Interesting LED headlight conversion kit

[ZOA NOM]

Bought one as well, and I have some warnings for others.

Beware the plastic socket with tabs on it that you twist the bulb assembly into. It MUST be installed into the headlight BEFORE you twist in the bulb. If you install it on the bulb assembly first, and then attempt to press the whole thing into the headlight, you'll break off one of the flimsy plastic tabs.

Once you do that, don't call Xenon to get a replacement. They don't sell them separately, but you can buy a whole new kit!

I'm off to fabricate one from metal to resolve the problem.

[Scottericsonon]

how are you guys making out with the LED headlights?

I'm looking hard at this one https://www.cyclopsadventuresports.com/7000-Lumen-H4-LED-Headlight-Bulb_p_169.html

hows the beam quality (shape pattern etc) in comparison to the halogen?

[racerrad8]

how are you guys making out with the LED headlights?

I'm looking hard at this one https://www.cyclopsadventuresports.com/7000-Lumen-H4-LED-Headlight-Bulb_p_169.html

hows the beam quality (shape pattern etc) in comparison to the halogen?

I don't think that type of bulb will work. I seem to recall Gorge trying a fan cooled bulb like that and it did not have enough clearance to fit.

George...?

Randy - RPM

[movenon]

Hello, I installed a fan cooled LED headlight and it installed OK. From memory I had to cut open the rubber dust boot a little. So far no problem has been encountered. That said there are so many designs and manufactures of those lights that I can't guarantee which ones will fit or not. As far as performance, for me it is good.  IMO better than stock but not as good (amt of light) as a high powered Halogen.  Mike R might chime in.  He tried one and went back to his Halogen of choice.  I don't ride much at night anymore do to eye sight issues (old age) so keep that in mind.  Mostly I was after reducing the current load on the system.  I have converted all my bulbs to LED's except the turn signals.  Another thing to keep in mind is if the LED headlight fails you are pretty much up the creek to get another one while on the road.  My work around is to carry a stock bulb with the bike just in case it fails.  Yes my fan cooled LED fits and still works fine but I don't ride nearly as much as some.

George

[Pat Conlon]

Good idea George....let's hear what wattage Mike is running.

[Mike Ramos]

Good evening Gentlemen,

George is correct about my experience with the LED headlight - I went back to halogen. 

Recent improvements in the LED bulbs may help but as of two or three years ago, they did not live up to expectations performance wise.   

I believe the bulb I use is 90/110 (might be 90/130).  After trying SilverStars, Piaa and others (they could not hold up to the vibration, plus the output was not outstanding).   

I settled on purchasing the bulb from NAPA.  I think it was less than $15.00 and the life span is outstanding.

The auxiliary driving lights were originally using 55 watt H7 bulbs but I upgraded to 65 watts.  I cannot say that I noticed a big difference in bulbs performance wise. 

After experimenting with different locations, the auxiliary light were mounted on the mirror base - with the lights above the headlight the way in which they intersect with the headlight is conducive to lighting the road ahead with a respectable combination of roadside and distance lighting.  An added benefit seems to be in rain and fog (or a combination thereof) the glare is minimized because of the downward angle.  (One of my earlier posts has a video of the lights in the rain/fog).
   
Although not for everyone, all in all, night lighting is pretty good and has served me well.

Ride safe,

Mike R.

 

[ribbert]

George is correct about my experience with the LED headlight - I went back to halogen. 

Mike R.

I agree with Mike, while automotive lighting technology advances at a great rate, incompatibility with our headlight reflectors remains a problem. I have tried LED, the brightest halogen globes and settled on a quality HID that has now done about 30k without issue. The Halogen gave the best beam by far but my auxiliary lights made it redundant and out perform it about ten fold. So, having conceded it was never going to be a great light I settled on the HID for colour and brightness and consider it a "being seen" light rather than a "seeing" light.

If you actually want to see where you're going at night, auxiliary lights are the way to go.

IMO 

Noel

[Mike Ramos]

A post from February from 2016 - hope the link works!


Re: Auxiliary Driving Lights

Another good discussion...

I run an 80/100 wit headlight bulb with dedicated wiring harness & relays (the stock bulb socket triggers the relays).  Previously a HID unit was installed but the stock FJ lens scattered the light, especially on high beam so although very bright, the light was essentially useless.  Next was a LED bulb that did not come near the performance of the 80/100 halogen bulb. 

After experimenting with several different brands of auxiliary driving lights, the ones best suited for me were the Hella FF50.  They are somewhat affordable at $100 +/- and relatively small in size with a semi-spotlight beam that shines down the road to quite a distance, yet they also light up directly in front and to the sides of the road. 

Stock they utilize the 55 watt H7 bulb but have 65 watt bulbs installed.  They have been in use for five or six years and a lot of miles and I have been satisfied with their performance.  Also installed is a volt meter monitoring the charging system of the FJ and it is well within the system's capacity.  Originally mounted on the engine guards, the lights were relocated at the base of the mirrors where the higher position offers better lighting.  They are adjusted so as to illuminate the right shoulder of the road and slightly to the left of center.     

The short video has several different scenarios, the high beam of the headlight is not used - only the auxiliary lights.  It turns out that they are pretty good in the fog as well, both day and night.

The first segment shows the difference with lights off and on in clear weather and traffic.  Next is light day time fog, followed by heavy night time fog which clearly illustrates the light pattern and where the beams intersect. 

The last segment was fairly long but is edited.  It occurred in the very early morning hours while  leaving the Bay Area.  Having just finished eating a cookie my sainted mother had packed in the tank bag, I was opening a Thermos bottle of warm milk when a car zoomed by and startled me!  So I quickly re-corked the Thermos and off we went - traffic was very light so we never slowed at all and kept up a brisk pace.  When I finally pulled ahead the auxiliary lights were turned on and as the automobile dropped back I finally had the opportunity to enjoy the still warm milk...nothing like an authentic Thermos bottle.

Ride safe.


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=swLAcneusWA&feature=youtu.be

[PaulG]

I bought this from XenonDepot last summer, H4 LED headlight and so far so good.  I haven't done much night riding since I got it, but it does give off plenty of light.  It has the flower petal heat sink and was a simple install. Supposed to have an 80,000 hr lifespan.  It has a 5000 LM capacity. FWIW

[FJmonkey]

I am still going strong with my DDM HID kit... 5000K bright is like the sun blasting forward....

[Scottericsonon]

thanks for all the info guys....
I agree ...as recently as 2/3 years ago LED headlights were nowhere near ready for primetime

it looks as though things might be different now with various shields etc to more replicate the H4 filiment...

I recently picked up a small (20") LED light bar for my truck after seeing a couple guys where I offroad with them and the amount of light is just unbelievable...Iwas hoping that LED tech has moved forward far enough to make headlights a viable option..

Of course getting a LED bulb to play nice with our H4 reflector and have a nice beam pattern is something entirely different than just throwing a wall of light offroad

I hadn't considered the space behind the light....My bike is in my Dad's garage 2 hours away (It's winter here in the northeast) so I wasnt able to check...

anybody know how much space is behind the housing?
This bulb
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B017M566T4/ref=wl_it_dp_o_pC_S_ttl?_encoding=UTF8&colid=14IJW67ACYXL7&coliid=I259KX68PIXF3J&psc=1
seems to have a pretty good following on another board I frequent ...
according to the seller the diameter of the heat sink is 42mm(1.654 inch), height is 30mm(1.181 inch).

It's substantially less expensive than the "motorcycle specific" one I had linked to earlier as well..
I've been thinking about picking one up (closer to riding season) and if I don't like just return to amazon...

Auxiliary lighting...... YES!!
This whole quest got started with a promotion at work that entailed a move to 2nd shift..
I get done at 1130 PM now and will DEFINITELY need more light on the FJ
I live in the mountains in Pennsylvania so while we have miles of truly GREAT riding roads close by I'm also commuting on those roads in the dark..

I'm thinking of also adding a small LED bar to the FJ ....Probably on the fork legs just on top of the front fender...
I miss the light going wherever the front wheel goes of the UJMs I rode when I was younger ..

Does anybody have a picture of their FJ straight on from the front? Id love to be able to photoshop various light styles/sizes onto it to see what will both look good as well as be functional

thanks for all the responses so far ,Scott


OH BTW..........GREAT video Mike....I'm a Dave Brubeck fan as well......

[ribbert]

Does anybody have a picture of their FJ straight on from the front? Id love to be able to photoshop various light styles/sizes onto it to see what will both look good as well as be functional

Scott, your are pretty limited for location. "I'm thinking of also adding a small LED bar to the FJ ....Probably on the fork legs just on top of the front fender..."  Fully compressed front suspension I think rules out inboard lights. You could put a bar across there with outboard lights. Mike has them on his mirror bases and I have mine here:



You don't need a turning headlight to see around corners with these, 3600 lumens each. I can actually ride twisties quite fast at night with these. In nearly 50 years of riding I've never had decent lights on a bike until now, it still puts a smile on my face every time I ride at night. Auxiliary lights are the way to go. I've had my headlight as good as you can get it but it's not even in the same league as modern LED driving lights.

I don't know why manufacturers still haven't caught on to the fact that motorbikes need decent lights and horns too.

To this end, I fitted new horns to the FJ last weekend. I have always thought old Volvo's (240's) had the best horns I've ever owned so went to the wreckers and bought a pair, they sound great.



I previously had an air horn which was the best ever but unreliable and I got tired of removing it to clean and oil it. The compressor was mounted above the original horn mount and was a bugger to get in and out so I removed it a couple of years ago.

Noel

[Scottericsonon]

I see what you're saying in regards to not much room there,after looking at pictures of FJs I had come to much the same conclusion..

how do you have your aux lights wired ? high beam only?

I've been researching small lights to put on the forks (probably fab brackets off the caliper mounts) I'd love to find something maybe 1.5" around max and dim enough to use as DRLs and night time "low beam" but bright enough to see across the intersection (maybe 50 feet) for that position (these I dont mind cheapie "offshore manufactured" lights

then a set of high powered lights up higher to use as auxiliary high beams..
these are where I'm planning to spend some money and get some SERIOUS lights...

Possibly the Baja Design Squadron pro or S2 pro

I like where you have yours at the air scoops...
I've seen brackets off the oil cooler too and that's a posibility
Or on the frame between the upper fairing and chin spoiler (where people bolt crash bars) but with a bracket the will put the in front of the frame rather than outboard

I can't wait for winter to be over  

Sorry guys I did'nt mean to threadjack...I'll start a new Auxiliary lighting thread

[carey]

Pat,

I did a LED conversion on my Tiger.  I used these;

https://www.cyclopsadventuresports.com/H7-3000-lumen-LED-Headlight-bulb_p_86.html

I really liked the results.  The LED on the low beam was significantly brighter than the HID on the high beam, and the beam was nicely focused.  Fortunately, Tigers have plenty of space behind the lights for the fan.

I have a set of 3600 lumen LED aux lights that I've installed on several bikes.  They are very bright, but don't have a good "cut-off".  The lack of cut-off makes them annoying to oncoming vehicles, so I have them connected to a simple on/off switch.

[Pat Conlon]

Thanks  Carey, I see the Cyclops folks have a 7000 lumen H4 LED

https://www.cyclopsadventuresports.com/7000-Lumen-H4-LED-Headlight-Bulb_p_169.html

They are improving!