LED headlights / fog lights

[AussieMick]

I will have to watch that then. I got the recommendation from another Rocket owner who had these in his Rocket for over 6 months. He didn't mentioany degradation and I didn't see any. Nonetheless if it burns them out, nothing lost and I will then get something else, but in the meantime I have 100% better night riding illumination than previous for under $50

Well after riding the hour to work this morning in the dark, I thought it would be a good opportunity to see how much heat these LEDs were producing. The standard/original globes you cannot touch the lens when headlights are on due to heat. I touchd these, very gingerly to begin with as I was expecting a burn, nothing. The lens are cool, the body is cool except for a small and I mean small amount of heat at the very back of the housing where the heat sink/fan is on the LED globes. These things run super cool

 

[martinrl]

Look cool? Your Riding A Rocket for kryps sake!! My LED headlights were $210.00 (pair)on Ebay. best thing you could do to increase your lighting at night.

You're right! What was I thinking! I am cool!

 

[martinrl]

For my 2015 R3T, I have the Truck Lite headlight [27270C] and driving lights [80245]. They are LED. Head light is plug and play and driving lights had to be wired in.

I like them a lot. Chrome look was not available so I got the smoked look. They look OK on the bike when it is just sitting there. When the lights are on, you cannot tell a difference between chrome and smoked.

They fit into their respective shells fine and overall the entire swap was really simple. I was looking at the JW Speaker but had a hard time justifying spending that type of money. To buy again I would get the chrome but in terms of the Truck Lite brand I am completely happy.

Very bright and I feel completely comfortable riding at night. Better visibility then I have with my Ford Expy.

I didn't realize that the headlights for the Touring and Roadster models were different. I have a Roadster with 2 smaller lights. Couldn't find a Truck Lite model in 5 3/4" on Amazon, do you know if they make one?

 

[martinrl]

Thank you everyone, I really appreciate all the info. Trying not to spend more than a couple hundred dollars for a pair (JW Speaker Adaptive are out) so I'm zeroing in on AUSI or OSRAM headlight replacements first. If those aren't bright enough I'll look at adding some fog lights.

 

[Claviger]

The Hongkong lights ISHRUB found are amazing, not sure why more people aren't using them. Run cool, low load, fantastic dispersion pattern, very bright, easy to install, and inexpensive.

If you can swing buying the name brands, go for it, they're certainly going to be better, but the cheap version with the built in Halos are leaps and bounds ahead of stock!

 

[Navigator]

I bought the Cyclops H4 LED for my Nomad but have yet to install it. The Cylcops is pretty widely used with the adventure bike riders and is apparently a good bulb. I got this at a bike show but thought to find another without the external resistor (is that what it is?).

3800 Lumen H4 LED Headlight bulb




I still need to get one for Touring headlight but the number of different brands seem endless. Some are one piece with the better ones going between $40-$60.

A few months ago I got the Triumph Touring side lights and replaced the H3 bulb/reflector housing with a complete light. The Nomad and Harley guys are using these. It's a bit of a chore to get it mounted in the chrome ring with the stock retainer clips because the led light is about twice the thickness as the H3 halogen . With the help of a friend, one holding the LED in place while the other installing the clips, both are securely mounted in the in the ring. Because these particular ones are for the Harley sidelights, they have connector for those bikes. I'll cut that off and figure out some suitable connectors.

 

[Fingers]

I run the Cyclops great headlight then I have eBay specials for the driving lights ,paid less than $50.00 for the pair the cyclops was around $75.00.

 

[barbagris]

I bought the Cyclops H4 LED for my Nomad but have yet to install it. The Cylcops is pretty widely used with the adventure bike riders and is apparently a good bulb. I got this at a bike show but thought to find another without the external resistor (is that what it is?). 3800 Lumen H4 LED Headlight bulb

OK - here's the thing.

Headlights are (in theory) designed to disperse LIGHT emitted from a known point (it's why all H4 bulbs are the same standard dimension) - IF the headlight reflectors/refractors are well designed then the light emitted is directed to where it should be - i.e THE ROAD. Most 7" reflector/refractors assemblies are pretty decent. And the H4 bulb was specc'd to fit 7" units.

- BUT - Now the LED "bulb" - ime they do not have a universal or particularly well defined point of emission. So whilst they may well put out more light - it simply is not focused correctly. This means they look really good in the car park next to your mate's bike but at night well maybe less so. If the aim of the headlight is to let others see you more obviously - then this is an ideal solution. But if you intend to ride at night on unlit roads - simply a waste of time and effort. You can be lucky though ime - most are crap.

The remote box is the LED driver. It is an electronic controller designed to make sure the LEDS receive a constant voltage and amperage. It is a GOOD SIGN. A LED "bulb" without this is almost certainly going to overheat and gate down the light output.

The Truck-Lite Phase7 7" is a decent bespoke LED headlight unit at a decent price. It has a very well defined beam for night work. But there are many.

I won't get into Triumph 5&3/4" units here - They are simply CRAP anyway.

 

[ChrisACT]

I bought these jiggers. $19.85 AUD delivered for the pair.


They'll mount on my crash bars (with the PIAA backets I've got) and create some additional light to go with my OSRAM LED headlights.

Just think of all the bugs I can wipe out at night with all this light!!

WCPGW?

 

[martinrl]

The Hongkong lights ISHRUB found are amazing, not sure why more people aren't using them. Run cool, low load, fantastic dispersion pattern, very bright, easy to install, and inexpensive.

If you can swing buying the name brands, go for it, they're certainly going to be better, but the cheap version with the built in Halos are leaps and bounds ahead of stock!

Thanks for info, would ishrub's post: #107

Now I have 3 to look at in my Amazon cart, but these definitely have the coolness factor. Decisions decisions ....