dannyz

Fineprint first: I did the search thing. Found all about HID, Eastern Beaver and other godies. That's all fine and dandy - and I'll probably go Eastern Beaver way - but right now (leaving for a 3-day road trip) I just need a spare bulb to carry with me for emergency.
Went to a bike store and asked a 12v, 60/55W halogen bulb - that's all it says in both service manual and Haynes. Guy pulls his catalogue with part numbers and starts asking questions. He shows me the list of headlight bulbs he has and I went blank. Asked him to make a copy of that page with codes/# and left. So, here is what I have to choose from:

- P43-H4 Halogen 60/55W
- P43-H4 Xenon 60/55W (blue, plasma/gold or super white)
- P45T-H4 60/55W

Not that bad, 3 bulbs really (since I want to keep the stock watt-age), I just got a bit scared when he first pulled the list...

So, which one of the bulbs above would plug - and work - in my headlight?

TIA

residentg

any H4 will fit, Xenon will be the brightest, then Halogen, not sure about the other one. Stock is Halogen, I use Xenon by PIAA.

comedo

My experience has been that the stock bulb lasts for a long time. If you need a bulb as a spare, I'd just go to the auto department of Canadian Tire and buy a cheap H4 halogen. You only need something that will last long enough to get you home.
If you want a brighter headlight and you don't want to go the HID route, get an Eastern Beaver relay and a PIAA bulb.

Stevebis1

+1

You can get H4 almost anywhere on the road. A more useful critical spare would be a R/R

Tweety

Actually not to rain on your parade guys... But you will have a heck of a time getting "any" H4 bulb in there correctly... The difference between the H4-P43 and the H4-P45 is how the tabs are oriented... The correct one for the hawk is the P43 variation...

The other one works but the bulb is oriented wrong so you will get a very funky light output...

Well, since a xenon light is a halogen light... No there really isn't much difference... The Xenon variation is a bit whiter in the light and you do get a bit more clarity... But in most cases it's actually producing less usable light...

The more important part though is that the Xenon bulbs generally have shorter lifespan and are more sensitive to storage... So for a spare bulb under the seat, don't pick a Xenon one...

Tweety

On a side note... Since a H4 bulb uses two different filaments in the same bulb for hi/low beam, if one happens to burn out, you can always make your way home or to the nearest gas station on the other filament and then replace it... So it's a fairly non-critical spare...

residentg

Never knew that - thanks. What gas is in the "standard" halogen bulb, just curious? JB

Tweety

Well... the bulbs have a mix of several gasses... The Halogen name coming from the fact that that gas being the main one, and Xenon bulbs have a larger part of Xenon gas instead, but still halogen mixed in there (at least most of them)... The main construction the same, but I guess they change details to match that particular gas mix as well...

AdamK

Seriously Tweety?!?! You need to stop sleeping with you SH under your pillow. I think Osmosis has WAAAY to far and yo uhave officially retained more information than anyone should be allowed. Either that or move here to the states (somewhere near me) so I can tap that knowledge.

residentg

see element 54

dannyz

Tweety, thanks for P43 - that explains. So, the guy in the store knew what he was talking about...

True. But, I wouldn't like being left with a low-beam only.

+1 on not sleeping with your bike

Same goes for Resident. Except that he sleeps not only with his bike, but also an elements chart under his pillow

AdamK

+1 on not sleeping with your bike

Same goes for Resident. Except that he sleeps not only with his bike, but also an elements chart under his pillow

Awesome

Stevebis1

Etymology
The Swedish chemist Baron Jöns Jakob Berzelius coined the term "halogen" – ἅλς (háls), "salt" or "sea", and γεν- (gen-), from γίγνομαι (gígnomai), "come to be" – for an element that produces a salt when it forms a compound with a metal.[1]

No wonder tweety knows this stuff!!!

Tweety

Ok, so my explanation was a bit scatterbrained, but I know the basics... You should all have learned this in highschool chemistry no? That's where I learned it... (having a photographic memory so I can still recall most of the textbook 16 years later probably helps...)

AdamK

Yeah... about that... In chemistry I enjoyed the days where I go tto light sh&t on fire. heehee

Tweety

I usually got thrown out for sleeping in class on the chemistry lectures... Kind of hard to deny when you were snoring... 8 am in the morning on monday with the most boring teacher possible... And it really pissed him off when I knew the material backwards, even though I was sleeping...

The lab teacher however was fresh out of school herself and easily the hottest teacher I ever had... So yeah, I did god on the lab work...

residentg

Yes - chemistry, when mixed with nature is a good thing to keep under your pillow.