heard of Cibies... can someone direct me to a link on them? Or just describe what they are and why they are so great? Google only brought up links to cars using them on VW Bugs and Mazda Miata's.

 

[Diego]

Sports car enthusiasts have known of Cibie lights for ages. As for Google, try this as your search string: "Cibie motorcycle headlight" It should take you right to what you want.

 

[Pokeyjoe]

I replaced the 5" headlight on my Scrambler with a convex Cibie 7" headlight (needed a bigger bucket, of course). The difference is amazing. The stock headlight was absolute crap (the ST3 headlights are way better), but the Cibie throws out a hell of a lot of light. I don't feel the need to upgrade the ST3 headlights, but if I did, it would be with the Cibies.

In this shot, you can see that its really not too convex:

 

[rsw81]

So is the argument that a convex lense is better or worse than a flat lense? Is there also a difference in the bucket/reflector on these headlights that make it better than stock?

 

[AaronP220R]

If I were doing anything beyond changing bulbs I would be going HID.

 

[Pokeyjoe]

So is the argument that a convex lense is better or worse than a flat lense? Is there also a difference in the bucket/reflector on these headlights that make it better than stock?

The reflector is different. It throws the light in a better pattern. A convex lens enhances this feature.

 

[Diego]

So is the argument that a convex lense is better or worse than a flat lense?

Short answer: No.

"Better" or "worse" really has nothing to do with it. The lens is an adjunct to the reflector. Depending on the design of the reflector and the physical geometry of the bulb, there may be no need at all for curvature of the front glass. The pattern built into the glass affects dispersion of the beam pattern, but the primary focusing of the beam is a function of the reflector.

As with all engineering, it's a question of trade-offs: with this bulb, do I make the reflector do more of the work, or do I depend a bit more on the glass. However, for the most part, whatever focusing you do with a convex lens can be done just as well with a flat lens built with a Fresnel pattern. Thus, flat vs convex is more a question of aesthetics than functionality.

 

[bmh99]

I was looking at the Syl ilverStar bulbs...but there are 4-5 different ones...all the same price. What is the difference and which is the right one for an 09 Stripple? The code on the bulbs are 9003, 9004, 9005, 9006, 9007 and H-7. All are twin packs for $39.95

 

[Pokeyjoe]

None of them. The Street Triple runs H-4s. If you get Silverstars, get the ones made by Osram instead of Sylvania. Same company, different factory, different quality.