LED H4 Headlight Buld

[thebeast]

From reading prior posts, some of you guys are using the H4 headlight bulbs. Has anyone tried swapping to an LED with any luck? lm talking about bulb only, not one of those weird looking, 7" headlights. lm running the CE lo output regulator with a small AGM battery. At low rpm's I'm getting some pulsating when using the spotlights, which is no big deal,just thinking the swap may lessen the stress on the charging system.
Thanks, James

[Excalibur]

I have one of these bulbs. I have a CE l/o genny with a 12v/8ah battery.

Sorry have only ridden the bike a couple of times and not at night yet. The thought is, with low beam of 26w, I could use it during the day without taxing the system much at all. That's just 2A.

Also I bought this bulb for the park bulb socket. It's bright enough. You'd never think it was only 2w.
Currently it's wired to come on with ignition.

I have a stop/tail LED. Also a LED in the speedo.

[Northman]

Excalibur, you got a part /bulb number for the led Speedo bulb by chance?
Northman

[Excalibur]

Yes
these 9mm bulbs
These are the same bulb socket size as my park bulb but less bright.

BTW, I couldn't use these for gen/oil lights because of polarity issues.

While I'm at it this 1157 bulb for stop/tail (offset bayonet/double contact)

[thebeast]

Thanks for the info. I'll give those bulbs a try,including the dash bulbs.
James

[Northman]

Yes
these 9mm bulbs
These are the same bulb socket size as my park bulb but less bright.

BTW, I couldn't use these for gen/oil lights because of polarity issues.

While I'm at it this 1157 bulb for stop/tail (offset bayonet/double contact)

I'll pass this along, I know someone who is looking to improve their tail light brightness with an extended bayonet of sorts to get the bulb closer to the lense. Not sure if he will go led but that's his deal...

[Excalibur]

Hope it all helps.

Re, headlight LEDs, there's a lot of chatter about beam spread being less than ideal with at least some of the ones available. I suspect the makers are going through a learning curve with retro adapting LED's for older lights.

Re tailight LEDs. I read where some are advising to use red LED's for tailights. This is said to give the light more redness and away from looking orange-y. In our case it would mean the licence plate would also be illumined with red light so I decided against it and bought normal white LED.

Bonus is they save a useful amount of current. Also they are supposed to last a very long time. We'll see, they are Chinese after all.

So far so good, but I remind that I haven't ridden at night yet. (Far too wet and cold here) I'll get Murray's opinion next time he follows me.

[thebeast]

Well guys, I took your advice and installed an LED headlight bulb and an1157. BIG difference! Haven't had time to check it out at dark yet,but definitely more visibility in the daytime. The bulbs were purchased off Amazon, different brand names but identical otherwise. Less than $20.
After installing one of the 1157s,they do come in pairs,my brake light didn't work. One of the contacts on the LED was a little taller than the other. A little filing fixed that. Definitely more light in the backend compared to the incandescent.
Safety wise ,this is a great upgrade.
Thanks, James

[1955fle]

I have this LED headlight bulb in my shovelhead headlight. Works great for 12V systems. What are those with 6V pans doing to get more light. I was out last night after dark. Had my headlight and 2 spot lights on and it was like having a candle on my front fender. How do I get enough light to at least see the road? What are you guys doing?

[Excalibur]

Many of the headlight LED's have a voltage range spec, something like 6v - 36v. Don't be fooled though, I tested mine, it didn't work on 6v.

[Excalibur]

Good weather and a day off finally coincided so I was able to test my LED's after dark.

The headlight has adequate power though the focal point was a bit low. It might help if I had the proper H4 lens. There's a swapmeet Sunday, something might show up there. The difference between high and low seems more about intensity than a shift of beam. More monitoring required but it's quite usable.

The speedo LED had quit. I swapped in a replacement when I reached home. If a 2nd one fails, I'll check for sufficient clearance inside the speedo head. Earlier when I was on 6v I'd used a 6v LED with success in the speedo.

The stop/tail bulb has good brightness on tail-light but when stop light activated, it isn't much brighter or as bright as anticipated. I'll ask Murray to follow at some stage and give an evaluation.

I suppose it's early days for LED's. The makers are still developing. There must be dozens of manufacturers in China. To look at the market in a years time would most probably see some steps taken to improve. I like the idea that there's less demand on the bikes' electrics, wiring, battery and genny. Also I can use the headlight (or park/pilot light) without worrying about battery suffering.

Hope this helps.