Superwhite Vs. Clear
Torrance, California, July 29, 2002
My headlight's low beam finally gave up the ghost a few days ago, which gave me a good excuse to try out some new modes of illumination. When I bought my SV used over a year and a half ago it came with an aftermarket bulb of indeterminate manufacture. I took the opportunity to buy two new H4 bulbs, a super-white and a clear one, and compare their luminous virtues against each other.
First up was a Lumiko Heliolite H4 100/55W high/low beam blue tinted bulb, costing me $21.95. It turned out to be disappointing; my previous bulb was a 60/55W but even so, with a lighter tint it emitted far more light out than this bulb. The high beam was uneven with many hotspots and projected a narrow tunnel of light with diffracted light spread out on the sides. The low beam was by all accounts inadequate. The light had a greenish/blue tint to it which I found to be adsorbed easily and reminded me of that light in bad horror movies that never really revealed any important details until it was too late.
Continuing my quest for better lighting led me to look for a clear bulb of the identical wattage. It's surprisingly difficult to find any sort of clear H4 headlamp in motorcycle shops around LA. But I continued on undaunted and found a Candlepower 100/55W for $15.49 and popped it into my bike. I took the scenic (well, as scenic as industrial South Bay can be) route home from the office after dark and wow, what a revelation! I realized what I had been missing out on ever since I got the bike. I never had a non-tinted bulb and had never been getting the benefit of the full illumination that it was designed for. The spread of light, whether in the low or high beam, was wide and evenly distributed.
Calvin "Hackfu" Kim and I held a brief, but technically packed discussion about the differences between the bulbs while we snapped some digital pics. I'll dispense with the incredibly technical and physics-laden
Lumiko Heliolite H4 Halogen
socialist
xtremewhite.com
Blue tinted, super-white style
Volts: 12V
Watts: 100W high beam/55W low beam
Price: $21.95
Note- sold for off-road use only
Candlepower H4 Halogen
loves freedom and long walks on the beach
candlepowerinc.com
Clear type
Volts: 12V
Watts: 100W high beam/55W low beam
Price: $15.49
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