New High Beam for the 12GS. And a 72,000 mile bulb history.

[mistercindy]

At ~72,000 miles my high beam went out. Annoyingly, it went out at the beginning of a 700 mile ride to San Antonio and back. Oh well, when I got back home I replaced it. The burnt out bulb was a standard issue Sylvania H7. I replaced it with an Osram H7/H9, which is an H9 bulb on an H7 base. I've had a great success with the Osram as a low beam: very bright and long lasting. And I'm eager to see how it does as a high beam.

If you're interested, here's my bulb history:

• 13,000 miles - Original low beam went out. Replaced with another stocker because I happened to be at the dealership.
• 34,000 miles - Low beam went out. Replaced it with the Sylvania Cool Blue.
• 39,300 miles - Original high beam went out. Replaced it with a standard Sylvania halogen bulb because that was the only H7, 12v, 55w bulb that the auto parts store had and I didn't feel like spending my evening running around town for a damn bulb.
• 40,700 miles - Low beam (Sylvania Cool Blue) went out. Replaced it with a Sylvania Silver Star.
• 47,672 miles - Low beam (Sylvania Silver Star) went out. Replaced it the Osram H7/H9.
• 68,737 miles - Low beam (Osram H7/H9} went out. Replaced it with another Osram H7/H9.
• 72,802 miles - High beam (basic Sylvania) went out. Replaced with an Osram H7/H9.

 

[marchyman]

At ~72,000 miles my high beam went out. Annoyingly, it went out at the beginning of a 700 mile ride to San Antonio and back.

I keep a spare bulb on the bike. Sunday I used it for the low beam (and have already added a new spare). I changed it in a parking lot after breakfast. I keep a nitrile glove with the spare bulb to keep my oily fingerprints from getting where they don't belong.

At 54K I've yet to change a high beam.

The H9/H7 combo sounds interesting. Maybe when I run out of H7 spares.

 

[Polarbear]

Thats a lot;

Seems your bike eats bulbs! GSA1200 here and its been two for me at 53000m now. One very early in the bikes life and the second was just recently at around 48000m. I use the Sylvania's too, easily found at general auto parts stores. My store sells three ranges of light(Sylvania)lumens. Priced from 18$ to 29$. I bought the middle range one, works fine so far. Randy

 

[mistercindy]

I keep a spare bulb on the bike. Sunday I used it for the low beam (and have already added a new spare). I changed it in a parking lot after breakfast. I keep a nitrile glove with the spare bulb to keep my oily fingerprints from getting where they don't belong.

At 54K I've yet to change a high beam.

The H9/H7 combo sounds interesting. Maybe when I run out of H7 spares.

I don't know why I didn't have a spare bulb on my bike. I usually don't because the bulk of my riding is commuting, and if one goes out I'll be back home the same day and its no big deal. I even thought about it when I was packing and simply forgot. It didn't matter a lot since all but an hour of the ride was during the daylight, and the H7/H9 makes for a pretty bright low beam.

Yes, the Osram H7/H9 works. Its way brighter than stockers, and also much brighter than the so-called "premium" H7 bulbs like the Silver Star, etc... It also lasted as a low beam for 21,000 miles which, for me anyway, is phenomenal (take a look at mileage per bulb in my original post). My biggest concern when I first installed one as a low beam was that it might be too hot for the housing. But it turned out to be fine.

BTW, I bought them from cyclenutz.com. Ordering is easy and they ship promptly. I bought four from them last year so I don't have to worry about high & low beam bulbs for a while.

 

[tbryant]

I have found the best pricing for Osram H7 is at my Mercedes dealer, they are only about $8. In 85K miles I have only replaced one each of the low beam bulbs but that seems to not be the norm, my first went out at about 57K, then the second (other side) maybe 5K later. The roads here in AZ are very smooth for the most part, could have something to do with the long life of the bulbs, and tires for that matter.