Originally Posted by
Burton
So I'm guessing that your experience with motorcycles is a bit limited. Even though they often used the same bulbs as automotive headlights did - the lens / reflectors were far more sophisticated, effective, .... and expensive. The last motorcycle I personally owned was a BMW K1. The single headlight on that machine used the same bulb as the previous BMW R100RS, but using a different lens and reflector system, managed to throw out more light than the R100RS - even with two Bosch driving lights added. The recent move to twin headlights isn't because they throw more light - its because its a less expensive installation overall. And I don't mind being an 'outlier' - no-one thats seen the lighting system I'm using has criticized it. The usual comment is 'I wish I could afford something like that'.
Your guess is wrong. My last bike was a 1986 Honda xl600r dual sport with the anemic rectangular headlight. Other bikes I used to ride included a 1980ish Honda XL 250 dual sport, a 1976 Honda CB550 street bike, Honda xl 100 dual sport, among others. My first bike was a Honda z50 that I was given at age 7. As most of my bikes were dual sports, I did do trail riding, sometimes at night. I wasn't racing, so speed wasn't my goal. I also lived out in the country where it actually gets dark.
Except for the 50cc, all had adequate lighting. Not the best, but adequate. The XL600 actually had a H4 bulb, all the others were anemic incandescent. You can't make be believe that they had far more sophisticated optics than cars at the time. Better, but not more sophisticated. I even put 7" Cibie european market lights in my old Volvo 142 because they are better than crappy sealed beams. For the longest time, the Europeans had better optics.
I'd say that nowadays cars and motorcycles have much better lights, but for
decades they got by just fine with their 60/55w incandescents. You cannot dispute that.
Would I have liked to have more lighting? Probably, but there are some laws regarding accessory lighting on the streets.
Maybe you need to get your eyes checked
