How many riders switched to LED headlights from halogen?

[deathbug74]

some anecdotal stuff:

• bike: tried cycle gear's speedmetal LED in the bike when those first rolled out. definitely brighter, but all the "bright" was way too close in. eventually figured out the heat sink on the bulb was wedged against the structure behind the headlight bucket, pushing the aim downward...returned it and went back to silverstar halogen.
• cages: used beamtech in both my old truck and her old accord; patterned against the garage door to check for high glare, LED on one side, halogen on the other, and the LED had impressively sharp cutoff in both, little to no "scatter" (especially with the frosty headlights polished out). high beams threw a lot more light, a lot further out (truck was hi/lo combo, accord was separate hi & lo). i did find the bulbs threw a TON of radio interference...the 2m band was unusable with the lights on, if that's a consideration.

 

[Enchanter]

I'll try to speak generally here.

It has been my observation that the *membership* doesn't respond positively when a particular member (there are 2-3 that fit into this category) fails to admit total or partial fault or responsibility (for their viewpoint or tone the discussion). It gets worse when that member uses more words to obfuscate the discussion in an attempt to further distance themselves from fault / responsibility. Doubling down rarely helps the discussion, situation, or opinion of the participants.

 

[Lucytriple]

I was just thinking about this the other day walking past the rows of halogen lights at the shop thatI haven’t used in ages. I’m glad that replacement lights have evolved from the bulky converter style unit to more stream-lined versions. Not a reason to change, but battery charging voltage at idle sometimes gets a small boost.

 

[mean dad]

You're gonna need to define the limits of "can do this" means. Screwing a bulb into a housing is one thing. People's goals and tolerances will be different, however. This is where I take issue with your self declared victory lap over ST.

OP asked for people's experience not a scientific research team to study light emissions and beam patterns.

ST posted his *opinion* in the face of reality.

Yes Berto baby, people CAN see good results swapping bulbs. Again there's evidence of that in this thread
Asinine at this point to continue this.

Again, define "CAN". Martin talks about "properly working". You guys should be settling out on what language and limits you're going to use instead of fly swatting the other guy. Certainly riders can put LED bulbs in headlights designed for halogen bulbs. Are they "better"? Seems to be up to the riders themselves.

Again, multiple instances of it being better and working properly right here in this thread...AS EVIDENCE BY THE RIDERS THEMSELVES.

Also:

"...PM's exist. They're well used to not make one's point a public shaming..."

Hey buddy thanks for admitting you're only trying to virtue signal, lets me know you have more desire to call me out than actually effect change.
Get off my nuts bro

 

[mean dad]

Except he hasn’t said anything that is incorrect, really. First, LED replacements for halogens are not NHTSA approved for use in on road vehicles. Second, halogen light housings are explicitly designed with the focal length from the filament to the reflector surface as a critical dimension. It is not physically possible to recreate that focal length with an LED bulb.

OP did not ask about legality nor did ST touch upon that, so...sweet non-sequitor bro?

...and just to be sure, I double-checked the original post and there was nothing about the overall length of focal beam. Again, OP did not ask for a scientific study to be done. He asked, point blank, what people's real-world experiences are.

 

[mean dad]

I was just thinking about this the other day walking past the rows of halogen lights at the shop thatI haven’t used in ages. I’m glad that replacement lights have evolved from the bulky converter style unit to more stream-lined versions. Not a reason to change, but battery charging voltage at idle sometimes gets a small boost.

Anecdotally, I've noticed an increase in 'white' headlights on my commute. They're a bit less than a third of all headlights I see vs the older yellowish lights.

Won't be long until they're the outliers.

 

[augustiron]

Can I run Rotella T6 in my R1 with an LED bulb, and will it be superior to a V4 Honda?

 

[Tally Whacker]

Yes it will.

 

[JimX]

Especially if you add a Scotts steering damper

 

[tzrider]

OP did not ask about legality nor did ST touch upon that, so...sweet non-sequitor bro?

...and just to be sure, I double-checked the original post and there was nothing about the overall length of focal beam. Again, OP did not ask for a scientific study to be done. He asked, point blank, what people's real-world experiences are.

And putting LED’s or HID bulbs in housings designed for halogens is illegal.

Are you lying or just wrong?

Kevin, I mentioned the focal length because IT IS THE REASON that it is not physically possible to make an LED replacement that has the same beam pattern as the halogen. This was in response to everyone telling ST that he's posting false information.

He's not. You just disagree about whether the results are acceptable. "Get off his nuts," man.

 

[mean dad]

Are you lying or just wrong?

Kevin, I mentioned the focal length because IT IS THE REASON that it is not physically possible to make an LED replacement that has the same beam pattern as the halogen.

Wholly incorrect. I did not see this reply. Apologies.

I stand by my posts regarding OP's original query of real world experience being the question not the legality or lab results of X vs Y vs Z.

If someone posts a thread requesting data-driven results and scientific analysis of the varying beam patterns inherent in incompatible bulb/housings I will acquiesce but for this thread I maintain he's arguing against people's actual mileage which is what Climber asked.

 

[Rtmac]

What are people's experience?

My experience with the latest LED's has been very good!
Oh sorry, the "experts" tell me that's not possible.

 

[tzrider]

Just so nobody gets the wrong idea (I'm not sure why I think that matters), I'm not opposed to using LED replacements. I've used them on a couple of my own vehicles and if I had others with halogen lights, I'd probably put them in those too. Like many others, my experience is I can see a sharp cutoff on the low beams, I can see better at night and don't get flashed by oncoming cars. Should be all good, right?

What is also true is there is definitely some light scatter. Though I see the cutoff on a wall, when out driving, very reflective signs that should be above the level of the cutoff light up like Christmas trees. Still, oncoming drivers don't flash me. A lot of the night driving that I do is on two lane roads where I probably use my high beams. When I see the light wash of an oncoming car, I switch to low beams. The oncoming driver can see that. It may be that even my low beams are annoying, but they don't flash because they did see that I turned my high beams down.

A lot of new cars have aggravating headlights that you'd swear are high beams until you flash the guy and he says, "Oh Yeah?" and shows you what his high beams really look like. I think we're all getting used to brighter oncoming lights. The point there is that just because nobody isn't complaining, doesn't mean it isn't more annoying than halogens would be.

On balance though, I've benefitted from LEDs more than I've experienced problems. They're brighter, they draw less power, they last longer, etc. I don't love the light pattern on my motorcycle, but even so, I can see better with LEDs than I could with Halogens. Other drivers don't flash me and I've never had trouble with the cops over them. So, that's my experience.

But when an opinionated poster says there are disadvantages, he's not wrong. When he says he would never put them on his own vehicle, he's also not wrong. If he says you shouldn't either, "Well, that's just your opinion, man."

Which is also not wrong.

 

[Rtmac]

What is also true is there is definitely some light scatter. Though I see the cutoff on a wall, when out driving, very reflective signs that should be above the level of the cutoff light up like Christmas trees. Still, oncoming drivers don't flash me. A lot of the night driving that I do is on two lane roads where I probably use my high beams. When I see the light wash of an oncoming car, I switch to low beams. The oncoming driver can see that. It may be that even my low beams are annoying, but they don't flash because they did see that I turned my high beams down.

A lot of new cars have aggravating headlights that you'd swear are high beams until you flash the guy and he says, "Oh Yeah?" and shows you what his high beams really look like. I think we're all getting used to brighter oncoming lights. The point there is that just because nobody isn't complaining, doesn't mean it isn't more annoying than halogens would be.

On balance though, I've benefitted from LEDs more than I've experienced problems. They're brighter, they draw less power, they last longer, etc. I don't love the light pattern on my motorcycle, but even so, I can see better with LEDs than I could with Halogens. Other drivers don't flash me and I've never had trouble with the cops over them. So, that's my experience.

I agree with all this.
I've upgraded every bulb on my bike to LED'S, except the headlight which I upgraded to HID. It's better than the halogen, but not that great. After going thru a dozen or so different sets of LED headlights on cars over the years, and seeing the improvements in them, one of the first things I'll do when/if I get my bike back on the road is replace that HID bulb with latest gen LED. I spent most of my career as an electrician, and the other part as an auto mechanic (who, unlike most mechanics, preferred doing auto electrical work), so the subject matter is of great interest to me.

But when an opinionated poster says there are disadvantages, he's not wrong. When he says he would never put them on his own vehicle, he's also not wrong. If he says you shouldn't either, "Well, that's just your opinion, man."

Not the first time "opinionated posted" has posted on and on and on about subjects he admittedly has no experience with... and he presents all his "just opinions" to be hard facts, and tries to dominate the discussion. This goes on in thread after thread on a wide variety of subjects. Go back and look at the mental heath thread, or Dub's electrican thread, just to name a few. He's a thread killer! And it's annoying as fuck!
And... Well, that's just my opinion, man.

 

[gixxerjeff]

Thank you Andy, for once again being the predictable voice of reason.
I solved the whole "headlamp" debate several years ago.
I simply never find myself riding at night.
Fixed.