Tech Tip - Headlamps

 During nighttime riding, a motorcycle's headlight is often the only available light source. So, proper adjustment of a motorcycle's headlight is a crucial step in ensuring rider safety.  If the headlight is improperly aimed, the rider will not be able to see the road ahead well enough to safely operate the motorcycle. Also, headlamps can loosen or move due to  vibration, allowing the headlight to shift to an ineffective position. Headlight alignment should be checked often, and adjustments or repairs made promptly when needed.

  

Different styles of headlight are now available through Harley Davidson which can improve your night time vision. New headlights based on light-emitting diodes (LEDs) and high-intensity discharge (HID) technology. Enhancements also are being made to the halogen technology that remains the mainstay of headlight technology. In recent years, motorists have grown increasingly familiar with the bright, almost blue-looking light of HID headlights on high-end models. Instead of a filament, there are two electrodes and a light arc that fills the space between them. This results in a longer lifetime and greater light output. The resulting light is whiter than that of conventional halogen headlights. Until recently, a third alternative in lighting technology – the light emitting diode, or LED – was reserved for non-headlight applications, including interior lights, turn signals and brake lights. LED headlights are costlier than halogen – and about the same, or even more costly, than HID. But on the plus side, they use considerably less energy than the other technologies. LED headlights are about 95 percent more efficient than halogen.

Another advantage of LED headlights in comparison with halogen and HID is that they have longer life. The average lifetime of a halogen headlight is about 1,000 hours. In comparison an HID headlight lasts about 3,000 to 4,000 hours and an LED headlight lasts more than 6,000 hours, which is the lifetime of the average motorcycle. LED headlights also are less yellow than halogen lights, approaching HID in their whiteness and brightness and that should improve driver response times.

Thanks, Tony D. & the Wild Fire Service Team