• Ciao Guest - You’ve landed at the ultimate Guzzi site. NEW FORUM REGISTRATIONS REQUIRE EMAIL ACTIVATION - CHECK YOUR SPAM FOLDER - Use the CONTACT above if you need help. New to the forum? For all new members, we require ONE post in the Introductions section at the bottom, in order to post in most of the other sections. ALWAYS TRY A SEARCH BEFORE STARTING A NEW TOPIC - Most questions you may have, have likely been already answered. DON'T BE A DRIVE-BY POSTER: As a common courtesy, check back in and reply within 24 hours, or your post will be deleted. Note there's decades of heavily experienced Guzzi professionals on this site, all whom happily give endless amounts of their VALUABLE time for free; BE COURTEOUS AND RESPECTFUL!
  • There is ZERO tolerance on personal attacks and ANY HYPERLINKS to PRODUCT(S) or other competing website(s), including personal pages, social media or other Forums. This ALSO INCLUDES ECU DIAGnostic software, questions and mapping. We work very hard to offer commercially supported products and to keep info relevant here. First offense is a note, second is a warning, third time will get you banned from the site. We don't have the time to chase repeat (and ignorant) offenders. This is NOT a social media platform; It's an ad-free, privately funded website, in small help with user donations. Be sure to see the GTM STORE link above; ALL product purchases help support the site, or you can upgrade your Forum profile or DONATE via the link above.
  • Be sure to see the GTM STORE link also above for our 700+ product inventory, including OEM parts and many of our 100% Made-in-SoCal-USA GTM products and engine kits. In SoCal? Click the SERVICE tab above for the best in service, tires, tuning and installation of our products or custom work, and don't miss our GT MotoCycles® (not) art on the BUILDS tab above. WE'RE HERE ONLINE ONLY - NO PHONE CALLS MADE OR RECEIVED - DO NOT EMAIL AND ASK QUESTIONS OR ASK TO CALL YOU.
  • Like the new V100, GuzziTech is full throttle into the future! We're now running on an all-new server and we've updated our Forum software. The visual differences are obvious, but hopefully you'll notice the super-fast speed. If you notice any glitches or have any issues, please post on the Site Support section at the bottom. If you haven't yet, please upgrade your account which is covered in the Site Support section or via the DONATE tab above, which gives you full site access including the DOWNLOADS section. We really appreciate every $ and your support to keep this site ad-free. Create an account, sign in, upgrade your account, and enjoy. See you on the road in 2024.

Led bulbs to replace standard ones on Norge

oldgoose

2017 Stelvio
Joined
Sep 3, 2010
Messages
54
I have a problem with the brightness of the headlights on Guzzi Norge; a friend said to me that he replaced his with LED bulbs on his bike; has anybody done this on his NorgeÉ Thank you for the reply
 
oldgoose -- you didn't say what year Norge you had; whether the lights were too bright or too dim; or whether low or high beam.

If your incandescent bulbs are more than 3 years old and are too dim, consider direct replacements because filaments deteriorate and bulbs darken. Do NOT exceed 55W under any circumstances no matter what magic is offered or you will be buying new housings.

For my 2012 Norge, I replaced the low beam incandescents with 35W 6K HIDs and am very pleased with brightness and pattern. Do NOT exceed 35W as HIDs run hotter than incandescents.

I tried replacing the high beams, which I used for awareness not illumination with internal heat sink LEDs but lifetimes were short.

The problem with HID bulbs is their warmup times, about 8 sec from cold and about 4 sec from warm so low-high-low transitions can be an issue. Not a problem from my night-time driving perspective which was always low beam. With the HIDs I didn't need high beams.

Incandescent and HID bulbs work in project housings due to concentrated light sources; LEDs don't due to light source distribution.
 
I would check the voltage on the battery when the engine is running.
I had a problem with the poor light from the headlights on my 07 Norge.
Turned out to be a charging problem, never more than 13V at the battery, which would probably mean less at the bulb. This equates to far less light on the road.
The fault was a bad connection in the wire from the alternator output back to the battery, there is a connector in that wire beside the relays roughly, and it was burned.
I ran a new wire of heavier gauge from the alternator output post back to the battery via the fuse. Now get 14.3v at the battery and the lights have improved dramatically.

You can also change the bulbs for high output type, Osram Nightbreaker, or Philips Extreme (others are also available). These put up to 50% more light on the road with no additional load on the electrics, and are a very simple, cheap, plug and play solution.

No alteration to the headlight will compensate for low volts.
 
Thank you Bert and Brian for the help, Norge is a 2007 year model and the infos are essential because I have been on the net to search for Led headlight bulbs and glad I have not purchased anything yet, first; not being too familiar with those Led, second so many vendors to get all confused, and shall follow up on that
 
I would check the voltage on the battery when the engine is running.
I had a problem with the poor light from the headlights on my 07 Norge.
Turned out to be a charging problem, never more than 13V at the battery, which would probably mean less at the bulb. This equates to far less light on the road.
The fault was a bad connection in the wire from the alternator output back to the battery, there is a connector in that wire beside the relays roughly, and it was burned.
I ran a new wire of heavier gauge from the alternator output post back to the battery via the fuse. Now get 14.3v at the battery and the lights have improved dramatically.

You can also change the bulbs for high output type, Osram Nightbreaker, or Philips Extreme (others are also available). These put up to 50% more light on the road with no additional load on the electrics, and are a very simple, cheap, plug and play solution.

No alteration to the headlight will compensate for low volts.
 
Thank you Brian this will be checked, the Norge is a 2007 and has 92500 km, I will test the voltage at driving speeds and see what happens. As
 
oldgoose -- you didn't say what year Norge you had; whether the lights were too bright or too dim; or whether low or high beam.

If your incandescent bulbs are more than 3 years old and are too dim, consider direct replacements because filaments deteriorate and bulbs darken. Do NOT exceed 55W under any circumstances no matter what magic is offered or you will be buying new housings.

For my 2012 Norge, I replaced the low beam incandescents with 35W 6K HIDs and am very pleased with brightness and pattern. Do NOT exceed 35W as HIDs run hotter than incandescents.

I tried replacing the high beams, which I used for awareness not illumination with internal heat sink LEDs but lifetimes were short.

The problem with HID bulbs is their warmup times, about 8 sec from cold and about 4 sec from warm so low-high-low transitions can be an issue. Not a problem from my night-time driving perspective which was always low beam. With the HIDs I didn't need high beams.

Incandescent and HID bulbs work in project housings due to concentrated light sources; LEDs don't due to light source distribution.
Bert, the Norge is a 2007 and has 92500 km. The low beams are really weak at night the is somewhat about the same but a wee better, I have been looking for Led lights and now look for HID’s as you mentionned,no decisions made yet
 
I ran a new wire of heavier gauge from the alternator output post back to the battery via the fuse. Now get 14.3v at the battery and the lights have improved dramatically.
Brian, did you run an additional wire or did you replace the first one? With the bike running I never get more than 13.5/13.7 volts.
Thanks,
Nick
 
oldgoose -- you didn't say what year Norge you had; whether the lights were too bright or too dim; or whether low or high beam.

If your incandescent bulbs are more than 3 years old and are too dim, consider direct replacements because filaments deteriorate and bulbs darken. Do NOT exceed 55W under any circumstances no matter what magic is offered or you will be buying new housings.

For my 2012 Norge, I replaced the low beam incandescents with 35W 6K HIDs and am very pleased with brightness and pattern. Do NOT exceed 35W as HIDs run hotter than incandescents.

I tried replacing the high beams, which I used for awareness not illumination with internal heat sink LEDs but lifetimes were short.

The problem with HID bulbs is their warmup times, about 8 sec from cold and about 4 sec from warm so low-high-low transitions can be an issue. Not a problem from my night-time driving perspective which was always low beam. With the HIDs I didn't need high beams.

Incandescent and HID bulbs work in project housings due to concentrated light sources; LEDs don't due to light source distribution.
Brian, I have been away from the forums for long time, The Norge I own is a 2007, 93000 km, last week I removed the fairing brought it at an Auto parts store he sold me the equivalent for H1 bulbs they fit right in but did not have the H3 in stock, I must wait about a week before reinstalling, the new bulbs are the LED types no fan but he says these are new models. They are 4000 lumens, further feedback will come at a later moment after the results
 
  • Like
Reactions: NPS
Brian, I have been away from the forums for long time, The Norge I own is a 2007, 93000 km, last week I removed the fairing brought it at an Auto parts store he sold me the equivalent for H1 bulbs they fit right in but did not have the H3 in stock, I must wait about a week before reinstalling, the new bulbs are the LED types no fan but he says these are new models. They are 4000 lumens, further feedback will come at a later moment after the results
 
Following this thread concerning the replacement of the headlights on the Norge 2007; after reception of the H3 led bulbs equivalent of originals; I installed everything and went for short ride in the evening. Low beams are about at the same distance as the original bulbs but high beams are kinda disappointing. I do not really know what I will do to remedy but will try to play with the adjusting screws and see what happens. Thanks for watching
 
My solution is simple, I just don't ride at night. The lighting is too poor to ride at a decent speed comfortably and there are so many deer on the roads at night around here that it's not worth the risk.
 
Following this thread concerning the replacement of the headlights on the Norge 2007; after reception of the H3 led bulbs equivalent of originals; I installed everything and went for short ride in the evening. Low beams are about at the same distance as the original bulbs but high beams are kinda disappointing. I do not really know what I will do to remedy but will try to play with the adjusting screws and see what happens. Thanks for watching
Did you check the voltage?
 
I have never been happy with any LED replacement bulb I’ve tried on my various motorcycles. They have all been inferior and after careful investigation, it occurred to me why this is.

The reflector is what gives the light its function, not the bulb. The nature of the LED is such that it does not adequately route the light to the reflector.

I went back to OEM and I’m happy.
 
I was thinking about that too but before going back to OEM bulbs I already spent quite a few bucks for the LED bulbs. Perhaps could get some results by adjusting the screws at least for highbeams which can be dangerous at night as they are now
 
The reflector is what gives the light its function, not the bulb. The nature of the LED is such that it does not adequately route the light to the reflector.

I came to the same conclusion. LED bulb physical volume is much larger than the filament of the incandescent bulb it is trying to replace. Only a small proportion of the LED bulb will be in the sweet spot required by the parabolic reflector in the headlight. You'll never be able to tweak it into position.
 
Don't forget the Norge has projector lights, not relflector. LEDs usually work better in a projector. But I don't know of any LED headlight "bulb" which really works well.

But if the voltage at the bulb is verging on 14v, then I would go for the Osram Nightbreaker or similar which are easy direct replacements, and give something like twice the light on the road ahead.
 
Back
Top