Since I am still anticipating the arrival of my TCH I was wondering if anybody that regularly drives in a rural area (like wvgasguy) could tell me

1) How do the high beams rate on lighting up the road ahead ?

2) Are the ligthts bright enough to light up the sides of the road on a two lane?

I drive about 35 miles of rural road about 5 a.m. heading into the work in the city and there are numerous critters to watch out for....skunks, dillos, deer and even a few moo cows. Good headlights are a must for me.

I live out in the sticks. In fact, I believe Jeff Foxworthy made a joke about my home: You know yer a redneck when directions to your house include 'turn off the paved road.'

Anywho, the low beams on the TCH are wonderfully focused with an extremely sharp cutoff. Very polite to oncoming traffic without sacrificing your visability. Side visability is a bit limited from the lows. The brights are not beam projectors but rather a more traditional encapsulated halogen bulb in front of a reflector. They scatter light everywhere! Good visability from side to side. I'd hate for you to buy the TCH and find out my idea of bright is different than yours, but I think you'll be set.

Thanks for the quick reply. Good headlights are a must. Years ago I had a deer run across the road in front of me and I was riding a motorcycle. Fortunately I only grazed it.

Ocassionally I will drive our 91 Camry or our Super Duty and the headlights really suck.

When I was driving home from the dealership I was following my father, who was driving the family mini-van. He said he had a shadow infront of him the whole way because my headlights coming from behind him were brighter than his headlights! I'd say the lights are pleanty bright! I am not sure about the side coverage because the only two-lane driving I have really done has been during the day/early evening. Hope that helps a little.

I have been used to better headlights but these are still as good or better than most. I would have appreciated the driving (fog) lights we can't get. It's probably not all that important but when driving the TCH at night I feel like theres a large dark area right off to the sides at my front end. My driving lights illuminated this area in the past.

I notice this most on my drive in to the house. It's an overgrown narrow road and it seems darker than before. However I can use the highs here and they do indeed light up.

Bottom line, only thing it needs would be fog/driving lights to make it better.

Personally on a vehicle I am going to keep I would just as soon stay away from a HID setup that eventually may cost hundreds of dollars to replace or repair.

Note: If you live in WV or PA long enough you will eventually hit a deer. Good lights help.