The latest in LED head lights

[Gorminrider]

...show us a demo again of those running lights, Steve if you have the pix around- as turn signals they change colour? and the unused one goes off! I recall- verry cool and demonstrative signals! ('though I am not sure if I could use the run light function legally at night hereabouts? I'll have to read up on those! ...)

....I can't tell you how many H4 bulbs I have had fail over the years.

The BRIGHTER H4s burn out very quickly. According to the packaging info, the "hours' life" are much reduced from the "standard" bulb so I bet the filament is delicate too and made for cushy car suspension. I've had good life from the standard H4...

....as an aside, Sealed beams, if you must have them, seem Especially bad nowadays.... I needed a square one for a fairing -twice, they lasted about 12 hours riding...again, researching found that a harder-to- find one with a lower wattage had 10x the expected life.

Right now, Until I can afford something like Steve's, that change function, I like my cheapo LED run-lights mounted away from turn signals + the plain old low-beam H4 headlight... But my (ahem!) "classic" bikes can't have non-stock lighting...so Hi-beam is the running light and it reduces the lifespan of these...or tipping the lowbeam up is a help too, maybe.
At night, I don't have a problem with a single, normal H4s in car or bike (the aforementioned Cheapo led run-lights being illegal patterns then) But I slow down too and my eyes seem pretty good-I can see "beyond" lowbeam's range if there's not too much traffic... In real dark, very little light is really needed, when your eyes are accustomed

[tkent02]

Have you guys in your research run across any LED H4s for 6 volt electrical system? I know a lot of them say 6v - 34v or even 6v - 80v, but I can't imagine they would be bright at all on a 6 volt system? Thinking 6 volts is probably where they just start to glow a little bit?

[posplayr]

Have you guys in your research run across any LED H4s for 6 volt electrical system? I know a lot of them say 6v - 34v or even 6v - 80v, but I can't imagine they would be bright at all on a 6 volt system? Thinking 6 volts is probably where they just start to glow a little bit?

From what I have seen , the LED need a certain current through them to achieve a specific brightness. The reason that the voltage ranges are so wide is because there is a current regulator that adjusts to the required current independent of the input voltage.
what that means is typically you draw 1.5 amps from a 12v battery the input current will drop to .75 amps @ 24v or go up to 3amps at 6 volts.
in other words the amplifier will keep constant power to the LED and brightness rains the same.

[tkent02]

Ah, so any that run without that get dim at 6 Volts, all I have tested is the little tail lights and turn sigs which don't have it. They light up at 6 Volts, but very dim. I guess all of the expensive ones would work as you say. The light bulb in my head just came on, thank you. Now where did I put that ADV Monster I bought a while ago.....

[posplayr]

Ah, so any that run without that get dim at 6 Volts, all I have tested is the little tail lights and turn sigs which don't have it. They light up at 6 Volts, but very dim. I guess all of the expensive ones would work as you say. The light bulb in my head just came on, thank you. Now where did I put that ADV Monster I bought a while ago.....

A simple single LED like in a tail light or dash light bulb will be designed for a fixed voltage. These typically use a fixed resistor to get the right current at that voltage. The brightness of bigger headlamp LEDs would vary too much and so use the amplifier plus can be adapted to 6-30V applications.

[OldVet66]

On my last trip in the mountains of West Virginia I had a chance to do some night riding. The place was infested with deer. I have the ADVmonster H4 R3 LED headlight in a Candlepower reflector. The low beam was quite adequate but the high beam was all I could ever want in a headlight at any speed. Perhaps it is the combination of light and reflector but I wouldn't replace it with anything else whatever light output is claimed.

[dorkburger]

Interesting info. Ive yet to look into it, but im guessing that other then fancy bulbs, us train light guys are limited on options. Losing the train light is not an option- its one of the (many) charms of a big GS.

[cowboyup3371]

I don't like the looks of them LED headlights. It takes away the classic look of vintage motorcycle.

Norm,

I don't know how this Truck-lite takes away the classic look but I'll gladly take the improved light over a look every day of the week and twice on Sundays

Great Miami River 29 Aug by Scott Baker, on Flickr

Plus I'm not sure of the reliability of the light. For now I'll stick with the PIAA H4 Super Plasma Bulb. 3800/5000 Kelvin! 

(I know this cause I'm reading the box) ☺

I have mine and another on Charmayne's bike - no issues after 2 years with mine and a year with hers

[Steve]

...show us a demo again of those running lights, Steve if you have the pix around- as turn signals they change colour? and the unused one goes off! I recall- verry cool and demonstrative signals! ('though I am not sure if I could use the run light function legally at night hereabouts? I'll have to read up on those! ...)

Certainly, GR, happy to do it.
When the video starts, the lights are OFF. When I turn the key ON, the lights overwhelm the camera, so I adjust the camera for the light level, then play with the turn signals.

In the second video, I pan across the front of the bike to show the viewing angle, as some LEDs are pretty much focused straight ahead.

Whether it's legal or not in Canada, you may have some serious trouble trying to duplicate it. The trick to the whole concept is to have CLEAR lenses on the front lights. The lights in my fairing are not the same size as Suzuki lights. I took one of the lenses to a large accessory store (Iron Pony) to see if I could match them up with some clear lenses. The guy that was helping me found some in yellow (amber), we took them up to the counter, where they looked them up in the catalog and found that they were available in clear, but I had to order them. I don't remember exactly which model they fit, but they are Honda lenses, probably off a Shadow or some other cruiser.

The light modules that I used were also ... shall we say "not cheap"? They are Dynamic Ringz from Custom Dynamics. The "not cheap" part is $90 for the pair.

I tend to justify that the same way others will chop off the rear half of the bike, chop the fenders, flip the handlebars over, all sorts of strange stuff, it's all for a "look". That is the "look" that I wanted.

.

[Gorminrider]

clear lense--That's a tip tinkerers need!
....as to cost, If it saves your life just ONCE, it's worth it. Your colour change - combined are certainly an attractive option. Fitting them to my own "look" is a possibility..
It's not that I'm such a pedant per lighting regulations but they do make some excellent points when I ask myself "Why" a particular regulation was made or test a variation from it....

22) Despite section 6.4 of SAE Standard J2087, the light from a daytime running lamp shall be white unless it is produced by a turn signal lamp, in which case it shall be yellow.

(but I'd risk it per yours. They seem well delineated...see also below underlined

The daytime running lamps on a vehicle shall

(a) be deactivated while the lower beam headlamps are activated to provide road illumination;
(b) beginning on September 1, 2019, be deactivated while the front fog lamps provide road illumination after being activated by the driver; and
(c) if they also serve as front turn signal lamps,
(i) be deactivated on the side of the vehicle where a turn signal is activated, while that turn signal is activated, and
(ii) be deactivated on both sides of the vehicle while the hazard warning signal is activate

which is important. still,the original Honda system would have been better with your lights, IMO

Motorcycle Running Lamps

(26) The following lamps on a motorcycle shall be activated not later than when the motorcycle is set in motion under its own power and shall remain activated until the motorcycle’s main electrical system is turned off or until the motorcycle is put in the “accessory” mode of operation:

(a) every tail lamp;
(b) every licence plate lamp; and
(c) every headlamp or, as an alternative, one or two lamps that conform to the requirements for dedicated daytime running lamps set out in SAE Standard J2087.

My disobedience:
two horizontally-separated white led DRLs, placed well under the headlamp, to create a white light triangular DRL system with turn signals being separate so
by deviating from the regs I've sort of created a problem... a turn signal can be "washed out" by a too-effective drive light display-so turn signals need be extra bright, and coloured and/or shut one or both RLs off when turn signal is on. I am leaning to "both off" but either way, your colour-changed system would make it easier and less complicated...

[jabcb]

Seems like most new cars have DLRs that are white but a few are yellow. I think the yellow ones are a bit more noticeable.


The GT380 cafe build I recently finished has a Rivera Primo LED headlight with built-in yellow DLRs/turn signals. Also have K&S LED turn signals.
I didn’t wire up the DLRs. In the spring I’m going to wire up the DRLs with switchback drivers so that they go out when the turn signal is used.
GT380_0664 by jabcb, on Flickr