The New And Improved Unofficial R65 Forum V2
Technical Discussion => BMW Technical Q&A, Primarily R65 => Topic started by: mrclubike on November 28, 2016, 10:50:17 PM
-
i am going to try a LED bulb in my stock headlight housing
I am going to try this
Native H4 from ADVmonster
http://stores.advmonster.com/native-h4/
He had a 20% off cyber Monday sale and I could not pass it up
That is 20% off of $50.00 = $40.00 plus shipping
Just inter the Promo code "cyber20" during check out
My stock charging system is in tip top shape but just barely kept up with the halogen headlights and heated grips and vest this last weekend
The reduced load of the LED's should help out
I just hope the pattern is as good as the reviews say it is
i will let you know as soon as i get it installed
-
Interested to see how you go, please post phoots of actual instlalation - if it goes well for you I'll buy one myself.
-
I'm a bit of a fan for LEDs myself.
-
I have tried a couple of different styles of LED H4 bulbs in my conventional headlight. I have never used one of these bulbs but I have used a couple of different single sided or even double sided LED bulbs and always found an unexpected dark area where the material mounting the LEDs seemed to cast a shadow on the reflector and it amplified out with the beam of light. Not terrible and definitely brighter but a noticeably different light pattern. I am currently using a bulb with cree LEDs on four sides and on the tip. Still not as smooth a beam as a standard bulb but it is a very white light, should last a lot longer and has a lot less current draw.
-
Marcmax - I guess since you kept the LED you like it. Would you say it's as good or better than conventional, even with the dark area?
Just wondering if you keep it because you like it better or just consider it's worth the compromise for less power draw.
I've got LED on all of my main lights now, except the headlight.
-
BPT. I originally got it for the sole purpose of less power draw. I noticed the dark area just because it was different, not because it was any harder to ride at night. If anything it was easier because of the stark white light it put out, in contract to the slight yellow of incandescent bulbs. I have driven new cars that have a similar, very sharp cutoff between light and dark and once used to it presents no problem. I have every light on my bike converted to LEDs including inside the instruments, indicators and even the rear side reflectors are now LED powered and come on with the brake lights. I'd be surprised if I am pulling much over 15 watts total.
-
I also have changed everything but the instrument lights and head light
I have been running my AUX LED floods in the day without the main beam to save wattage for the heated gear.
But at night when I need to run the main beam and AUX floods It struggles to keep up with the load
With a LED main I will be able to run everything with no problem
The extra available wattage is a God send when trying to use heated gear in the colder months and when riding in stop and go traffic.
My Delco 10SI voltage regulator helps a lot also because it is not as lazy as my old original voltage regulator
It keeps the voltage higher at a given load compared to the original. But when you hit the limit of the alt output it drops right down to 12.5 volts
-
Thanks for the info guys. Mrclubike, look forward to your review.
To the others, any specifics on what you've used that you've been happy with?
-
I have order 2 will let everyone know also.
Don
-
I received the bulb today and installed and went for a 30mile test ride in the dark
I did remove the deflector
It snap out with out hurting it and could be put right back in if needed
The bulb fit into the housing with the deflector in place but I was afraid it would block the cooling of the little fan in the end of the bulb assy
I was not able to separate the lens and reflector with out ruining the gasket
I will say it is at least equal in performance to the stock bulb
Definitely worth the $46.00 (US) ;D
The low beam cut off is not quite as sharp as with the stock bulb but definitely has a cutoff and will not glare the on coming cars
High beam is better than stock and has a more precise pattern
It does not have a lot of wasted light scattering all over
The area out to about 12 to 15 meters is fairly dark
It projects out better than the stock bulb
The real big improvement come when i turned on the floods with the high beams
The high beam and floods complimented each other very well
I had a lot of light for only using 60 watts
Twice as good as with just the stock 55watt high beam by itself
But the real advantage is the current draw
I was able to run my high beam with the floods the heated grips and heated bib
My voltage stayed above 14.4 volts at 3500 rpm
When I came to a stop light I did not have to turn anything off to prevent severe battery drain
After leaving the stop light the voltage recovered quickly
If you only run the in the day time away from a lot of stop and go traffic i would say their is no benefit by using this bulb
But if you run day or night with heated clothing
Or just have a lot of stop and go driving it is very much worth getting
-
Thanks for the update Mrclubike. Good to know it's a keeper.
-
Anyone else have any particular brands to recommend or avoid?
-
Here are some more pictures of it
-
and another
-
I can't really tell from the pictures, but the LED's just project forward, none of them put light on the reflector ??
-
this is better
-
I can't really tell from the pictures, but the LED's just project forward, none of them put light on the reflector ??
Led's point up to the top half of the reflector
The part pointing straight forward is a little cooling fan and guard