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[trikester]

It's a characteristic of LED's. The dimming is gradual, as the diode junction heats, so maybe you just haven't noticed that after a while there isn't quite as much light as when first turned on. Someone else on this forum a year or so ago mentioned that about the LED headlight he had put on his Zero.

The HID headlamps get brighter as they heat.

trikester

[xmjsilverx]

Could it be that the ones you are using just didn't have sufficient heat dissipating capabilities?

[trikester]

It's pretty tough to cool the diode junction. Of course that is what the cooling does, but it can't prevent the junction from rising quite a bit above ambient.

Of course, the better the cooling the less loss in light output and also the longer the life of the LED. I would certainly choose the headlight that had the best cooling, as long as its initial light output was sufficient.

trikester

[Erasmo]

Looks good! 

Please let us know what the beam pattern is like when you have a chance to drive it in the dark (i.e., not just at night in the city, but actual dark, where the beam pattern is visible and important)

Does it do as good a job of lighting your way on poorly lit roads as the stock halogen bulb?

This is quite a problem with after market LED lights. The reflector is designed around the lighting pint of a standard halogen but if a LED source is off by a few mm it can make the beam quite different and not so funny for other road users.

[Tater McTatums]

After reading this thread I decided to order some LED bulbs for my SR. I live in Upstate NY where there are plenty of pitch black backroads at nighttime, loaded with deer, among other things. The factory halogen bulb had decent coverage but wasn't bright enough for my liking. Actually, let me clarify that a bit. If both the low and high beams were on at the same time, there was plenty of light. Unfortunately the stock setup would turn off the low beam when you turned on the high beam UNLESS you were using the flash-to-pass switch. Every time I needed the highs I would just hold that button down to get the amount of light I wanted. The new LED headlight leaves the low beam on when you use the high beam which, to me, is worth the upgrade by itself.

It was mentioned that the locking ring needed to be modified to make the new headlight fit, which is true, but what wasn't mentioned is how. The lock ring has 2 locating tabs on the side that faces the bulb. They contact the screws used on the adapter on the new bulb and must be trimmed off prior to installation.

As for output, pictures do not do these bulbs justice. They are incredibly white and just as bright.  According to the listing each bulb is good for 3000 lumens (I purchased a pair instead of just one bulb). The picture of the closeup is closer to the actual color you see when looking at them. The area where the low beams land looks like it's daytime and it is focused near the front tire. I was concerned that the parabolic reflector might throw light into oncoming traffic but I don't believe that is the case. With the highs on you can see much it is almost an obscene amount of light coming from that headlight.

Last but not least, the LED bulbs fit the look of the electric motorcycle better than the halogens did, in my opinion. I also changed the front running light and the plate light to LED bulbs. The only factory bulbs I have are the turn signals which I plan on leaving as is.


Original bulbs



New bulbs



Closeup

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[xmjsilverx]

Awesome, glad you like it.  Can you get some pictures at night on a dark road or parking lot?

[Tater McTatums]

I'm going out on a nighttime ride in a few hours, I'll see what I can do.  Not sure how well the pictures will come out using the camera on my phone.

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[kphonik]

Anyone installed these in an FX? Im wondering if the spherical projector lens would need to be removed?

[Tater McTatums]

I feel like the projector lens would make better use of the light than the reflector housings.

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[Tater McTatums]

Alright, here are the pictures showing the output of the LED headlamp. I maintain that the pictures don't show you the entire story. The pictures are as follows:
1. Well lit city street - Headlamp off
2. Well lit city street - Low beam only
3. Well lit city street - Low & High beams together
4. Pitch black backroad - Low beam only
5. Pitch black backroad - Low & High beams

Camera was held just above windshield, I was sitting on the bike holding it level and the bike was not moved in between subsequent shots. Personally, I think the city street shots actually show more, mainly since there are things for the light to reflect off of in those pictures.











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[xmjsilverx]

I think those shots look great. It's hard to tell from the pics but it almost looks like they need to be aimed up. I had to do that after I installed my led.  But the beam pattern and brightness look good to me.

[evtricity]

Tater,

Which LED did you install for the main headlight?

[Tater McTatums]

Here's the link to the ones I purchased.

http://www.ebay.com/itm/161535220405?ru=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.ebay.com%2Fsch%2Fi.html%3F_from%3DR40%26_sacat%3D0%26_nkw%3D161535220405%26_rdc%3D1

[xmjsilverx]

It looks like the same one in my link except this is for a pair instead of a single.

[nigezero]

No problem with CANBUS? A few led lights seem to cause problems with noise