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The Test
We took these photos in our driveway to show the differences between the lights. We wired up the stock light to a Molex connector and switched between the lights in a few seconds. The camera was on a tripod beside the bike in manual mode, with the same aperture and exposure time for all four photos.
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| The TE610's stock headlight low beam. Not only is the light thrown ahead dim, it has a sharp cutoff at the top. When riding, the blackness is bad enough, but you learn a little more about fear when you have to get on the brakes with dirt bike suspension and no streetlights. |
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| The Hella H4 reflector with 55W/60 bulb on low beam isn't dramatically brighter, but the light spread covers a much larger area, with a gradual cutoff to the top and sides, providing better visibility and safety while still meeting legal requirements and not blinding oncoming traffic. |
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| The stock headlight's high beam has decent intensity in a small spot in the middle, but falls off to the sides so rapidly that the edges of the frame are actually lit better by the Hella H4 low beam. As one's eyes adjust to the brightness on center, the falloff to the sides is that much worse. |
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| Baja Designs/Boatman conversion high beam. This is with a DOT-legal 60W bulb. Remember that our wiring is spec'ed to support off-road-only 55/80W or 55/100W bulbs. |
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| The TE610's stock headlight is often compared to a candle in front of a foil muffin cup. We ran that test, too – in the name of science. Myth busted – the stock light is much more reliable. Even with duct tape and baling wire holding it in place, the muffin cup deflected in the wind and the finely tuned light pattern was lost. Then the candle blew out. Fortunately, we had left the Baja Designs racelight installed as a backup. |
This headlight upgrade will be a big help both on-road and in the dirt, further enhancing the all-around capabilities of Project TE610.
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1 comment
Great Post for Services