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[sgmdudley]

My Zero is in the shop now for left fork seal leaking but I am considering some range extending options.
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Today before takling my bike to the dealer I replaced the Brake/Tail light with a standard 1157 type LED bulb.
It is red so not sure if it will light up the license plate properly.
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I have the LED Front Turn signal set on order from Zero. The front bulb looks the same as the rear so I am not
sure why it could not be used there also. It would have to have some kind of resistor network or else the flash
rate will be affected.
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The front running light above the Headlight is a small bulb that could be replaced with a LED bulb.
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This next thing is questionable. Since the bike has a full time running light as mentioned above, I was wondering
about installing a switch in the low beam circuit to turn the headlight off. The Halogen lamp puts out a lot of heat
so must use a lot of energy.

[Richard230]

I spoke with a Zero employee about this sort of thing and he said that the amount of electricity that is used by the headlight is insignificant compared with the power that the motor uses. That is also why they offer heated grips as an accessory. Zero feels that the few watts used by the grips, or the headlight for that matter if it was turned off, would not extend the range of the bike noticeably. I don't think replacing the headlight bulb is worth the money, unless you get improved lighting from the replacement bulb, compared with the stock incandescent bulb. On the other hand, less heat in the headlight assembly is always a good thing.

[Brammofan]

Didn't we figure this out at one point and came out with something like an additional 200 - 300 yards of range extension if one went all LED?

[manlytom]

LEDs will not do much in terms of gaining range. but they look the part for such a bike and complete the message of efficiency. I am planning to do some mods to my Zero soon and will go for as much LED as possible.
as per some other threads - a big range gainer is aero dynamics. I am trying the summer screen to gain this or maybe the sports screen.

[CliC]

I didn't really consider LEDs for my turn signals or taillamp, as they aren't always on (though they can look cool). If I end up frequently replacing bulbs I might reconsider.

The headlight, though, is another matter; it's just not bright enough for me. I didn't find any suitable LED replacements, so I'll probably look into an HID kit for the main bulb, and just disconnect or remove that useless flashlight bulb that sits above the main bulb (WTH is that thing for, anyway?). The HID kits apparently use less power than the H4 filament bulbs do, from the specs I'm seeing. They also claim to run cooler, which was a big surprise to me.

[Lipo423]

My 5 cts. to this thread.

LED technology is gaining adepts more and more because is a more efficient way of producing light + extended "bulbs" life + greener, etc...a different story is the cost of it + LED thermal challenges, which the manufacturers are working on...(the first 60-75W LED consumer-specific incandescent equivalent has hit the stores recently)
Now, talking about our bikes, is more an estetic business (LED's look pretty cool)than a real energy saving option (using them as a rear light replacement adds a little safety factor as they turn-on, and offer a bright light quicker than regular bulbs)

HID is a very good option today as it offers more light, with less energy (it is a kind of fluorescent -filament free- bulb), but bear in mind that it works at high voltage, so, is not a toy to play with...and hopefully it does not create any interferences with the bike main board electronics.

The US Department of Energy estimates that replacing regular light bulbs with LEDs could potentially save 190 terawatt (yes, terawatts )-hours annually —the equivalent of lighting over 95 million homes.

[manlytom]

All the terawatts saved to run many, many Zeros. I doubled the floorspace of my house, added solar , watertank and now save over 30% on energy - power, gas and water. In addition power generates feed in tariff - so i mame more than i have to pay! And this powers the Zero as well.
PS. Most lights are LEDs.

[CliC]

HID is a very good option today as it offers more light, with less energy (it is a kind of fluorescent -filament free- bulb), but bear in mind that it works at high voltage, so, is not a toy to play with...and hopefully it does not create any interferences with the bike main board electronics.

I read in another thread that Hollywood Electrics offers HID retrofit kits for Zeros, so I assume they work OK. Besides, if a 10-15 kHz, 66V, 100+A square wave out of the motor controller doesn't screw up the main board electronics, I doubt the HID will

[protomech]

Heh, try 400A+ 

I keep meaning to look at the HID kits.

[CliC]

Yeah, I knew that was a little low (6600W, when the Zero's peak power is 15-20kW or thereabouts ). I was typing from my phone prior to a meeting.

One of the biggest sources of EMI I deal with in my work life (as in, penetrates shielded signal cable) is from variable-frequency industrial motor drives. They work very similarly to the motor controllers on these bikes.

[Lipo423]

Yep, it will be good if they could be installed in our bikes...the light these bulbs produce is very nice (I got them in my car)

[pluto]

I spoke with a Zero employee about this sort of thing and he said that the amount of electricity that is used by the headlight is insignificant compared with the power that the motor uses. That is also why they offer heated grips as an accessory. Zero feels that the few watts used by the grips, or the headlight for that matter if it was turned off, would not extend the range of the bike noticeably. I don't think replacing the headlight bulb is worth the money, unless you get improved lighting from the replacement bulb, compared with the stock incandescent bulb. On the other hand, less heat in the headlight assembly is always a good thing.

Glad I found this thread. I was considering installing a couple of Denali DM Micro Single Intensity LED auxiliary lights, and installing a switch to disable the halogen headlight during the day, hoping it would give me a bit more range for my 2012 XU. The Denali's consume 5w per lamp.

I put a set on the forks of my gas bike to increase visibility, and they are BRIGHT! I'm using them with the 'flood' lens that comes in the box instead of the 'spot' lens that is pre-installed.

But now questioning whether it worth it. I rarely ride after dark. But there is some value in being more conspicuous, especially on a silent bike noone hears coming. Part of me thinks 2 lights will be more noticeable than one.

[trikester]

I retrofitted my first two Zeros (2010 DS & 2012 DS) with HID headlamps, high beam only, low beam off. However. on the 2013 FX I put a low beam disable switch on the bike so I can turn off the stock headlamp completely when riding dirt.

It's true when riding at speed on the highways a lower wh consumption by the headlamp won't make much difference in mileage because the ride time isn't long. However, when a dirt ride takes several hours the difference can be considerable. The last dirt ride I did was four hours (moving average: 10 mph, distance 40 miles). My power consumption by the drive system was 80 Wh/mi (indicated on my iPod). The headlamp, assuming 35 watts, would have consumed 35 wh for 4 hr. That would have been 140 wh total consumed during the ride. At 80 Wh/mi, I gained 1 3/4 miles extra from the battery by having the headlamp on low beam but with the low beam disabled by my added switch. That 1 3/4 miles would have been important if I had needed it to get back home!

So you see it is all relative to the time ridden. Obviously if I had ridden farther and longer my gained mileage would have been even greater. I ride a lot of low speed dirt, so on those rides, turning off the headlamp is important to me. I didn't have the ambition to retrofit an HID headlamp to my latest Zero, as I had done before, since I do so little night riding.

Trikester

[Doug S]

It's a pretty simple calculation. Take the battery capacity (11.4 kWh or 11,400 watt-hours for my 2014 SR), and divide by the load, which I believe is 50 watts for a standard low beam headlight. The result tells you how many hours the battery would power the headlight alone (assuming 100% conversion efficiency); in my bike's case, it's 228 hours. So in two hours' time, the headlight drains less than 1% of the battery, which pretty much agrees with what Zero's saying; it's pretty small.

That said, I'm an EE and a big fan of LED lighting, so I'm considering adding a pair of the Denali D4 lights...not to replace the standard headlight, but to augment it. It's hard to be too safe on a bike, especially in the dark.

[aelwero]

you'll have to change your flasher module to an electronic one.  autozone has them on the shelf.  the stock one will blink super fast with LED bulbs.

http://electricmotorcycleforum.com/boards/index.php?topic=3608.0