6 volt BPF bulb choice?

[Ianwilko13]

Hi all, after the calamity of all my bulbs all blowing, I have found that the replacement available from the spares scheme performs very poorly compared to my original "ALITE" it also contains a shield/ beam deflector which doesn't help the usable pattern. What are members who use their bikes at night using, Vintage bulbs, LEDS or Other, Kind regards in anticipation, Ian.

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[Reynard24]

Unfortunately the choice of bulbs for 6V operation is very limited - if your reflector is very good and not tarnished, I would go for an LED from Paul Goff. I have one of these on my 6V bike and find it very good but some people say they give a poor pattern.
As your bike should have an alternator, I would convert to 12v and use a quadoptic reflector and halogen bulb.

[Taid]

I fitted my 16ms with a 12v alternator, quadoptic and halogen ..

Found that with headlight on, riding round town, was unable to keep battery charged, so reverted to LED ..

[Duncan]

Unfortunately bulbs aren't made like they used to be there were some good 35w/35w 6v BPF halogen bulbs around unfortunately there are others that have the elements at the same position and do not really perform well, its a bit of a lottery. I'm current using LED bulbs like this https://www.dynamoregulatorconversions. ... =161255034 there are a couple of suppliers, they don't rely on the reflector and operate at multiple voltages and are not polarity sensitive, expensive for a bulb but the best LED I have tried to date for the BPF fitting, with LED's you do really need a modern regulator/rectifier. There are often NoS bulbs at autojumbles that might mean you can get a replacement similar tungsten one.

[Ianwilko13]

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Thank you all for your replies, the bulb pictured previously was more than adequate for my needs, and could been seen on the road in daylight I would like to stick with 6 volt for the time being and so have ordered the bulb pictured, I will also order an LED after more research, Kind regards, Ian.

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[56G80S]

Did some night-time riding on an unknown country route last night for about 15 miles. I have an earlier version of the "double dipper" link listed above. Dip beam worked fine for seeing the way against oncoming traffic Main beam could be better, apparently the later versions are better. I don't often ride in the dark now some don't bother changing. The reflector etc. is new.

I do plenty of daytime riding so I also have two non standard sidelights (chrome Austin car ones) either side of the headlight with very strong LED globes in them plus LED pilot light; I believe these make "me" thoroughly visible! These are from https://www.classiccarleds.co.uk/collec ... collection (who I found very helpful with a problem with LEDs for a car).

Hope this helps.

Johnny B

[Ianwilko13]

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Thanks for the reply Johnny, awaiting delivery of the above "vintage" bulb I also have a Austin 7 guy who will bring me one of theirs at the weekend, still checking reports on LED's The last one I fitted was in a Venom and was awful until I inverted the headlamp glass, then it was usable, Kind regards, Ian.