1200 Headlight LED Bulb

[VoyKimmer]

Looking for a plug and play Headlight LED bulb for the Voyager XII. Tried Mr. Jensee suggestion. Very poor instructions, no one to call, and plastic piece for our headlights broke.
Thanks anyway Mr. Jensee.

[misft]

What plastic piece broke

[SgtSlag]

I installed an LED H4 bulb in my 1200 a couple of years ago. The bulb I bought is no longer available on Amazon, but I found two which are very similar: this one, and this other one. These are several thousand Lumens brighter than a standard quartz-halogen bulb, as well. They will be plug-and-play, easy to install, without issue. You may not be able to put the rubber boot back on, but these bulbs are waterproof. I left the rubber boot off of mine, and in two years of riding, occasionally in rain, I've never had water inside the reflector assembly.

If you desire a headlight modulator, you will need to purchase one specifically made for LED's; the filament bulb type will not work on an LED bulb. They cost more, but they are worth every penny, in my experience. I got my LED modulator shortly after I got the bulb -- not a problem, works perfectly. Only thing is that they are built to run on the Hi-Beam only. I prefer the Lo-Beam, but I didn't have much choice: it, too, is plug-and-play, and I did not feel like re-wiring it for the Lo-Beam.

There is an LED bulb dealer on the Internet (YouTube) stating that fans are fine, you don't need the web heat sink models, such as what I have, and what I linked above. I don't buy that. I spent 26 years as a PC Technician; cooling fans within the PC's seized up after 2-5 years, without fail, within Power Supplies, chassis cooling fans, video cards, CPU's, etc. I will never trust a fan in an automobile, or a motorcycle -- these are far dirtier environments than the inside of a PC, sitting in an office. Cooling fans typically have open bearings, which attract dust, which causes them to seize, which overheats the system, in this case, the LED bulb, which will then burn out.

The dealer on YouTube talked about beam patterns, and how most LED's have lousy light patterns, with dark areas, blah, blah, blah... Not an issue for me, on my bike. Besides, if you don't like how these Amazon LED's work, you can return them. The seller states that they will work with 95% of standard reflectors -- they work perfectly in my 1200. Remember Amazon has a generous return policy...

With regards to how hot the cooling ribbons get -- they barely become warm. Heat and cooling is not an issue. The Mean Time Between Failure (MTBF) of a standard filament bulb is 5,000-7,000 hours, typically. The MTBF for an LED, is 30,000-50,000 hours.

I converted all of my running, brake, and turn signal lights to LED's, as well. I have filament bulbs in the instrument cluster, but that is only because I did not wish to mess with them as they are all still working. When one of them fails, I'll convert all of them to LED's as well.

My charging system used to run at barely 13 Volts, running with filament bulbs. Now, it runs routinely at 14 Volts, which means my battery is getting a better charge, with more amps available for accessories. Worth the time, and the cost. Cheers!

[VoyKimmer]

The bulb I brought from Amazon is the fan model mr Jensee recomended. It came with all these plastic adapters a spring and some other parts. The instructions were terrible explaining how all this went together. I finally figured out the adapter I needed and when pushing on the spring to attach the headlight clip the plastic adapter broke. I returned it to Amazon at kohls with no box. Very easy return. I agree and would rather find one that just goes in and works like a standard bulb with no adapters and high beam light works normal on dash and headlight out light does not come on.

[SgtSlag]

I don't think my headlight failure circuit turns on with the Lo-Beam active (24W?), but I run my bike in Hi-Beam mode (35W, compared to 60W on the Halogen bulb), as the Modulator requires this. The modulator cuts off power to the LED, to "modulate" it, which causes the failure circuit to flash. My headlight still "modulates", so I don't care. I use the flashing indicator light to verify the Modulator is actually functioning. I rode for a few weeks without the Modulator. I believe the Headlight Failure indicator dash light was dark the entire time, but it's been two years.

Here is a discussion on converting instrument lights to LED's, if interested.

If you have an AGM battery installed, it may last longer after you put in the LED headlight. I had an AGM battery, which should have lasted five years... It lasted all of two years. I suspect the 13 Volt charging rate on the highway, was too low, which killed it prematurely (I use a Battery Tender, when the bike is in the garage, religiously -- almost always plugged in). Now that I have a new AGM battery, and a 14 Volt charging voltage idling, I suspect this new AGM battery will last longer than two years... I hope. Cheers!

[Mr Jensee]

I didn't use the spring. The plastic piece that goes on the light screws in about a quarter turn to lock into place on the base of the bulb. Then you just use the original bulb clip that came on the bike. It came with 2 usable plastic pieces so if you broke one use the other. Yes I know no instructions. What can you expect from something from China?


St.Slag I purchased an Odysee battery that works very well and i think is bult better than any other battery on the market.

[Van Voyager]

If you have an AGM battery installed, it may last longer after you put in the LED headlight. I had an AGM battery, which should have lasted five years... It lasted all of two years. I suspect the 13 Volt charging rate on the highway, was too low, which killed it prematurely (I use a Battery Tender, when the bike is in the garage, religiously -- almost always plugged in). Now that I have a new AGM battery, and a 14 Volt charging voltage idling, I suspect this new AGM battery will last longer than two years... I hope. Cheers!

I think using the tender may be what kills AGM batteries. Apparently, a good AGM battery will loose about 1% of it's charge per month - if that's accurate, an AGM battery would only drop 6% of it's charge in 6 months so a tender isn't required. I have never used a trickle charger since moving to AGM batteries and my bikes often sit for up to 9 months without being touched.

[SgtSlag]

The Voyager's radio drains the battery very slowly by running the clock. Otherwise, you are correct about the very low internal losses for AGM batteries. The radio's low current draw will drain the battery after several months without a trickle charger to keep the battery topped off.

The Battery Tenders brand are rated for use with AGM batteries. I guess I will find out next Summer: my current battery is already two years old. It may be an expensive experiment if I end up replacing this battery in the next riding season. Cheers!

[VoyKimmer]

Mr. Jensee,
Got another Amazon LED same kind. Thought I would try it again and be more careful installing it. Does your hi beam work in yours? The bulb is very bright in the garage but the high beam flickered but doesn't seam to work. Took the bulb out of the lens and noticed one panel doesn't light up I'm assuming that's the high beam panel. Might have to return another one.

[Thud300]

I tried a LED headlamp bulb in my Concours with not so great results, the beam pattern was very scattered because the headlamp reflector is designed for a single filament, the multiple LED elements produced kind of a 'christmas tree' effect in the beam. Also not much of a difference in brightness or pattern between low and high beams. I could see reflectorized signage great, the road surface not so much.

Went back to a filament bulb when the plastic adapter ring for the lamp broke.

This was a couple years ago, perhaps the technology has improved since.

[Mr Jensee]

Mr. Jensee,
Got another Amazon LED same kind. Thought I would try it again and be more careful installing it. Does your hi beam work in yours? The bulb is very bright in the garage but the high beam flickered but doesn't seam to work. Took the bulb out of the lens and noticed one panel doesn't light up I'm assuming that's the high beam panel. Might have to return another one.

Yes my high beam works as normal. Make sure you put the plastic ring on correctly, it should screw into the base about a quarter turn. Make sure you dont install it upside down. Installed correctly it should be bright on both beams. I wish I were closer to you I could show you how to install it.

[Mr Jensee]

Mr. Jensee,
Got another Amazon LED same kind. Thought I would try it again and be more careful installing it. Does your hi beam work in yours? The bulb is very bright in the garage but the high beam flickered but doesn't seam to work. Took the bulb out of the lens and noticed one panel doesn't light up I'm assuming that's the high beam panel. Might have to return another one.

Voy my phone number is listed with picture. Call me if I can be of help with the install. Call my cell, my home phone has been disconnected.

[Lance McCaw]

Go to superbrightleds.com and enter Kawasaki Voyager. It will then show you the led headlight and the resistor needed. I have had mine 2 yrs now and love it.

[Nails]

Doesn't the resister defeat the whole purpose of getting an LED: energy savings? Other threads here describe how to defeat the bypass circuitry.

[Mr Jensee]

Voy, try this one. It meets your criteria.
https://www.superbrightleds.com/moreinf ... &year=2001

[cranky]

... I like the looks of that bulb!!! Thanks!!!! Still not interested, but I always like to look!!

Do you know if it can be used with a headlight modulator? I looked but it didn't
say... It isn't obvious to me that it won't work... TIA

[Lance McCaw]

Doesn't the resister defeat the whole purpose of getting an LED: energy savings? Other threads here describe how to defeat the bypass circuitry.

I didnt want to take my whole front end apart just to make the blue dash light go off. The resister was easy. It just sits down on the inside of the fairing with a little double sided tape. I used velcro myself.

[Mr Jensee]

cranky I have never used a modulator. However as bright as these lights are I hardly think you need them. Lance I dont know if your dash light is showing you have a burnt bulb but I ended up having to replace my entire left handlebar control to get mine to go out.

[Bulrid8]

Does anyone have the link on disabling the reverse lighting? I have searched, but can't find it.

[triton28]

The 2 wires you need to remove from the white connector of the Reserve Lighting Unit are the Light Green/Red and the Blue/Orange.
Be sure to either install them in a connector for 2 wires OR, individually tape them up so the wires do not contact ground.
A narrow sliver of thin spring steel, no wider than the width of a female brass terminal, will depress the tab which locks the brass terminals into the plastic connector slot. To access the tab, slide the tool in from the end of the connector opposite the end where the wires enter the connector. It takes some sensitive movement of the tool but the terminal will come out. Just maintain LIGHT/GENTLE pulling pressure on the wire while using the tool.
Dave