For what is supposed to be an adventure tourer, the lack of a proper LED setup or even a decent halogen setup is unacceptable.
BHPian WhiskeyTangoFox recently shared this with other enthusiasts.
One of the major gripes I’ve had with the Himalayan, which I brought up even on the first post on this thread, was the absolutely abysmal headlamp performance. For what is supposed to be an adventure tourer, the lack of a proper LED setup or even a decent halogen setup is unacceptable. Bikes like the Dominar have a fantastic setup straight from the factory, and I frankly was disappointed with RE for this crappy light.
Anyhow, in my Rasta Cafe right, which I did a while ago, I quickly realized that the stock headlamp was terrible even for pitch-black conditions (i.e. minimal to no ambient light) and wasn’t even adequate for certain unlit city roads. Hence I decided I would have to get auxillary lights and change the headlamp bulb.
I saw a few options on the market, such as the Cyclops LED, Nighteye, Rawstone Canopus etc, and I finally ended up finalizing the Nighteye for its price-to-performance balance. Of course, as detailed by @bsenroy on his thread, and other senior members of the forum, there are a lot of duplicates of the Nighteye out there, and one should be wary when purchasing it to make sure it’s the original.
I looked up a few videos online and found some tips to identify the same.
I ordered the bulb from HTRZ Modz in BLR, a fairly popular store. It cost me Rs 1199 (Free Shipping). For the Himalayan, you will need the H4 Adapter version of the bulb.
Box came with the bulb in its original packaging, a couple of stickers and a note. Was well packaged with bubble wrap to protect the product.
Fairly large light piece, with an integrated cooling fan.
One sign that the video mentioned was the quality of the bulb itself and of the “Nighteye” print. Fake ones tend to have a bad-quality print that fades when you rub your finger.
The fan.
Some videos tend to distinguish between real and fake night eyes based on the number of openings on the fan cover, 3 in this case. However, many sources say this isn’t true, and some come with 5-slot openings as well.
Another point to differentiate between a real and fake bulb is the white/grey border around the connector’s pins. The fake ones do not have this and are entirely blacked out.
Fake lights also tend to have a grey ‘tip’ as opposed to black, as is seen here.
Now I’ll get to what you’re still reading this for, a comparison test. Please note that I have captured the images on my phone and tried to minimize the auto-image correction, but I wasn’t entirely successful. However, the images will help you get a good idea of the upgrade and the difference, which is… wait for it…… Night and Day (Stole this from @bsenroy)
I headed down to an isolated road nearby with no street lights to test it out.
Pitch dark control picture.
Stock low beam, pretty bad, Imo. It was even worse in reality, the camera still enhanced it a little.
Stock high beam, absolute trash. Same case with the camera enhancement.
Nighteye low beam – A world of a difference. Notice you can see the fence poles in the distance now. In reality, it was even brighter, the camera couldn’t do it justice.
Nighteye high beam – Poles are visible more clearly now. However the throw isn’t as focused as a projector would be.
Overall I’m extremely happy with this purchase. I still will be investing in auxiliary lights later, but for now, this is more than sufficient. That’s all for today folks, Cheers!
Keyword: Installed LED headlamps on my 2022 Royal Enfield Himalayan