H4 LED Headlamp bulb replacements

[Van Voyager]

Anyone have any experience with reasonably priced H4 LED replacements - like the ones commonly available on Amazon?

[SgtSlag]

I installed one from Amazon, 3-4 years ago. I rarely ride at night, so I can't comment on how good the pattern is. I have ridden at night with it, for short periods. It was OK, but I just need to see -- not a critic, not picky, just want to reach my destination, and be off the bike, after dark.

I paid around $40 for mine. It burns 30/35 Watts, so I shaved off 20 Watts. I converted all, but my dash lights, to LED's. My charging voltage, running at highway speeds, increased a full Volt: went from 13.0 to 14.0. Never looked back.

Had to replace my headlight modulator with an LED version, which was $50 higher in price, but I don't mind. The Mean Time Between Failure (MTBF) on an LED headlight is around 20,000-30,000 hours! Lower wattage LED's have an MTBF of 50,000 hours. The MTBF of a filament bulb is <10,000 hours, usually only 7,000-8,000 hours.

I recommend getting a fan-less model: no moving parts to seize up, leading to thermal failure. All fans will clog up, and stop, eventually. A ribbon heat sink, has no moving parts. Mine has ribbon heat sinks, which barely get warm, to the touch, after running for 5 minutes, sitting in my garage. They will never overheat. The unit I bought, has been removed from Amazon for over a year, but there are other, similar models available.

The patterns will not be the same, but if they say they replace a particular bulb, they should have a similar pattern of light. You can always add on LED spotlights (> 7 Watts; floods will light up 10 feet, in front, only...), to the lower guard bars, to throw out more light, at night, as well. Adding two spotlights, on the guard bars, will create a triangle of lights, just like you see on train engines.

They did a study, many years ago, on how to make people see, and better judge, the distance and speed of approaching train engines. Too many people were being hit. They found the triangle of lights gave people an accurate ability to judge both distance, and speed of approach. Three lights on your bike's front, will do the same for cars and pedestrians. Cheers!

[GrandpaDenny]

I installed one not long after I got Gertrude. Loved the brightness of the light, made me extremely visible, but hated the pattern. Useless after dark, with a huge dead spot where the hot spot should be, and light scatter all over the place. Went back to a halogen.

I second the "triangle" of lights - high beam at all times (except when in formation behind another bike, and sometimes stopped in traffic if I'm feeling kind LOL), driving lights on the engine guards. Definite, absolute difference in the visibility.