I need to be en-LIGHT-ened

[Jim C]

After searching and searching, and reading and reading, I am as
confused as when I started.

Looking to put LED headlight/tail light for better vis
on my 2016 V7 II Stone.

I hear, though, that LEDs get hot. How can LEDs get hot
when they draw less power?

I saw a tow truck with LEDs above the cab that were extremely
bright. Brake lights paled by comparison.

Is there such a thing as a really bright halogen bulbs for this bike?

I am totally inept with lighting issues, so any help, umm, helps.

Jim

[Triple Jim]

They got hot, but not as hot as incandescent bulbs.  The trouble is that a quartz-halogen bulb is designed to get very hot, and in fact uses that heat to keep the tungsten continuously re-plating itself back on the filament as it evaporates.  LED bulbs, on the other hand, lose performance as they get  hot, and at some point will get damaged by heat, so they need heat sinks and sometimes fans to stay cool.

I had an LED bulb in my headlight for a while, but it failed, and Cyclops Adventure Sports felt that failing after about 100 hours of use was OK, even though they advertise a 50,000 hour life.  Since it failed only slightly out of the 1-year warranty period, I was offered a 1/2 price replacement, but declined that, since I had already been told that the 100 hour life was not unusual.

[kirkemon]

Jim,

Someone posted this light a while back. I don't remember who and I have no experience with this, but I thought it looked good:
http://www.truck-lite.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/ProductDisplay?storeId=10001&productId=92025

[rodekyll]

Halogen gets hot on the tip.  LED gets hot on the tail.

There are halogens up to 100w.  As the w goes up, the life of the bulb goes down.  Expect about 6 weeks out of a 100w halogen bulb.

The beauty of LED or HID is that they put out much more light per unit electricity consumed compared to incandescents.

HID is brighter per unit electricity than LED or halogen, but you need the proper housing and reflector/lens to make it work.  Simply slapping an HID element into your halogen-designed headlight isn't going to get you there -- you need the entire business.  Ditto with LED.  Anyone who tells you they got acceptable results with a bulb dropped into a halogen headlight is either setting the bar too low or doesn't know what 'acceptable' means.

Beware the non-DOT solutions.  They are not DOT compliant for reasons that affect visibility and safety for both you and the vehicles you encounter.

$0.02

[Triple Jim]

Jim,

Someone posted this light a while back. I don't remember who and I have no experience with this, but I thought it looked good:
http://www.truck-lite.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/ProductDisplay?storeId=10001&productId=92025

Thank you for that, kirkemon.  I believe it's rodekyll who installed a Truck-Lite sealed beam LED lamp in one of his headlights.  I may go that route at some point.

[canuguzzi]

Don't confuse bright with light thrown. A LED can be extremely bright but not illuminate well, as many have discovered. Brake lights benefit more from brightness than eing able to illuminate objects down the road so LEDs are a good fit.

An interesting tidbit is that in some emergency vehicles, there is a feature to allow the LED to transition from off to full power like a halogen, it seems the instant on-off is less effective than a light that transitions through brightness like halogens.

Sometimes adding some additional lights is far better than using one source. On a bike you have a single brake light. Increase the area if brake lighting by adding one or more brake lights, more to see and catch attention.

[rodekyll]

I'm building the wire harness for my HID projectors as I type this.  I should have some pics in a separate topic soon.

[nc43bsa]

Does anyone make a proper (DOT) 5-3/4" round HID high/low headlight?

[rodekyll]

I can't say.  All of the DOT HID I've seen have been the 2.5" and 3" projector type.  They're cheap for what they do -- you can stuff one into your 5-3/4 headlight shell with a round front plate where the lens was.

Hang on -- I'll get a pic . . .

[not-fishing]

I've put an LED in my Griso but it's a flat light without definition.  You have to alter your night driving observations to compensate for the lack of "depth of field".

I choose the LED because it was cheap and I have "short arms".

The proper correction would be to install some Clearwater's but $500 is a little more than I want to spend on lights.  Besides I limit my night travel to as little as possible.

[rodekyll]

I'm jumping the gun on the project report, but I've started a topic regarding my HID aux lights.

[charlie b]

Two different subjets. 

LED headlight.  If you do not get an entire headlight assy made for LED you might be disappointed.  It's been discussed in other threads, but, LED bulbs in housings made for halogen scatter a lot of light.  They work, just not good cutoff on low beam and they do not throw a lot of light down range. 

I like mine for two reasons, low power consumption and because it scatters the light.  The second part sounds contradictory.  I wanted them more for seeing animals on the side of the road.  LEDs reflect REALLY well for some reason.  Roadsigns, reflective paint, and, yes, animal eyes all seem to 'light up' with the LED.  The bad part is I do get 'flashed' by oncoming drivers every now and then. 

LED turn signals and brake lights.  I LOVE them.  I have all LED lights on my bike.  When I made the instrument panel I converted all of it to LED as well.  LED's in these applications do not heat up more than incandescent.

The only drawback I know of, besides cost, is some of the modern electronics modules will show an error msg with an LED bulb.  In those cases you need an 'adaptor' which many places sell.  I get my LED's from Super Bright.

[Triple Jim]

LED turn signals and brake lights.  I LOVE them.  I have all LED lights on my bike.  When I made the instrument panel I converted all of it to LED as well.  LED's in these applications do not heat up more than incandescent.

Just be sure to get LEDs that emit the color of light that matches the lens color.  White LEDs do not work well behind colored lenses.

[rodekyll]

Two different subjets. 

LED headlight.  If you do not get an entire headlight assy made for LED you might be disappointed.  It's been discussed in other threads, but, LED bulbs in housings made for halogen scatter a lot of light.  They work, just not good cutoff on low beam and they do not throw a lot of light down range. 

I like mine for two reasons, low power consumption and because it scatters the light.  The second part sounds contradictory.  I wanted them more for seeing animals on the side of the road.  LEDs reflect REALLY well for some reason.  Roadsigns, reflective paint, and, yes, animal eyes all seem to 'light up' with the LED.  The bad part is I do get 'flashed' by oncoming drivers every now and then. 

LED turn signals and brake lights.  I LOVE them.  I have all LED lights on my bike.  When I made the instrument panel I converted all of it to LED as well.  LED's in these applications do not heat up more than incandescent.

The only drawback I know of, besides cost, is some of the modern electronics modules will show an error msg with an LED bulb.  In those cases you need an 'adaptor' which many places sell.  I get my LED's from Super Bright.

That scatter is what makes them dangerous.  For folks that you encounter with night vision issues, dirty or crazed windshields, or any number of other problems scatter can range from annoying to catastrophically blinding.  We've all cussed asshats coming at us with those lights.  Don't be one of them.