Soooo - following on from the discussion on HID and DRL lights, has anyone changed their headlight bulbs to LED? I'm curious and may try it, theoretically it's an easy swap (no ballasts so could do high beams too) and the light may be better than HID without the scatter of the beam. HIDs really need a projector lense to work properly but I'm not so sure on LED. What about heat output too? HIDs run cooler so there aren't the worries on melting lenses but what about LED?
Will it upset the police and fellow road users? I may be the guinea pig.
Paul
LED headlight bulbs
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bigun
- AP RS Legend
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LED headlight bulbs
Bigun
Are aftermarket LED lights actually available?
It's a very new technology for headlights
EDIT: Ah it seems they are available - but whether the aftermarket ones are bright enough or have other issues, I don't know
They would run cooler than normal lights as they are much more efficient at turning energy into light rather than heat
It's a very new technology for headlights
EDIT: Ah it seems they are available - but whether the aftermarket ones are bright enough or have other issues, I don't know
They would run cooler than normal lights as they are much more efficient at turning energy into light rather than heat
“Scientists investigate that which already is. Engineers create that which has never been.”
-- Albert Einstein
-- Albert Einstein
I like using them as side lights as I find they are quite a piercing light, very noticeable. Id like them as stop/tail lights but havent got round to finding them.
I'd be interested in main beam ones if they were any good. Less current too?
I'd be interested in main beam ones if they were any good. Less current too?
"You live more for five minutes going fast on a bike than other people do in all their life".
Marco Simoncelli.
Marco Simoncelli.
Some comments here
"NIGHT RIDE UPDATE:
ok... these things are GARBAGE for riding at night. Project about 10% of the stock bulbs. I would only use these for daytime running lights and NEVER for riding at night. Looking at them they offer good visibility of you but project almost no light out onto the road. "
http://www.apriliaforum.com/forums/show ... ost3270567
"Searching for older threads - found this... It's a noble attempt to replace the halogen lamp with an LED, but as you have discovered LED will never produce adequate light output to drive by using a retro-fit package design. Specifically the thermal management surface area need to keep the LEDs cool, thus subsequently grow the package size to much much larger than original halogen size, rendering it yet impractical. You would need upwards to around 1,200 - 1,800 lumens per bulb to light-up the night, and at these levels we are talking about way too many BTU's of LED junction heat to pipe away and still fit into any plug-n-play H1,H7, etc… package.
Next is focal point alignment– the all of the parabolic reflector surfaces are all focused to converge on a very small specific point XYZ coordinate and that happens to be where we expect the halogen filament to be located. So any light sources outside this focal point will cause varying degrees of back-scatter and glare. It's already a common problem seen in many HID retro installations because the quartz core inside the HID bulb is much larger than a filament by comparison.
If you truly ever wanted pure LED lighting that one could actually drive at night with, you would have to change the entire paradigm of light delivery and account for substantial LED junction heat dissipation. i.e. ditch the reflectors, use LED culmination lenses to focus several very high powered LEDs forward. Plus possibly implement a hydro-waterblock cooling system so you can mount the hydro-radiator somewhere less confined"
http://www.apriliaforum.com/forums/show ... hlight=LED
"NIGHT RIDE UPDATE:
ok... these things are GARBAGE for riding at night. Project about 10% of the stock bulbs. I would only use these for daytime running lights and NEVER for riding at night. Looking at them they offer good visibility of you but project almost no light out onto the road. "
http://www.apriliaforum.com/forums/show ... ost3270567
"Searching for older threads - found this... It's a noble attempt to replace the halogen lamp with an LED, but as you have discovered LED will never produce adequate light output to drive by using a retro-fit package design. Specifically the thermal management surface area need to keep the LEDs cool, thus subsequently grow the package size to much much larger than original halogen size, rendering it yet impractical. You would need upwards to around 1,200 - 1,800 lumens per bulb to light-up the night, and at these levels we are talking about way too many BTU's of LED junction heat to pipe away and still fit into any plug-n-play H1,H7, etc… package.
Next is focal point alignment– the all of the parabolic reflector surfaces are all focused to converge on a very small specific point XYZ coordinate and that happens to be where we expect the halogen filament to be located. So any light sources outside this focal point will cause varying degrees of back-scatter and glare. It's already a common problem seen in many HID retro installations because the quartz core inside the HID bulb is much larger than a filament by comparison.
If you truly ever wanted pure LED lighting that one could actually drive at night with, you would have to change the entire paradigm of light delivery and account for substantial LED junction heat dissipation. i.e. ditch the reflectors, use LED culmination lenses to focus several very high powered LEDs forward. Plus possibly implement a hydro-waterblock cooling system so you can mount the hydro-radiator somewhere less confined"
http://www.apriliaforum.com/forums/show ... hlight=LED
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To your zodiac sign
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falcomunky
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