1300 bulbs - any direct fit options?

Joeywhat

Joeywhat

Joined
Apr 5, 2018
Messages
152
Location
United States
Bike
2006 ST1300 - Black
Are there any direct fit (and good...) bulb options for the 1300? I'm not even sure what specifically to search for, since two different style H4 bulbs with different sockets is an absurd concept. I'd greatly prefer LED but I'm open to halogen if they last a while and are decently bright.

As for using automotive style lights, I see some bulbs come with "alignment shims" which don't make much sense to me. Is it as simple as just bending the tabs and inserting it, or will there be alignment issues without these shims that some bulbs specifically marketed for the 1300 are offering?

Sorry for likely beating a dead horse, I've done searches but I'm just not totally sold on the bent tab process keeping the bulb aligned correctly and no threads have really directly addressed this.
 
Sylvania H4 Silverstar are an upgrade from OEM halogens but do require snipping or bending the lower 2 tabs. This isn’t a big deal. One tab and the bale on the reflector align the bulbs as well as three. The Silverstar Ultra throws more light but they don’t last very long. LEDs are changing so fast it’s hard to keep up with the current best but I use ones without an external cooling fan. Internal fan designs are plug and play with OEM headlight connectors. The last ones I bought were 1:1 Superees on Amazon. 1:1 describes placing the led emitters in the correct relationship to the reflector so the beam placement and cut-off is correct.

No need to invent the wheel with headlight bulbs for the ST1300. No shims are needed.
 
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dduelin said:
Sylvania H4 Silverstars are an upgrade from OEM halogens but do require snipping or bending the lower 2 tabs. This isn’t a big deal. One tab and the bale on the reflector align the bulbs as well as three. LEDs are changing so fast it’s hard to keep up with the current best but I use ones without an external cooling fan. Internal fan designs are plug and play with OEM headlight connectors. The last ones I bought were 1:1 Superees on Amazon. 1:1 describes placing the led emitters in the correct relationship to the reflector so the beam placement and cut-off is correct.

No need to invent the wheel with headlight bulbs for the ST1300. No shims are needed.
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Nice, good to know they just pop in fairly intuitively - and without shims.

I must have the stock bulbs in my 06, they are so yellow they might as well be amber. Going to get some LEDs and just overly concerned about orientation, especially since I'll probably buy some nice ones.
 
Joeywhat said:
Nice, good to know they just pop in fairly intuitively - and without shims.

I must have the stock bulbs in my 06, they are so yellow they might as well be amber. Going to get some LEDs and just overly concerned about orientation, especially since I'll probably buy some nice ones.
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The LEDs I’ve used in H4/9003 installations use a two piece bulb with two nibs that engage slots in the base - sort of how an incandescent dual filament tail/brake light bulb engages two nibs to align the emitter in the correct orientation. The base has the tabs aligned in the reflector then the emitter slips through the rubber dust boot from the back.

Yes, LEDs make incandescent bulbs look yellow and dull.
 
It's been my understanding (and experience) that you have to snip the two lower tabs off an H4 lamp - LED or incandescent - to make it fit an ST. The top tab positions the lamp (in the case of some LED's the tab positions the holder or base).
 
On the ST1100 if you install automotive H4/9003 bulbs you need to remove the two lower tabs from having any influence on the positioning of the bulb in the headlamp housing in order to be able to properly position them in the headlamp housing. This means that the bulb can now fall in to the headlamp housing because the opening is a tad to large for these bulbs without the two lower tabs. The shims are required to reduce the size of the opening in the headlamp housing to prevent this. This changes the focal point ever so slightly but 99.9% of us will probably never notice the difference in any practical way.

The shims are not required on the ST1300 as the bulbs do seat properly even after the two lower tabs have been removed from the equation.
 
Andrew Shadow said:
On the ST1100 if you install automotive H4/9003 bulbs you need to remove the two lower tabs from having any influence on the positioning of the bulb in the headlamp housing in order to be able to properly position them in the headlamp housing. This means that the bulb can now fall in to the headlamp housing because the opening is a tad to large for these bulbs without the two lower tabs. The shims are required to reduce the size of the opening in the headlamp housing to prevent this. This changes the focal point ever so slightly but 99.9% of us will probably never notice the difference in any practical way.

The shims are not required on the ST1300 as the bulbs do seat properly even after the two lower tabs have been removed from the equation.
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Thanks, that distinction is good to know.
 
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