1200 Headlight LED Bulb

[Bulrid8]

Thanks Dave

[SgtSlag]

LED headlights CAN be modulated, but you need a modulator for an LED headlight... The standard, filament, Modulators will NOT work with LED headlights. The LED-specific Modulators cost more than filament-type Modulators, but they work flawlessly.


As far as using resistors with LED headlights, the answer is, Yes, they DO defeat the purpose of using an LED to reduce current draw on the charging system.

The LED headlight draws less amperes, which triggers the headlight failure circuit. By adding a load resistor, you are increasing the amperage draw to match the draw of a filament-type headlight, eliminating your amperage savings, preventing the failure-circuit from activating. If you want to use heated gear (gloves, vest, seat), you will need to save amps to prevent your battery from discharging when you run the heated gear. The best way to do this, is to reduce the load on the charging system by changing out the lights to LED's, which draw a fraction of the amps filament bulbs draw. The freed up amperes can then operate your heated gear, and charge your battery properly...

To run heated gear, you need to know how many Watts they draw, how many Watts your lights are using, and how many Watts your charging system can output, maximum. Subtract the Watts from each device, from the total output: if the number is negative, your battery is discharging; if the number is positive, your battery is charging, and life will be good, but make sure you have a positive cushion of 15 Watts, or more.

Alternatively, you can install a Voltmeter, connected directly to the battery. If it reads above 13 Volts, your battery is charging (14 Volts is better); if it reads less than 13 Volts, your battery is discharging, and you are running on borrowed time. When your battery voltage drops below 12.0 Volts, you likely won't be able to start your engine...

I switched all of my bike's lights, except for the instrument panel's bulbs, to LED's. My charging voltage, running down the highway, increased from 13 Volts, to over 14 Volts. This means that I have more Amperes pumping into my AGM battery, which I hope will make it last longer than two years (plugged into a Battery Tender, 1.2 Amp model, religiously, when the bike is parked in the garage...).

The LED lights are as bright, if not brighter (the LED Headlight is around double the Lumen output of the filament bulb!), but I was careful in ordering LED replacements, making sure they have equal to, or higher, Lumen output, compared to the filament bulb they replaced. The real kicker is their MTBF (Mean Time Between Failure): 30,000-50,000 hours; the MTBF of a filament bulb is typically 5,000-7,000 hours. The LED's will last longer than I likely will. I should never need to change another bulb, aside from the instrument lights. I will change those to LED's, when the first filament bulb fails. Cheers!

[Air Force]

I went with the Arastar brand led headlight from amazon as per sgtslag in both of my 1200's. Nice bright white light and good beam pattern. I will replace the driving/fog lights next. Very easy install. Truly plug and play. It took about a half hour to do both bikes.

[cushman eagle]

I went with the Arastar brand led headlight from amazon as per sgtslag in both of my 1200's. Nice bright white light and good beam pattern. I will replace the driving/fog lights next. Very easy install. Truly plug and play. It took about a half hour to do both bikes.

Good to hear from you Air Force,how is the GT500 coming?

[Air Force]

Funny that you mentioned the GT500. I haven't checked or heard from the restoration guy in five months. I will be checking up on the 500 in January. I am becoming frustrated at the total lack of progress and will be pursuing others avenues contingent on what I find out in January.

[cushman eagle]

Funny that you mentioned the GT500. I haven't checked or heard from the restoration guy in five months. I will be checking up on the 500 in January. I am becoming frustrated at the total lack of progress and will be pursuing others avenues contingent on what I find out in January.

That is quite a disappointing response to my question
I was hoping you would tell me it is finished,and looks and runs great!