New headlight bulbs

I am sure this is on here somewhere, but I have spent 30 minutes or so looking at countless headlight threads when I search, so I'll just ask.

I need and want to replace all three of my headlights to new brighter bulbs, without mod'ing to LED or something...more simple remove and replace.

I have seen some options for new "super white" H7 bulbs like the ones from Phillips.

Does anyone have experience or recommendations? What's the brightest and most powerful H7 out there?

Thanks,

Pletch

P.s. BMW Biker days in Garmish earlier this month, Friday was pouring rain and miserable, but it cleared up for an outstanding event...10's of thousands of BMW's there! Followed that up with about 1100 kilometers running through Austria, Italy and Switzerland passes! All in all, a really great few days!!!

Osram 65W bulbs are about the best you can use without an HID or LED conversion.

Standard 55W bulbs that claim extra brightness have drastically shortened lives. Not what you want on a bike that is already a bulb-eater.

Higher wattage (80W or 100W) bulbs risk melting the headlight housing if they work at all - the extra power required may cause the circuit to shut down.

HID or LED conversions are not that hard, the connections just plug in, though access is definitely much easier if you can remove the headlight housing. This is usually a one-time task, as the bulb life is very long in spite of being much brighter.

I am sure this is on here somewhere, but I have spent 30 minutes or so looking at countless headlight threads when I search, so I'll just ask.

 

I need and want to replace all three of my headlights to new brighter bulbs, without mod'ing to LED or something...more simple remove and replace.

 

I have seen some options for new "super white" H7 bulbs like the ones from Phillips.

 

Does anyone have experience or recommendations? What's the brightest and most powerful H7 out there?

 

Thanks,

 

Pletch

 

P.s. BMW Biker days in Garmish earlier this month, Friday was pouring rain and miserable, but it cleared up for an outstanding event...10's of thousands of BMW's there! Followed that up with about 1100 kilometers running through Austria, Italy and Switzerland passes! All in all, a really great few days!!!

Morning Pletch

Finding decent higher output conventional H-7 bulbs for your 1200RT is getting to be a real challenge. The old standby of the Osram 65W Rallye bulbs are about impossible to find as they were discontinued a while back. If by chance you can find the Osram 65W Rallye in H-7 those are the best choice (good luck on this).

The replacement 80 watters are too much for your system (not worth the extra heat risk in my opinion) so choose wisely on these.

The thing to keep in mind is that your bike has a plastic headlight lens so heat is big factor as well as choosing lights that have UV protection on the bulbs. Not all (especially cheap or non DOT) bulbs have UV protection & bulbs with no UV protection can discolor the plastic lens pretty quickly.

DR,

Didn't even think about the UV protection! Thanks!

I think the Phillips X-Treme is the brightest out there without a mod for other types of lights, but not sure.

Thanks again,

pletch