LED headlight

[msseldom]

My suggestion would be to not go any higher than 5000k as far as light temperature. I posted a thread about a similar led lamp I use in my 550l. Everyone precepts light differently. In my opinion white light is more effective than yellow light or blue light. I expected my housing to feel warm to touch with the radiator inside the housing. It did not seem to get warm even after hours of riding. If you are concerned about heat than go with a led that requires you to mount the ballast somewhere else on the bike. Hope that helps.

[Gorminrider]

I will say that being in the aviation community in the navy, I can tell you that I prefer a more amber/yellow light. Blue irritates my eyes something horrible. Thank god that being an ordnance tech I get to use red lights. It's way easier on my eyes. I just wish I could change the gauge/button/panel lighting in my 07 silverado to red

a bit off topic, but for interests sake I've heard green is better than red per night-vision...? something I mean to try.

[JamesWhut?]

Red lettering and colors (like warning signs on maps) disappear or are hard to see in red light.

[Highway_Glider]

OK.

For those who care. If any.

I took some pictures and measurments on my GK.

And the "ADVmonster" LED won't work.....Without modifying the fairring.

I will have to weight my options. See what else is out there. Don't really want to butcher the plastic any more than it is already.....

[Steve]

OK. I don't happen to have a real GK handy for comparison, how does your bucket compare to a stock G?

That information will be more relevant to others here, as I have a totally-different bucket in my AERO fairing.

.

[Highway_Glider]

IDK about other buckets.

I took pictures.

I will publish my findings.

[Highway_Glider]

This is the headlight in the fairing.



This is the headlight bucket seen trough the left flasher hole.
The bucket ends right by the yellow and green wires.



This is my spare GK bucket and headlight.



Back side of the enclosure or bucket.



From the rubber cap to the edge of the bucket. About 26 mm on the inside. Call it an inch. Enough for the connector to move with the headlight when it is being adjusted.



The cap covers up to the where the connector starts.



Inside the cap the bulb is held in by a screwed in ring with a spring.



The bulb itself.



More to come.

[Highway_Glider]

From ADV.



The bulb retainer though different from the one shown should work. It's short enough with a large opening. The rubber cap should work too. As it goes to just bellow the connector. That's a little bellow the fins on the new bulb.



Here is the problem:


I figure the rubber cap end just about where the plastic ring ends (Darker grey) and where the metal before the fins is.

That leave 26.3 mm + 12.5 mm= 38.8 mm or call it 4 cm.

Remember this picture?



Between the bucket and the inside face of the fairing I can put my fingers. So it's just about 1 cm.

If I cut the back of the bucket it could work....

Or not quite....

Then even more water will get in the fairing.....It leak like a sieve already.....That fairing isn't built like a submarine but still.

[azr]

That thing sure looks like it would fit in a regular 7" round bucket.

[bwringer]

My ADVmonster LED superdeeeedooper light is FINALLY on its way. Should be here Friday.

To answer a concern above, the heat sink does NOT get hot at all -- barely warm. The unit puts out (wastes) FAR less heat than a halogen bulb -- remember, it only draws 20 watts, whereas the halogens draw 55W on low, 60W on high, and waste most of that as heat. The heat sink in the LED does not need air flow to do what it needs to do.

The reason for such an obnoxious heat sink is that the LED emitters cannot be allowed to get very hot, so they attached a large enough heat sink to do the job with or without air flow and also without resorting to delicate moving parts -- most other LED replacement bulbs use small fans inside, leaving the unit vulnerable when the fan fails due to dirt and water, or if airflow is restricted.

I'll try the bulb in my GS and in my KLR (which is wearing a 1983 GS650GL headlight) and report back. I sort of doubt it's going to fit in either bucket, honestly, but I'll give it a shot. I know it will fit my V-Strom, so it won't go to waste.





In other LED news, I saw last weekend for the very first time on a friend's bike an LED 1157 (tail/brake light) replacement that was a worthy replacement for an incandescent bulb in a normal reflective housing. Every other LED 1157 replacement I've seen is too dim, or has gaps in the angle coverage. In addition, these units have a very useful flashing pattern when the brake light is activated.

I found out where he got them and immediately ordered three (two for the V-Strom, one for the GS850). I'll report back.

https://www.superbrightleds.com/moreinfo/tail-brake-turn/1157-led-bulb-dual-intensity-1-x-3-watt-high-power-led-w-brake-flasher/923/2274/

Note that this lamp has a unique reflector to scatter the light properly. I think this is the main reason it works as a replacement in standard housings.

It's a good bit brighter than a normal bulb, and the flash pattern is a crisp "pop-pop-pop--ON" -- I think the instant-on nature of LEDs really helps make them more noticeable. Plus, it's not much different in shape than a standard 1157, so it should fit just about anywhere.

These should be in Friday, so expect some photos this weekend...

[bwringer]

That thing sure looks like it would fit in a regular 7" round bucket.

I'll give it a try and let y'all know!

[Steve]

I think I saw those 'reflector lights' while I was shopping, but decided that I already have a light show going on back there and decided against it.

Instead, I ordered a couple of "tower" bulbs from "the other side of the globe". Estimated delivery is "Mon, Nov 10 - Tue, Dec 16", but I just checked the tracking and found that they arrived in Cincinnati on Nov 6, I will probably get them on Saturday.

Had a similar bulb in Mrs. Steve's tail light. Took it out to test it in my bike, found that two of the strips on the 'tower' were not working. I could get them to work by pressing on different parts of the assembly, but they would not stay on.

Looking forward to your report on the headlight bulb, but still ready to pull the trigger on the Truck-Lite.

.

[Jedz123]

I run an HID In my GHR650 and a dual Halogen and HID with Aux Lightiing on the FZ1.
Here's the HID in action on the GR,it has a high low option, cost $40 on ebay...

I use the same HID ($40 ebay) on my FZ1, about 10k miles on it and it has worked flawlessly. So much brighter over halogen and pulls less watts. PIc before I put the UFO singalers on... Just my spot LED in the middle, Right is the HID left is Halogen standard H4.


The HID kits are direct plug and play, NO cutting or splicing, the ballest moves to make high and low beam. I have yet to have any issue with them and I run in just about any weather condition.

I read about the LED kits, but never heard anything too good other then they look good for shows. However I love my LED Aux lights, I pull about 40 watts out of both and I have maybe 3 times the brightness that my car has... It's nuts, I perfer ridding the bike at night for I can see that much better.

[astradaryl]

I like the sound of them can you hide the ballast in the headlight bucket ?

[Jedz123]

The unit I use is snug but fits in the Headlight bucket just fine. I've used it on a GS750 and now the GR650. The great thing is it has high/low, no cutting it's literally plug and play, the HID bulb has an H4 base and snaps into the stock headlight bucket. If there is a flaiure on the road, grab a stock H4 Halogen, Swap in the new bulb and run.