LED Headlight replacement - Plug and Play!!

[cranky]

AND!!! the ad info says it's cooler than stock!!!! Heat is a problem on the
1200s, or as I read... that is what peaked my interest!!! Don't need one
myself... YET!!! GBG Saw this on the "other" Kawasaki forum, VROC...
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I put this led bulb in the stock headlight last july. So for been very happy with it.

www.amazon.com/dp/B071Z7RHYM?psc=1&ref= ... ct_details

SEALIGHT H4/9003 LED Motorcycle Headlight Bulb, High/Low Beam, 6000K Xenon White

[SgtSlag]

LED headlights are da' bomb! No fans... Never use one with a fan. Ever.

The lumen output is extreme. But, that means it consumes more watts. My fanless bulb burns 35 watts, and this one burns 40 watts, which is still very good: the stock incandescent bulbs burn 55 watts!

I watched, and I understood, the concerns on poor quality LED bulbs. Truth is, I don't know how good/bad mine is. I rarely ride at night. The few times I have, there were no noticeable issues. I spent about the same money. This looks like a great replacement, likely better than mine.

Thanks for sharing. Cheers!

[mrbmoran2]

Curious why not use one with a fan?

[Nails]

I'm fine with a fan -- heat kills. I made a small shield to divert any interloping water around it.

I needed to do some modification to fit mine. Don't remember -- wasn't much. Had to do with the plug, using the supplied adapter that came closest. I think it's a matter of luck to find one that really just plugs right in.

I also was careful to avoid weird colors, especially blue.

I bought a bulb that was advertised to be a little brighter than stock. I wish I had gotten one a little brighter yet. But don't go nuts, out of courtesy to oncoming cars. I ride a fair bit in the dark, especially to avoid summer heat.

What I'd really like to find is a whole LED projector bulb. My LED doesn't seem to give a very good pattern off the reflector. I'll probably mod one onto a dirt bike project I'm starting on.

[GrandpaDenny]

What I'd really like to find is a whole LED projector bulb. My LED doesn't seem to give a very good pattern off the reflector. I'll probably mod one onto a dirt bike project I'm starting on.

I'm with you on that, Nails. I've seen projector conversion kits, but they looked kind of cheesy. Also I wonder what the pattern on our glass lenses would do to the beam pattern. I've also seen LED headlight replacements for the whole kit-n-caboodle, but again wonder what our glass lens would do to the pattern, plus they're over 200 bucks. <written two minutes later after checking Amazon wow, they've RAPIDLY come down in price! https://amazon.com/s?k=5+x+7+led+headli ... nb_sb_noss

[Nails]

I mean the whole headlight as an LED projector design. I have an LED bulb, which was less than $20.

I've seen reasonable (i.e., not silly expensive) projector headlights for Jeeps, but some reviews I've seen for putting them on motorcycles haven't been very good. I haven't seen any LED projector headlights for our larger headlights ... but I haven't looked very closely.

The projector headlights usually have that sharp cutoff on low beam.

[GrandpaDenny]

yeah that would be nice. my low beam is extraordinarily wide all the way around. btw the high & low beams were reversed on the bulbs I'd bought. Easy swap of two wires in the headlight plug to fix.

[SgtSlag]

mrbmoran2,

I spent 26 years as an on-site PC Technician, for a large medical facility (still working there, just not a PC Tech anymore). I replaced a lot of Power Supplies, and Video Adapter boards, due to jammed/stopped fans. The electronics over-heated, and the units died.

Their fans were magnets for dust. The dust accumulated in, and around, the fans, caused their bearings to seize, the unit over-heated, and failed, catastrophically. PC's are in dusty offices, but compared to an open roadway, an office is a Clean Room!

Fan-less LED headlight bulbs use larger heat sinks, which dissipate enough heat, so as not to require a fan, to further remove heat. Natural air flow is enough to dissipate the heat generated by the LED. There are no moving parts, whatsoever, nothing to seize up. In the headlight housing, there is little air flow, even at 70 MPH, but it still runs cool enough to have a 20+ year lifespan.

How reliable are the fan-less bulbs? Mine is going on 4+ years of use. We typically ride for 2-8 hours, per ride. We rarely ride short trips. We like to take off for the entire day, riding almost continuously, except for occasional stops for meals, and some site-seeing, along the way. It does not have a chance to rest, on the days we ride.

I also use an LED-specific headlight modulator, for improved conspicuity. We have observed numerous cars start to pull out, ahead of us, then stop, as they saw our modulated headlight. The puzzled looks on their faces, as we passed by, are priceless.

The Lumen output on our LED is, if I remember correctly, around 1,800. A standard, incandescent bulb, puts out around 800 Lumens, by comparison. Normally, I would modulate the Low Beam, but the Modulator only works on the High Beam. I get it, but I think the Low Beam is plenty bright.

More answers than you were looking for. Hope this helps. Cheers!

[Nails]

I hear you about something else to break; and I've had computer fans go out. But our bikes see harsher ambient conditions.

My cheap fan bulb also has done swell for a few years. Last week, I rode about 4 hrs/day, 2 days in a row, only counting when the temps were in triple digits. I'm skeptical a heat sink would get it, especially those times when the radiator fan comes on.

Everything is a compromise. I could talk myself into wanting both a large sink and a fan.

[DocSnowFox]

I've also purchased and installed the Sealight LED Headlight.
Very impressed so far!
I too did not want a fan for heat dissipation.
However, I noticed a very subtle flickering of the low beam, and when on long straightaways at night riding solo, it would become somewhat annoying. So I contacted Sealight about it with an email, and after some questions from their Tech Support, they decided I needed a "canbus" (power diode of some sort). and Shipped me one, no cost.
I installed the plug and play' canbus device and have perfect white light. Love the pattern, color (white light) and field ahead that it covers.
I highly recommend, but need the "canbus" device from the get go.
I won't go back to halogen.

[SgtSlag]

The LED I use, has four, braided copper, heatsink ribbons. They dissipate heat, feeling warm to the touch, after five minutes on, sitting in my garage, running at 35 Watts. The copper ribbons never become hot, just warm. The engineers did a fantastic job managing the heat on this device. There are other LED's using copper ribbon heat sinks, with zero moving parts. The MTBF (Mean Time Between Failure) is 15,000-20,000 hours.

Whatever LED you look at, check the MTBF... The MTBF for an incandescent bulb is typically 1,500-7,500 (Long Life bulbs) hours. Nearly any LED will outlast a Halogen bulb by many, many years! Cheers!