LED, HID or Halogen headlight?

[madmax]

Hi everyone, So If you’re fitting anything other than the 60/55W H4 lamp, then you’re going to have to remove or disconnect the reserve lighting unit. Yes, it’s a pain in the butt to get to. But once done you can use whatever you want.
You will have to link two of the wires together. (Red /Blue to Blue /Yellow) That’s all.
I fit HID to all my bikes. LED's don’t work that well with our head light units. It was never designed for them. If you try to use LED or HID without disconnecting the reserve lighting unit. You will have all sorts of problems. Because they use less power & the unit thinks there is a problem. Why Kawasaki fitted them I don’t understand. What’s wrong with using your left thumb if a filament fails? (Hi/Low switch)
So Hid is a little more involved than LED to install.
The lamps I buy is the 35W H4 Bi Xenon. You can buy a car kit for less than one for a motorcycle & you get two of everything. I would suggest the 4300 over the 6000 Colour Temperature:
I’ve just taken a look on Ali Express. This one at random. https://www.aliexpress.com/item/1005005178333666.html
Less than $20 for two of everything. For those of you who are not good on electrics the I would suggest the single wiring harness. https://www.aliexpress.com/item/4001039073949.html $7.00 Just another one at random. It’s a vast improvement over the standard lamp. LEDs are quicker to install but I don’t think the beam pattern is as good. My older XII has had a HID headlight for over 10 years. So reliable.

[SgtSlag]

I installed an LED bulb, with an LED-specific, headlight modulator in my bike, years ago. It actually flashes between the Hi/Lo Beams, as opposed to on/off, because of the Headlight Failure Module.

This is not an issue for me, whatsoever -- the light still flashes, very noticeably.

HID lights cannot be modulated. A headlight modulator is legal in the USA, under Federal law, so it is acceptable in all 50 States, and in Canada, as well (we ride in Canada, so it does matter for us).

Headlight Modulators get attention. Anecdotal experiences have recurred too many times to count, where cage drivers started to pull out in front of us, but then they saw the modulated headlight, and stopped. One of the best safety devices I've ever used. Won't ride without it.

Regarding beam pattern, I avoid riding at night, as much as possible, to mitigate risk factors. I have ridden with the LED bulb, at night, more than once. It was acceptable, especially on Hi Beam, as it pumps out more than double the Lumens of the original Halogen bulb. Not all LED bulbs are created equal, though. I just got lucky

The big reasons I chose an LED were: reduced power consumption; reliability of 50,000 burn-time Hours MTBF; color (4k); ease of use; lower heat generation; and a sharper on/off cycle compared to an analog bulb filament -- modulated LED's create pretty decent square waves for light output, very noticeable light output pattern to onlookers, different from modulated analog bulbs.

I always warn riders who go with LED bulbs, make sure you get one WITHOUT a cooling fan... Those fans will clog up with dirt and grime, and they will seize up, leading to the bulb overheating and burning out, prematurely. Get one with a copper heatsink ribbon. I've touched the ribbons on mine, after riding for an hour, on a warm Summer day, and they were only a little warm to the touch, oscillating between Hi/Lo Beams, constantly, during the entire ride time, enclosed within the fairing housing. Cheers!

[madmax]

Hi Sgt Slag, I’m the other side of the pond. UK laws are different. The light modulator is illegal in the UK. But I think it’s a good idea.
Having the front indicators lit all the time & yellow is also a problem ie, Combined Front running lights & indicators.
Both of my XII’s have the blue wire going to the indicator lamps disconnected. So, indicators only.
This leaves the front of the bike without any forward light except the headlight.
On my older (89)XII, I’ve fitted a small 3w Led into the headlight, connected to the running/marker light circuit. I drilled a hole in the bottom of the headlight to fit it. (push-fit lamp holder)
Most British bikes had these fitted years ago. Commonly known as side lights over here.
I’ve yet to do the same to my newer model (97).
Like I said before, getting rid of the reserve lighting unit gets rid of a lot of problems people are having.
If you like your set-up, then Great.
Like you said & I agree with you in using fan less LED’s.
The ones with a copper heat-sink type ribbon is the one to use.
Fans are a problem!
I hope this info is of some use to those who just want a brighter Headlight without spending a fortune.
Good luck Everyone.

[Nails]

Like you said & I agree with you in using fan less LED’s.
The ones with a copper heat-sink type ribbon is the one to use.
Fans are a problem!

Well my LED fan works much better than the LED lamp itself. I'm fine with the fan, especially in 115F plus temps. But riding like that has scrambled my brains, so YMMV.

[GrandpaDenny]

The is the LED bulb I've settled on after a few rotten attempts. The beam pattern is awesome, nice and flat-topped on low-beam and well-focused on high-beam. I've used them on both Gertrude and Emily. https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0CWD ... UTF8&psc=1

No dicking around was required on either bike, even the dust cover went on without modification. No having to tweak the focus, nothing. Only thing I had to do was to bypass the reserve lighting module as someone just described.

I wonder about something... on Gertrude the low beam would flicker between high and low beam when at idle. When I got Emily, I got on the Vulcan forum and they recommend the same bypass, but then unplugging the reserve lighting module entirely as well, to eliminate... flickering between high and low beam when on low beam at idle.

Something else I discovered recently - one of the very few changes made to the Concours 1000 over its long life span was to eliminate the reserve lighting module.

[SgtSlag]

Looks like an excellent choice of LED bulb. I take issue with them not stating the actual Lumen output, other than to say, "400% brighter than a Halogen." That is not much to go by.

The temperature is 6,000 K, which is a blueish white, compared to 4,000 K which is considered a more balanced white. Just an FYI.

If interested, buy it ASAP, as LED bulb designs change, frequently... Cheers!

[GrandpaDenny]

Looks like an excellent choice of LED bulb. I take issue with them not stating the actual Lumen output, other than to say, "400% brighter than a Halogen." That is not much to go by.

The temperature is 6,000 K, which is a blueish white, compared to 4,000 K which is considered a more balanced white. Just an FYI.

If interested, buy it ASAP, as LED bulb designs change, frequently... Cheers!

Oh, believe me, it's kronkin' bright. Nice and white, nice and bright. I like 'em!