Lighting and Air

Added two upgrades yesterday: an upgraded headlight bulb and and a replacement air filter that is supposed to help flow more air.

First the lighting. The single headlight on the XR is OK, but just OK. I don't ride a lot at night, so haven't really worried about it. On Saturday, by happenstance, I met the east coast rep for PIAA during an open house at Bob's BMW in Laurel, MD. He suggested a replacement H4 bulb. This isn't just an OEM replacement. From the PIAA website, the Extreme White Plus is "rated at 4000K and providing 110watts of light from only 55watts." (PIAA part number 70456). The bulb is a drop-in replacement for the stock bulb.

The job wasn't hard, but it's not like reaching in and pulling the bulb out. I had to take my windscreen off (easy since I bought the quick disconnect one from HD). Then the headlight trim ring comes off (phillips screw driver). The headlight comes out easy enough and disconnects from the wiring. The bulb is retained with a funky clip under a rubber cover that prevents water from getting in. The bulb comes out easily and the new one goes in the same. Just have to be careful to get the clip back right. Total time about 20 minutes.

Glad I had the shop manual (which by the way is the standard Sportster shop manual with XR specific sections).

The second was replacing the factory air filter with the Pipercross Air Filter. I had ordered the replacement filter months ago from Cal-Superbike, the US distributor for the Pipercross filter. This was a very common modification referenced on the XR forum, so I figured I'd give it a try. I have heard that K&N might come out with one that flows more air, so I might be doing this again.

The job was a little more involved than the headlight. Again, glad that I had the shop manual. The gas tank has to be removed to replace the filter. The seat comes off, then the cover for the gas tank (four of the hex screws on the gas filler cap hold the cover on). This exposes the two screws that hold the air cleaner to the gas tank (but you can't pull the air cleaner off since it fits up into the gas tank from underneath. Lastly, the two bolts holding on the tank at the front and rear come out. The tank lifts off pretty easily (replacing it's more trouble since you have to make sure the tabs that hold some other commonents which share that front bolt to the gas tank are properly lined up).

Once the gas tank is off, the filter cover comes off easily. The filter has a rubber lip (stock and replacement) that bends to fit the contours of the filter housing. Easy to fit it in.

Put everything back together. Fingers-crossed that it'll start ...and it does. Don't notice much difference...maybe a slightly crisper response to the throttle, but that could by me projecting. After spending $87 for the new filter, including shipping, you have to hope it makes some difference, right? (From what I read from the XR Forum, the actual performance benefit may be negligible. If you're considering this, you might wait until the K&N model is out.)