I had an interesting experience with headlights on my 2008 Triumph Tiger motorcycle. These bikes use projector headlights, which use lenses to focus the beams rather than reflectors. Projector headlights are common on newer vehicles because they're much smaller than typical reflector headlights.
I bought the bike used, and noticed the low beam projector looked a little cloudy. The first time I drove it at night, I realized the low beam was almost useless! It seems Triumph had a run of defective headlight assemblies where the reflective coating would peel off the inside of the reflector. The only repair is to replace the whole headlamp assembly at 350 bucks.
With the bad headlight replaced, the lights were better, but not by much. I then switched to Sylvania Silverstar Ultra bulbs, which was a big improvement. I highly recommend these bulbs; they put out a lot more light that OEM bulbs but draw the same current. The down side to them is their life is quite a bit shorter than OEM, so you need to keep an eye on them.
Still not satisfied with the lights, I experimented with aftermarket driving lights. These got me to where I felt safe riding the bike at night, but the additional current draw was taxing the charging system. At that point I tried switching the H3 driving lights to LEDs. Fuhgetaboutit! Those LED bulbs may be bright, but they're totally unfocused.
I considered converting the lights to HID (high intensity discharge), but this would have involved butchering the headlamp assembly, meaning no way to go back.
Around 2013, Triumph did a minor upgrade to the Tiger, renaming it the Tiger Sport. One change was an entirely new headlamp assemby, which used four bulbs and reflectors rather than projectors. It looked like the new assembly would work in the older bikes, and Tiger owners quickly figured out how to make the swap. So I spent another 350 bucks on a TS headlamp assembly, plus a hundred on a conversion kit developed by an owner in the UK. Problem solved! Not with new LED or HID technology, but rather with old-school reflector headlights. The driving lights went into the trash, no longer needed.
Upload one or more videos to your post. Photo and video filesizes should be less than 5MB. Formats allowed are gif, jpg, png, ogg, mp4, mov, and avi. Be sure to use filenames without spaces or special characters, and filetypes of 3 digits lower case.
We sell tractor parts! We have the parts you need to repair your tractor - the right parts. Our low prices and years of research make us your best choice when you need parts. Shop Online Today. [ About Us ]
Today's Featured Article - The 8N and the Fox - by Zane Sherman. Dec. 13 1998, Renfroe, Alabama. Last niht I dreamed about the day that I plowed the field of about 10 acres over on what Jimmy and Dandy called the Ledbetter field. I was driving the 1948 8N Ford tractor that Jimmy bought in 48 new This was prebably in about 1951 and maybe even befor the house was built. This would have made me to be about16 years old and I drove the tractor for nothing and would have paid to drive it if I had had any money which I didn't, but neit
... [Read Article]
Latest Ad:
Sell 1958 Hi-Altitude Massey Fergerson tractor, original condition. three point hitch pto engine, Runs well, photos available upon request
[More Ads]
All Rights Reserved. Reproduction of any part of this website, including design and content, without written permission is strictly prohibited. Trade Marks and Trade Names contained and used in this Website are those of others, and are used in this Website in a descriptive sense to refer to the products of others. Use of this Web site constitutes acceptance of our User Agreement and Privacy Policy
TRADEMARK DISCLAIMER: Tradenames and Trademarks referred to within Yesterday's Tractor Co. products and within the Yesterday's Tractor Co. websites are the property of their respective trademark holders. None of these trademark holders are affiliated with Yesterday's Tractor Co., our products, or our website nor are we sponsored by them. John Deere and its logos are the registered trademarks of the John Deere Corporation. Agco, Agco Allis, White, Massey Ferguson and their logos are the registered trademarks of AGCO Corporation. Case, Case-IH, Farmall, International Harvester, New Holland and their logos are registered trademarks of CNH Global N.V.