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LED Headlight Upgrade legit?

I bought my 2012 used. It had a very bright LED unit with a separate power supply. It failed one night.
I replaced with a regular halogen. At only 1900 lumens not as bright.
did not like the single point failuren plus wanted a distinctive light pattern to let cagers know I was a bike. I added inexpensive twin 4 watt led driving lights and they are white hot for daylight recognition. Added a jumper from the high beam tap. They are directed to spread the illumination so I can see deer better (ivlive in a rural area). Very successful mod both at night and during day. Have had comments from others that note I am very visible during the day. I highly recommend adding them. Have not had problems with current draw. Note: I realize that I still have a single point failure issue (the fuse and circuit), but so far so good.
 
Has anybody tried the old-fashioned approach of using a higher-power halogen? The NC should have plenty of alternator power to easily cover this; only question is whether the heat would melt things. Wiring is usually fine for this in stock form.

Do you have a link to the 4-watt driving lights you added?
 
Has anybody tried the old-fashioned approach of using a higher-power halogen? The NC should have plenty of alternator power to easily cover this; only question is whether the heat would melt things. Wiring is usually fine for this in stock form.

Do you have a link to the 4-watt driving lights you added?
I installed a 65/55 watt Osram Ultra upgrade halogen bulb but the LED G6 Evitek blows it away. I see no reason to go back to halogen bulbs. LEDs use less energy so both the wiring and reflector housing run cooler and LED light sources last thousands of hours longer than halogens do. In my ST and NC I averaged replacing a 65/55 halogen every year among three bulbs.
 
The over-driven filaments in those bulbs burn out pretty quickly, and they're overpriced in my opinion, but a true 100/90-watt H4 can last a long time and will put out much more light. Not as much as a good LED though.

How is the pattern on your LED? Does it work well on both high and low beam? I worry more about reliability with the LEDs, I know the diodes themselves should last forever but the electronics seem to be another story. Lots of failures. I gather you've been happy with yours, though.

Edit: Just checked out the G6 Evitek on Amazon. People seem happy with them. But... 9500rpm cooling fan, how much noise does that make? That would probably be the common failure point. Also, 6500K light color is very blue. Blue scatters more than yellow, it's really not a good color choice for a headlamp. But on balance the good maybe outweighs the bad.

Not a bad price... $42 or so gets a pair.
 
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The over-driven filaments in those bulbs burn out pretty quickly, and they're overpriced in my opinion, but a true 100/90-watt H4 can last a long time and will put out much more light. Not as much as a good LED though.

How is the pattern on your LED? Does it work well on both high and low beam? I worry more about reliability with the LEDs, I know the diodes themselves should last forever but the electronics seem to be another story. Lots of failures. I gather you've been happy with yours, though.

Edit: Just checked out the G6 Evitek on Amazon. People seem happy with them. But... 9500rpm cooling fan, how much noise does that make? That would probably be the common failure point. Also, 6500K light color is very blue. Blue scatters more than yellow, it's really not a good color choice for a headlamp. But on balance the good maybe outweighs the bad.

Not a bad price... $42 or so gets a pair.
I've got that exact LED in my NC with 450+ hours of use, still going strong.
The low beam vs high beam seams to me like a rectangle low beam is wide and high beam is long. Low will work well if your going 65mph or so after that you start out running your light. On my commute to work I would ride 80mph almost constantly but that's because I know the road and I'm fairly confident in knowing what's ahead (you can easily see anything reflective such as animal eyes or tail lights from a vehicle that's off from 400 yards) but small things like road kill or pieces of a tractor tire appeared right before I was on top of them. Having my headlight on high beam I would see road debris 1.5 or 2 seconds earlier, that's allot of distance at 80mph but I sure that it was high enough to bother oncoming drivers so I didn't do that often. After saying all that I can defiantly see and be seen better them with the stock light (especially reflective material) and after adding a couple of cheap auxiliary lights I can keep my headlight on low beam and still see fast down the road.
a857008edebced0e7beaa83f9a990a6f.jpg

The rectangle pattern I was talking about
Evitek LED Headlight Bulbs for Cars Motorcycles- Hi/Lo Beam H4 9003- Plug n Play, 40W 6500K Pure White OSRAM Chip LED Bulbs Amazon.com: Evitek LED Headlight Bulbs for Cars Motorcycles- Hi/Lo Beam H4 9003- Plug n Play, 40W 6500K Pure White OSRAM Chip LED Bulbs: Automotive

And the auxiliary lights I have. I just installed these a couple weeks ago so I can't confirm endurance but for the price I'm happy with them so far
P.S. I added silicone to anything with a opening as a precaution
Xprite 2" Inch 10-Watt Cree High Power LED Off-Road Spot Light (2-Pack) Amazon.com: Xprite 2" Inch 10-Watt Cree High Power LED Off-Road Spot Light (2-Pack): Automotive
 
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I think I may take a flyer on these (the Evitek) and see what I think. I'll put one in the KLR (since it's easier) and if I like it I'll see if I can manage the job to put one in the NC.

The KLR has a particularly lousy headlamp that could benefit from almost anything.
 
I think I may take a flyer on these (the Evitek) and see what I think. I'll put one in the KLR (since it's easier) and if I like it I'll see if I can manage the job to put one in the NC.

The KLR has a particularly lousy headlamp that could benefit from almost anything.
That'll give you broad strokes of what it can do but the reflective housing plays a large part so one bike to another could be different, still you get two so why not. Helpful hint for the install on the NC is get a set of off center long needle noise pliers
3b8d6cbac2796a00e5ef81c3a426a8da.jpg

I got one like this in a combo pack with 3 or 4 differing kind of pliers from harbor freight years ago.
The only difficult part of the install on the NC was reinstalling the retaining clip (a piece of bent spring steel) the rest was pretty easy 20 minutes from start to finish
 
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Hooking the spring bale is an acquired skill I guess. It takes 10 seconds with your fingers but I've done a few times.
 
With the ST1300's fairing you can't see it and touch it at the same time so you have to do it by touch. It's actually very easy to do on the NC as well when facing forward and kneeling down by the left side of the front wheel. (Right handed that is)
 
I am using a Cyclops H4 7000 lumen in my NC. The 3 tab collar detaches from the element and fan assembly, so one can easily place that in the spring retention rear of the headlight and once in place insert the element/fan assembly and twist to lock in place. I also took the boot cover and enlarged the rear to accommodate the fan.

I have been using this for about 1.5 years with no problems.
 
Was out after dark last night riding my NCx with it's new LED headlight. Right afterwards I took out my wife's CB500x to put some miles on it since she has not been able to ride lately due to recovering from surgery. Her 2017 CB has the OEM LED headlight. The NCx light was considerably brighter and lit up the road so much more. It was a bit shocking riding them back to back. I need to fit her CB with running lights before I put them on NCx.
 
Was out after dark last night riding my NCx with it's new LED headlight. Right afterwards I took out my wife's CB500x to put some miles on it since she has not been able to ride lately due to recovering from surgery. Her 2017 CB has the OEM LED headlight. The NCx light was considerably brighter and lit up the road so much more. It was a bit shocking riding them back to back. I need to fit her CB with running lights before I put them on NCx.

I'm just constantly blown away by the exponentially increasing lumen numbers I see.

I assume some of it is exaggerated marketing puffery, but there's no doubt some of the new LEDs are incredibly bright.

I remember when the H2 halogen, fairly rare in the US, was somewhat revered because it put out something like 1800 lumens on just... 55-watts? I've owned some Cibie and Marchal lamps that used these and were excellent. Part of that is down to beam pattern, which I think a lot of the newer lamps don't pay that much attention to. Often, actually, none at all.

HID capsules as far as I know are still in the 3500 lumen range.

More light is nice, but it's not all good. These are not all being used responsibly, and some are bad enough there's no way to use them responsibly at all.

Edit: the CB500x looks like an interesting bike. I'd be curious to know how it compares to the NC in terms of handling, riding position, engine feel. No doubt it's much revvier and less torquey, but that's its own kind of fun.
 
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I'm just constantly blown away by the exponentially increasing lumen numbers I see.
I assume some of it is exaggerated marketing puffery, but there's no doubt some of the new LEDs are incredibly bright.
I run a pair of Clearwater LEDs that incorporate a variable dimmer switch. Each housing contains three LEDs and when cranked up they truly turn night into day. Like, mid-afternoon, bright, sunny day....

6000 lumens will do that ;-)

I have them wired so that when I hit my high beams, it triggers full on from the lamps, no matter what position I have the digital rheostat in. With the high beams off, I can adjust the output from mild to wild with a simple turn of the dial, and use them often just for daylight running lamps or can crank them down if in heavy traffic at night. Pretty slick.

A good LED will make your stock headlamp appear like a weak yellow candle in comparison. Seriously.

Those Cyclops bulbs sound pretty sweet also and the reviews are great. Will be ordering one.

13,000 lumens should be just about right for riding around up here in moose country......
 
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Edit: the CB500x looks like an interesting bike. I'd be curious to know how it compares to the NC in terms of handling, riding position, engine feel. No doubt it's much revvier and less torquey, but that's its own kind of fun.

Since the CB500x is my wife's bike I have not had too much time on it. The wheelbase is about 5 inches shorter than the NC and the CB is 30 or 40 lbs lighter. The NC does have more torque but the CB does have lots of power climbing a long steep hill. My wife is 5'5" and she felt more comfortable with the size of the CB vs the NC, although we ended up shaving an inch off the CB's seat to help her get flat footed to feel more comfortable. As a kid she had a Honda 50 trail mini-bike and this is her first big girls bike. We test drove both bikes at the same time plus probably spent an hour in a large abandoned parking lot trading the bikes back and forth probably 6 times to experience the differences before deciding which bike she was getting. I think the CB is racer looking, light and felt more fun to make fast turns. I don't think you can go wrong with either bike. But after owning and riding the NC and now getting on the CB it just feels small to me (I am 5' 11"). I am happy I got the NC. She is very happy with the CB and with her recent surgery frustrated she can't get back on it yet. Here is a picture of both bikes when we brought them home, pre farkels.

Bikes.jpg
 
Has anybody tried the old-fashioned approach of using a higher-power halogen? The NC should have plenty of alternator power to easily cover this; only question is whether the heat would melt things. Wiring is usually fine for this in stock form.

Do you have a link to the 4-watt driving lights you added?

Glenn - this is what I bought. I have the Honda light bar and mounting was relatively straightforward. This purchase was for 4 lights.

1 item sold by motorbox2015

2X Bright Silver 12V-85V LED Spot Light Headlamp Light Motor Bike Car Motorcycle
( 141998879525 )
Quantity: 2
Add note
ITEM PRICE:
US $15.98

This info is all my history would show; here is a link to similar units:
12V-85V 20W Super Bright LED Spot Light Head Lamp Motor Bike Car Motorcycle BE | eBay

These are not high dollar units, but I am happy with them. They are white hot and very visible for daytime visibility. I use the second pair on my boat. Very low power consumption. Good luck! Jim
 
Glenn - this is what I bought. I have the Honda light bar and mounting was relatively straightforward. This purchase was for 4 lights.

1 item sold by motorbox2015

2X Bright Silver 12V-85V LED Spot Light Headlamp Light Motor Bike Car Motorcycle
( 141998879525 )
Quantity: 2
Add note
ITEM PRICE:
US $15.98

This info is all my history would show; here is a link to similar units:
12V-85V 20W Super Bright LED Spot Light Head Lamp Motor Bike Car Motorcycle BE | eBay

These are not high dollar units, but I am happy with them. They are white hot and very visible for daytime visibility. I use the second pair on my boat. Very low power consumption. Good luck! Jim
Links not working for me. Hey you mind putting up a picture of the lights mounted on your Honda light bar?
 
I'm just constantly blown away by the exponentially increasing lumen numbers I see.

I assume some of it is exaggerated marketing puffery, but there's no doubt some of the new LEDs are incredibly bright.

Lots of "calculated values" based on the maximum efficiency of the LED, and sometimes the other components too, out there.

It's like the guy who added the cold air intake to his car where the box said upto 10 Extra Horsepower! and then the exhaust kit that said upto 20 more Horsepower, and all the other kits and figuring they have 300 more horsepower than stock, but if that car ever got put on a dyno to actually test it that horsepower isn't there... more power than stock, probably, but not the 300hp he "calculated".

The bulbs are still far brighter than normal bulbs... when you pump 40-50 watts into an LED that is 50 times more light per watt than a 55w halogen that's going to happen... but the calculated values are usually over estimates, calculated based on peak measured performance under controlled conditions in a lab.
 
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