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LED Headlights

64K views 113 replies 39 participants last post by  Smoke 
#1 ·
I have been looking for a good option to replace the stock headlight bulbs for my 2013 Daytona 675R since I picked up the bike last spring. I had HIDs in my 2007 675 and 2012 675R, but since Triumph switched the headlights from projectors, to reflectors, the HID conversion wouldn't be a good option without converting the headlights to projectors. I haven't found a halogen bulb that didn't have a yellow tinge, no matter how much the manufacturer stated they were comparable to HIDs. I came across a website, electricalconnection.com that had LED headlight bulbs. I decided to take a chance and bought the $145 H7 dual set up for both the high and low beam. They claimed they were plug & play so I decided why not. An important thing to note is these LED bulbs are made to be used with reflector housing so light isn't scattered everywhere. I received them today in the mail and it only took me about 30 mins to install. The set up includes the LED bulb, a small fan, a spacer, and the voltage regulator. The LED bulb installs like any H7 halogen bulb would, then you screw a little fan onto the back of the bulb. You plug 1 wire from the bulb, and 1 wire from the fan into the voltage regulator. The voltage regulator is a small square box, just like the ones with HID kits, just a lot smaller. Then the voltage regulator has a plug you connect to the bike's plug that connected to the H7 bulb. Very easy install, especially if you're familiar with the HID conversion.
The lights are pure white and very bright. Unlike HIDs they require no warm up time and are instant on when you turn on the bike. I can't comment on durability since I just installed them, but the build quality looks good and since they're LED they should be pretty durable. So far I am very pleased with them. Much better than the stock halogen bulbs, and good alternative to use with the new reflector headlight housing.
 
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#6 ·
Here are some pics.

Voltage Regulator


Small Fan


LED Bulb


LED bulb installed


Fan connected to back of LED
bulb


Voltage regulator tucked into nose cone, fits perfectly


Low Beam


Low and high beam


What LED bulb looks like inside housing.

Sorry I don't have any pictures outside, but as you can see they are very bright. These are the first LED bulbs I have found that were actually meant to be used for headlights. The build has 2 circular LEDs, one on the bottom and one on the top.
 
#46 ·
Here are some pics.

Voltage Regulator

Small Fan

LED Bulb

LED bulb installed


Fan connected to back of LED
bulb


Voltage regulator tucked into nose cone, fits perfectly

Low Beam

Low and high beam

What LED bulb looks like inside housing.

Sorry I don't have any pictures outside, but as you can see they are very bright. These are the first LED bulbs I have found that were actually meant to be used for headlights. The build has 2 circular LEDs, one on the bottom and one on the top.
One issue i see with your setup is that the led bulb with the fan seems a bit long, like the inner watertight plastic cap won't fit over it. If it doesn't it's going to be a problem when riding in wet weather. When i did my HID install i had to drill a hole in the middle of that cap and use the rubber grommet that was included. Otherwise this looks like a good idea and something i would try if the bulbs were shorter and more refined.


 
#8 ·
You can't even hear the fans, especially since they're covered with the cockpit infills. The company says the fans aren't made for a lot of cooling, just to create a little airflow. The lights are a huge improvement over the stock halogen set up. Cosmetically they get rid of the yellow tinge all halogens produce. Functionally I think they are brighter then the HIDs, plus they don't require the warm up time HIDs need. They are instant on/off which means you could still use your "pass" function, this is a limit with the HIDs. The LEDs will also last a lot longer then the halogen bulbs.
 
#12 ·
is there even vehicles that use strictly led headlamps? isnt most of the led shit in headlights for day light driving/looks?
 
#17 ·
There are a few cars that are using LED headlights, some Acura and Audi models, even the new Toyota Corolla has LED headlights. Ducati has LED headlights on its 1199 and the new Multistrada 1200. LED technology has come a long way in the past couple of years and will be seen a lot more in the future.
 
#19 ·
I would be interested in a comparison photo between the stock and LED light patterns.

These same units from the same supplier where first sold to a few members of the touring bike forum I belong to and while bright, produce a scattered pattern with little light thrown down the road. They also proved to be a problem in fog and rain, causing the same glare as if you where using the high beam in that reflector.

 
#21 ·
Good for you for trying this. I still can't understand why Triumph would step backwards and go to the reflector vs the projector. That one escapes me.

Nonetheless, I've been watching closely the evolution of the LED and it was only a matter of time before they produced something like this. Your comments regarding HID lights in non-HID projectors is spot on. Even throwing HIDs into halogen projectors isn't correct because the focal point is still off. I've done it and I know other people do it too, but it's still wrong. HID bulbs in halogen reflectors is just plane dangerous and reckless. The light has no focus and the scatter blinds on-coming drivers.

Keep us updated with your ongoing findings. I really like this option and am curious to see how it looks at night with regards to lighting up the road. This may be a great option for the street triple guys too.

Sent from my HTC One
 
#23 ·
Good for you for trying this. I still can't understand why Triumph would step backwards and go to the reflector vs the projector. That one escapes me.

Nonetheless, I've been watching closely the evolution of the LED and it was only a matter of time before they produced something like this. Your comments regarding HID lights in non-HID projectors is spot on. Even throwing HIDs into halogen projectors isn't correct because the focal point is still off. I've done it and I know other people do it too, but it's still wrong. HID bulbs in halogen reflectors is just plane dangerous and reckless. The light has no focus and the scatter blinds on-coming drivers.

Keep us updated with your ongoing findings. I really like this option and am curious to see how it looks at night with regards to lighting up the road. This may be a great option for the street triple guys too.

Sent from my HTC One
Imagine it was due to cost. Headlights do not help a motorcycle in most situations, and it was an easy place to cut cost I am sure.
 
#22 ·
I have always been a fan of vleds.com. They have been on the cutting edge of LED development for years and I've exclusively used their products. I see they have a very similar setup in development and are accepting pre-orders. This is truly the next generation of lighting. Ba-buy crappy halogen lights! I just want to reiterate the awesome job the OP did here. These bulbs are going to work best in a reflector housing. The projector captures and focuses light differently and you may therefore get poor results in that application.

Sent from my HTC One
 
#26 ·
Yes. I've done extensive research over the years on the matter so, while I don't claim the be the authority on the topic, I can condense what I know and save everyone some significant time.

The issue with HID systems in non-projector, reflector housings is that the HID bulb is longer and therefore not only extends beyond the focal point of the reflector, but it also has no direction in the light output. What ends up happening is that the light scatters in all directions. Are HID's brighter than stock halogens in this scenario? Hell yeah, but people confuse the effectiveness of the light in this case. While brighter, the light has no direction and ends up shining in all directions. This creates two things:

1. Incessite glare to on-coming traffic in all conditions
2. A very poor (and essentially non-existent) beam pattern for you. If you were driving in the fog in this scenario, you'd be completely blinded.

While a HALOGEN projector housing does better with a retro-fitted HID system, it is still not properly focusing the light. The HALOGEN projectors are created with the same focal point idea as the reflector. The have a specific area of focus for the filament and therefore properly project or reflect the light. An HID bulb in a HALOGEN projector is still too long and still scatters light, albeit a far improvement over the simple reflector. The beam cut-off in the HALOGEN projector is also going to be off, still producing a glare.

To do a TRUE HID retrofit, one must replace the projectors with a TRUE HID projector that will properly project the light in the most effective, non-blinding manor.

Phew.

Having said all this, I have been so utterly disappointed in the performance of halogen bulbs that I, myself, broke free of my solid information presented herein and put an HID kit in my projectors on my bike. The caveat to this is that I've spent a long time adjusting the projectors so that they are minimally obtrusive to on-coming motorists. I can honestly say the impact to other motorists is minimal, at best.

It is dangerous to both you and others to put an HID kit into a non-projected housing. The LED bulbs the OP posted share the same focal point as a halogen bulb, thereby maximizing the effectiveness of the bulb while minimizing an improperly focused beam, thereby rendering them safe for all driving purposes.

I blacked out. What happened?
 
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#28 ·
1. Incessite glare to on-coming traffic in all conditions
2. A very poor (and essentially non-existent) beam pattern for you. If you were driving in the fog in this scenario, you'd be completely blinded.
So far in other light housings the LED "bulb" featured has proved itself to do the same ....

The LED bulbs the OP posted share the same focal point as a halogen bulb, thereby maximizing the effectiveness of the bulb while minimizing an improperly focused beam, thereby rendering them safe for all driving purposes.
As mentioned this is so far not the case for others ....

Lewis is a great guy but he rushed this to production. I hope to see an effective retrofit on the market soon but so far all indications are that this kit is not yet ready for prime time ......

These are Lewis' own photos, on the same bike, stock housing, in the same position, same adjustment ..... this is why I mentioned the need for a direct comparison in a previous post and included a shot of the scattered low beam pattern....





 
#39 ·
mannnn, that looks better than my headlights

Here is a picture of my first chance of riding with the LED headlight at night. This just the low beam. I haven't fine tuned the headlight adjustment yet, I was just trying to get a feel for the light at night.
 
#48 · (Edited)
I've been seeing more and more of these type of kits on eBay and I think they are going to be the next big "thing" after HID's. This is really exciting stuff!

I'll probably try out a set of the LED headlight bulbs when I start to have problems with my HID lights.

But the purpose of this post is to make a suggestion: For people who only ride during the day, it might be a good idea to run a lower power LED bulb to keep the bike legal, but without consuming the extra power of a halogen bulb, HID setup, or one of the high power LED setups. Plus, with these lower power LED bulbs, the factory headlight wiring plugs directly into the bulb just like a factory halogen bulb, rather than requiring an external ballast or transformer.

I'm not saying that the extra power consumption and external ballasts are a deal breaker, I'd be completely willing to live with them when using LED headlights. (I currently run HID's and I don't mind it at all). My point is that these lower power LED bulbs would be an easy swap for people who are less mechanically inclined, and only ride during the day. They don't require ballasts and they have roughly the same external dimensions as the halogen bulbs (especially from the back side where they plug in) That way you don't have to modify the headlight buckets. They use much less power, and we all know how important it is to keep power consumption to a minimum on these bikes.

Here's a site to show you a couple examples of what they look like, but there are TONS more on eBay.
http://www.ddmtuning.com/Product-Categories/LED-Bulbs-Lights/CREE-LEDS/DRL




Go on eBay and see just how many different options there are available... It's starting to get mind boggling. Here's an eBay link that searches for "H7 LED headlight" http://www.ebay.com/sch/i.html?_trk...ight&_nkw=H7+LED+headlight&_sacat=0&_from=R40

These lower power LED bulbs range from about 5W to 25W and put out anywhere from around 300 lumens to 850 or so. (The ones pictured from DDM tuning make about 335 lumens). That's WAY less output than the 1800 lumens mentioned by the OP for the "headlight quality LED bulbs" and probably not enough light for safe nighttime riding, but still good for daytime only riding).

Or if you do ride at night, you could use one of these in the low beam for daytime driving (low power consumption) then have a much brighter high beam, such as one of the more powerful LED's mentioned by the OP, or an HID bulb (aimed appropriately of course). Or vise versa. Put one in the high beam to run during the day and have a brigher low beam bulb to run at night (because it has a nicer beam pattern than the high beam light)

Or it could be handy to have one of these in a spare parts bag in case something goes wrong with your charging system when you are far away from home... You could just pop in one of these low power LED lights into the low beam socket and have a better chance of making it home before the bike dies altogether. After all, it's the low beam light that has the largest draw on the electrical system. You could just disconnect the low beam altogether (I've had to do that many times), or just run one of these low power LED's in the low beam socket so you don't risk getting pulled over hassled by the cops, and then you're stuck because he made you shut off your bike when there isn't enough power to restart it.

LED technology has advanced at an astounding rate in the past few years and it will continue to do so. I'm guessing in just a few more years, we'll see LED headlight bulbs that are a direct replacement for halogen bulbs (like the ones pictured above), but just as powerful as the system originally mentioned by the OP. Additionally, we'll see LED replacement bulbs that will mimic the light pattern created by halogen filament bulbs so they'll be safer to use in older reflector headlight housings without causing all the glare. You just wait, I'll bet we'll see them in the headlight aisle at AutoZone above the "super premium" halogen headlight bulbs we all know are a load of crap.

I'm a big fan. I'm looking forward to reading more reviews on these LED lighting systems, both of the high power headlights and the lower power "daytime driving lights".

http://www.ebay.com/sch/i.html?_trk...ight&_nkw=H7+LED+headlight&_sacat=0&_from=R40
 
#49 ·
It's been over a month with the LED light bulbs and I've had no problems or issues with them. As for their length, they are longer and you can't fit the dust/water cap over them. It's not as big of a deal on the 2013 MY as the carbon fiber piece now fits completely over the bulb area offering potection without the individual caps. It has been well worth the upgrade, I like their instant on/off ability and not worrying about letting them heat up properly before turning them off like my previous HID kits. I also like knowing they're LED bulbs so they should outlast my bike. HID bulbs last longer than halogens, but they still don't last forever like LED bulbs do.
 
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