A LED headlight that works
Posted: Sun May 29, 2016 11:42 pm
Here is something I've got to share as it is something that has been the curse of older motorcycles especially those that are used and used in the dark, the lighting is so poor you can be lost to others and the lights coming towards you reduce your night vision to the point it becomes silly to press on.
After reading the report on the Westward Ho night trial in the Jampot with the report highlighting a bike that had a LED headlight that worked well, I was on a mission to track down an LED light that worked. I've now done this and have been shocked at the improvement it has made and is far better than I had hoped, and better even than the halogen in my BMW f650 (night breaker bulb), so much so I've now put an LED in that too.
In my research there were many complaints of LED bulbs just not focusing and this is why I eventually gave up on my HID experiment as well as the bulb not liking the vibes and pot holes. There is a new generation bulb with Philips LED's that are precisely placed to mimic the positioning of a H4 main and dip element, I obtained them from China via the much used auction site for about £50 for a pair. Expensive gamble but I like using my bikes and anything that can make me see and be seen is ok by me.
I've been running a 35w 12v halogen in the bike I have converted to LED, over the winter I had rebuilt the dynamo and converted it to 12v using a solid state voltage controller and a new battery. The 35w halogen was poor but better than the 6v it had before. To put in the H4 LED I needed to wire a H4 plug onto my headlight wiring and replace the lens with a H4 Lucas Item. All that was now needed was to pop in the bulb, plug in the ballast to the bulb and H4 plug, neatly position the ballast in the headlight shell and replace the headlight, I found I needed to reverse the alloy heat sink on the rear end of the bulb as the headlight would not fit the shell unless I did - simple screw off turn round and screw back on.
The difference is unbelievable and the focus on both the bikes was very good but on these bulbs you can turn the bulb in the holder to get a better focus if you need and the allen key you need to do this was in the box with the bulbs.
I've no connection with the seller just a very happy motorcyclist who now can drive a little more safely, and the charge balances at 20 mph now rather than 30mph with the 35w halogen. I've a super bright led sidelight bulb and an LED rear light board (stop / tail) too so this all contributes to giving the dynamo an easier time, the blurb for the spec. of the bulb says it draws 25w which is amazing considering the light it puts out.
Best cheers
George
After reading the report on the Westward Ho night trial in the Jampot with the report highlighting a bike that had a LED headlight that worked well, I was on a mission to track down an LED light that worked. I've now done this and have been shocked at the improvement it has made and is far better than I had hoped, and better even than the halogen in my BMW f650 (night breaker bulb), so much so I've now put an LED in that too.
In my research there were many complaints of LED bulbs just not focusing and this is why I eventually gave up on my HID experiment as well as the bulb not liking the vibes and pot holes. There is a new generation bulb with Philips LED's that are precisely placed to mimic the positioning of a H4 main and dip element, I obtained them from China via the much used auction site for about £50 for a pair. Expensive gamble but I like using my bikes and anything that can make me see and be seen is ok by me.
I've been running a 35w 12v halogen in the bike I have converted to LED, over the winter I had rebuilt the dynamo and converted it to 12v using a solid state voltage controller and a new battery. The 35w halogen was poor but better than the 6v it had before. To put in the H4 LED I needed to wire a H4 plug onto my headlight wiring and replace the lens with a H4 Lucas Item. All that was now needed was to pop in the bulb, plug in the ballast to the bulb and H4 plug, neatly position the ballast in the headlight shell and replace the headlight, I found I needed to reverse the alloy heat sink on the rear end of the bulb as the headlight would not fit the shell unless I did - simple screw off turn round and screw back on.
The difference is unbelievable and the focus on both the bikes was very good but on these bulbs you can turn the bulb in the holder to get a better focus if you need and the allen key you need to do this was in the box with the bulbs.
I've no connection with the seller just a very happy motorcyclist who now can drive a little more safely, and the charge balances at 20 mph now rather than 30mph with the 35w halogen. I've a super bright led sidelight bulb and an LED rear light board (stop / tail) too so this all contributes to giving the dynamo an easier time, the blurb for the spec. of the bulb says it draws 25w which is amazing considering the light it puts out.
Best cheers
George