LED headlight bulbs

[robint]

My 350 Sport eats headlight bulbs for breakfast (and lunch and dinner...) despite fiddling with contacts, voltage control and different sources of bulbs - only dipped beam, not main. Don't actually ride much at night, but would like to have the light on as visibility and so that it will pass an MOT!

Now vibration or similar could be an issue - have put an LED 'bulb' in the tail light and not had any problems (they used to blow at times as well) and so was considering using LED in the headlight. There now appear to be quite a few BA20d based LEDs out there - anyone tried any?? Something like this http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/BA20d-395-H6M ... 564c1397cb

Tempted by the HID-direct offerings at about £14 (3 bulbs from Halfords will cost more than that) which you can collect from Argos oddly, but be interested on any experiments elsewhere!!

[Daddy Dom]

Hi Robint,
I tried an LED tail-light and it wasn't a happy marriage for me because LEDs are so directional. All I got was an extremely dim "upgrade."

Here's the type I found, and as you look at your bike from the rear, it will light up the back of the centrally-mounted square, red reflector (if your lens has one). As the back of the reflector is not transparent, no light gets through. Additionally, none of the light was being picked up by the rearward silvered reflector as that sits behind the "bulb." Check yours out and report back. Ask someone following you if they can see anything from your tail-light. In a normal globular/filament design, the light shines everywhere and fills the lens properly.

Anyway, the LED just got progressively dimmer over time so I'm back to normal service.

Good luck with the front bulb - best way is to just try, I guess.
DD

[Steve Brown]

Hi Robint, I'd be interested in these too-if they are as good as claimed. My first question is, are they a main/dip type or just one beam? Not seen any Led to do that yet, but if it hasn't been done it must only be a matter of time? Or economics of a bulb for a small market?? Let us know if you do it!

[robint]

They appear to be a standard fitting with two contacts so hopefully there is some form of main/dip - almost anything would give better illumination than the original filament gloworm..... Will give it a try this week and let you know what happens!!

[robint]

Claims to do main and dip so have ordered one as an experiment, will advise on progress in due course!! May need a dry, warm, salt free night to test properly - just the sort of thing we get regularly in the Midlands in February..........

[robint]

Well my first attempt doesn't work - has a projector for main (which may just work, but needs plain glass not the original headlamp glass) and simply dims the projector (a lot) for dip which doesn't work...... Also lights the main beam warning light on dip and main. Looks very pretty and fits holder and headlamp bowl fine!!

Will talk to hids-direct in the morning!

First attempt was this 'bulb' - Ba20d 395 5W CREE LED Replacement Bulb (1 x LED)- go to http://www.hids-direct.co.uk and search.

[tobydmv]

You guys should look at a custom built solution using a CREE XML or similar. Im trying to build one for my ducati scrambler but my neighbors lathe is out of service. The LED's can handle the power spikes, vibes, and run off a driver and resistor if you need a low beam. The lumens are insane!

[Stevemarshall]

Now so energy efficient LED is scoring over other lighting options. The best part of LED lights is that they have a very high lumen output. LED lights show a larger area with bright illumination as compared to other lights. Such LED headlights often have two forms in which they are found. I can say LED lights have certainly added to the values of safe driving. Now people can find LED lights easily, because now many companies are providing LED lights through online. JDMastar is so popular in USA for LED lights.

[MarkB]

I had an LED tail/brake light on one of mine, and it was so one-directional it could only be seen straight from the back. From the side you couldn't see if the rear light was on or not. Not safe in my view so I switched to quartz halogen.

[MickeyMoto]

I believe there are 360 degree LEDs available for this situation. Can be used on reflector headlights too.

[robint]

The difficulty with LED headlight bulbs so far is in trying to use the original glass (lens), reflector and bulb holder. To get main and dip to work properly there need to be two different point sources of light to get the lens to provide cut off and direction - simply dimming the light doesn't do the trick. Most US/Asian made BA20D bulbs are for ATV's where simple projector lights are fine. Suspect it will need some clever internal LED focussing before they can be made to suit existing headlamp units. If I was riding regularly at night then I would certainly fit additional LED lighting (eg Denali) to allow safe passage!!

[tobydmv]

I had planned on making a 6v LED bulb for my smaller bikes with a CREE Xre or other and custom optic. I was going to have a friend machine a lump of aluminum into the size and shape of the bulb ballast used in the reflector. I think the bulb is kind of a push/twist lock into place. Do you guys know if the bulb and ballast on the strada/sport are similar? IE not a sealed unit with replaceable bulb? I havent made it that far in my resto. If so it should be easy to machine some aluminum into the same shape, mount the LED and optic, and solder in a driver. Should be all in for about $50 in supplies.

http://www.ledsupply.com/diy-led-motorcycle-light

[robint]

Bulb is certainly replaceable and LEDs are certainly bright - unfortunately it is where the light goes that is also important...... Making a light to make one visible is straightforward (and the unit from the link will do that I suspect as will a number of others), getting something to fit the stock reflector and glass and give a good roadworthy headlight beam is another challenge and I'm not sure that the LED set up from the link will help there at all.

[MickeyMoto]

Maybe auxiliary lights are the answer?

[JonD]

LED replacement headlight bulbs are available in a BA20D fitting from this site. They are a true dipping LED using separate LEDs.
http://www.dynamoregulatorconversions.c ... s-shop.php

I am using one with with a British Prefocus Base on another bike and it is very bright. The main beam doesn't have the distance of a 35W halogen or as good a beam pattern but is a whole better than a 30W conventional filament. The LEDs are either positive or negative earth so you have to order for the system you are running and are suitable for 6-30v which is a wide range. For bikes with limited generator capacity they are very good because the current draw is very low. I have a 35/35W halogen BA20D bulb in my 31/2 Sport using the original headlamp which is much better than the original filament bulb. I wouldn't replace it with a LED at the moment due to the limited main beam I have experienced and the Morini generator keeps up with the lighting demand ok.