1400 Cali Touring LED Headlight Options in 2025

[Skysailor64]

I know this may be an old topic but am hoping technology has provided some new options.
I am really wanting to increase the brightness (and perhaps the coverage) of the low beam on my 2020 California 1400 Touring which I am finding abysmally lacking for nighttime on the back roads I travel.  Anyone with some good experience on easy replacement of existing with LED light?

[Gliderjohn]

I know this may be an old topic but am hoping technology has provided some new options.
I am really wanting to increase the brightness (and perhaps the coverage) of the low beam on my 2020 California 1400 Touring which I am finding abysmally lacking for nighttime on the back roads I travel.  Anyone with some good experience on easy replacement of existing with LED light?

Is it not LED already? Surprised the lighting is as you describe it. Until recently I had a 2011 Norge and the lighting was great on both low and high beam. Of course that is coming from a guy that was and is riding a T-3. I will say that this summer all LED lighting was installed on the T-3. The head light is a great improvement but still not as good as the Norge lighting.
GliderJohn

[Rons]

Check out the Denali D14 headlight.

[bronzestar1]

With several bikes I've had over the last few years, the ones that came with halogen headlight bulbs I usually swapped to LEDs.  I don't ride at night, so for me it was more about being seen than seeing what's down the road.  There's the crowd that will tell you replacing your halogen bulb with an LED is a mistake, because the housing and reflector (if it has one) aren't designed for the light output of an LED.  If that's the case, your best bet would be to replace the entire halogen headlight assembly with an LED one.  However, I've found that most of the LED headlight assemblies I've seen look like bug eyes, with multiple lights, halo ring, etc.  I'd just mount an auxiliary set of LED driving lights, and leave the headlight alone, so it doesn't detract from the overall looks of the bike. 

I had a 2003 Aprilia Caponord that had dual headlights.  I replaced them both with LEDs.  This is a side-by-side comparison between the OEM halogen bulb on the left, and the LED bulb on the right:


 

[TN Mark]

With the unique headlight shape of your 1400, likely not a full LED replacement. But, your OEM 35W driving lights are an easy upgrade. I use the Show chrome Accessories 3.5” LED driving lights. They have dual Cree LED’s in each one and will definitely light up those dark back roads. They’re not inexpensive but they’re quite impressive.
I’ve run them on my Victory bikes for many years and have been quite impressed by them. I bought a set for the 2016 Eldorado before I even picked up the bike last month.
Show Chrome Accessories makes them in 35W halogen and LED, also in black or chrome. Amazon or many other online dealers should have them.
The charging system will like the switch to LED driving lights as well.

[Skysailor64]

Thanks for the replys and suggestions.  After much consideration I have opted to do the following:

For the low beam I have ordered the Osram Night Breaker LASER (NEXT GEN) which is an H3 12V 55W direct replacement Halogen bulb.  I decided not to try an LED for the low beam as it seems replacing Halogen with LED is not street legal in USA.  This is apparently due to the possibility of dazzling oncoming drivers due to the different light pattern. I did find a fairly new Osram LED product that would fit but the price is a bit high for an experiment at the moment.

For the high beam I did not feel the need to remain street legal because I only use high beam when there is no oncoming traffic so I went with the H7 LED Motorcycle Bulb Osram LEDriving® HL EASY - 64210DWESY-01B.  This is promised to be a direct replacement with no modifications required for the H7 Halogen bulb. The physical dimensions are apparently exactly the same as my H7 Halogen so we will see. I will take photos of the install when I do it and post here along with the driving results.   

[bronzestar1]

"...This is promised to be a direct replacement with no modifications required for the H7 Halogen bulb. The physical dimensions are apparently exactly the same as my H7 Halogen so we will see. I will take photos of the install when I do it and post here along with the driving results. 

The LED bulbs that I've used to replace halogen bulbs have been 1:1, meaning they're a direct replacement, same size as the original, no external wires or resistors to contend with, just a simple bulb swap.  Make sure you take a picture of the light pattern of your halogen high beam against a wall or garage door, in addition to the road, then do the same with the LED replacement bulb.  I'd be surprised if they're the same, the LED bulb's pattern will probably be scattered all over the place. 

[TN Mark]

I’ve seen just the opposite. Nice to decent light spread with an OEM halogen headlight and quite poor light spread with a cheap LED headlight. And especially when putting an LED bulb into a reflector designed for halogen. In too many instances, many LED options have sharp cutoffs on the sides and leave them quite dark. Exactly where you don’t want darkness.

I know JW Speaker doesn’t make a LED headlight for the 1400 models. But their Adaptive 2 LED headlight is quite nice.

[pehayes]

Skysailor64, your profile says Massachusetts.  Didn't I just read a news story about MA clamping down on people using aftermarket bulbs and lights?  State requires only the original equipment as provided by the manufacturer.
https://www.upworthy.com/led-headlight-ban-massachusetts

Patrick Hayes
Fremont CA

[Skysailor64]

Skysailor64, your profile says Massachusetts.  Didn't I just read a news story about MA clamping down on people using aftermarket bulbs and lights?  State requires only the original equipment as provided by the manufacturer.
https://www.upworthy.com/led-headlight-ban-massachusetts

Patrick Hayes
Fremont CA

Thanks for that link Patrick.  Exactly my reason for going with the Halogen replacement for my H3 Low Beam bulb.  My reasoning for the LED High beam unit is I am very judicious about dimming my lights when an oncoming vehicle is approaching so I do not expect my choice to be a problem.  But if the LED version of my H7 high beam is absurdly out of focus/uniformity vs the Halogen I will revert to the Halogen.

[Moparnut72]

I had a part time job after I retired a few years ago driving railroad crews to their trains or quarters. A lot of my driving took place during all hours of the night. The worst offenders were late model Ford pickup trucks, the ones with vertically stacked quad headlights. Even on low beam all four were lit, bright and not well focused. I had to often use my high beams just to see where I was going. I think Ford revised them because of this problem.
kk

[Tom]

Changing out the bulb replacement is a more time consuming process than other bikes.  Make sure you have the tiny phillips screwdriver to open the access panel on the back of the nacelle.  Have fun.    You have to remove 1/2 of the mounting bracket to rotate the nacelle. A better design by a "German" engineer.   

[Skysailor64]

Changing out the bulb replacement is a more time consuming process than other bikes.  Make sure you have the tiny phillips screwdriver to open the access panel on the back of the nacelle.  Have fun.    You have to remove 1/2 of the mounting bracket to rotate the nacelle. A better design by a "German" engineer.   

You are so right!  Already have done that to remove the existing bulbs and determine what space exists for alternative designs! So the prospect of trying one and then another is rather daunting to say the least :) I plan to test my new bulbs in place but before remounting the headlight unit and then hope for the best.  My nightmare is one or the other doesn't work out and I have to disassemble everything again!

[Tom]

My small running lights are working again.  🤦‍♂️  I don't do much night riding.   

[bronzestar1]

Skysailor64, your profile says Massachusetts.  Didn't I just read a news story about MA clamping down on people using aftermarket bulbs and lights?  State requires only the original equipment as provided by the manufacturer.
https://www.upworthy.com/led-headlight-ban-massachusetts

Patrick Hayes
Fremont CA

That's the same here in the Commonwealth of Virginia.  If the state safety inspector went by the letter of the law, any vehicle that had upgraded to LEDs from halogens would fail on the spot.  But luckily, most of the inspectors that I've run into use their discretion, and didn't fail any of my vehicles for this lighting upgrade. 

[Skysailor64]

Ok let me just say I will never remove/open up the head light on my touring model again! Next to replacing the alternator belt I would guess this would qualify for second place as a pain in the whatever. Anyhow, I did find an LED replacement for both the H3 low beam and the H7 high beam bulbs that claim to fit without issue. But...I ended up deciding not to go with LED for the low beam due to the fact replacement LED bulbs are not legal for street use so I went with an Osram Night Breaker Laser for the low beam. Will see how it performs when I get the time and weather to do some night riding. For the high beam I decided since I don't run with the high beam on unless there is no oncoming traffic I could bend the rules and go with an LED and Osram has a direct replacement Osram LEDriving® HL EASY H3 & H7 LED Bulb. I went with the H7 version and it fits fine and it is very white and bright. When I get a Chance to ride and test low and high beam performance i will report back.

[TN Mark]

Ok let me just say I will never remove/open up the head light on my touring model again! Next to replacing the alternator belt I would guess this would qualify for second place as a pain in the whatever. Anyhow, I did find an LED replacement for both the H3 low beam and the H7 high beam bulbs that claim to fit without issue. But...I ended up deciding not to go with LED for the low beam due to the fact replacement LED bulbs are not legal for street use so I went with an Osram Night Breaker Laser for the low beam. Will see how it performs when I get the time and weather to do some night riding. For the high beam I decided since I don't run with the high beam on unless there is no oncoming traffic I could bend the rules and go with an LED and Osram has a direct replacement Osram LEDriving® HL EASY H3 & H7 LED Bulb. I went with the H7 version and it fits fine and it is very white and bright. When I get a Chance to ride and test low and high beam performance i will report back.

Great information, thank you. I know I’m not alone in looking forward to your update on the performance of the Osram Night Breaker bulbs you chose.

Since the charging system isn’t as robust as it could have been, it’s a bit surprising Guzzi didn’t select LED for the Low beam, the High beam as well as the driving lights.

Fortunately, Tennessee has no such law against upgrading to LED technology which is most definitely the direction I’ll go if/when either headlight bulb goes out.

I already bought LED driving lights to replace the OEM 35W halogen driving lights.