LED headlight conversion

[TeddyG]

I want to convert to LED since they supposedly use less power and are brighter. I bought an inexpensive MIFMIA bulb to replace the H4 halogen- it fits the socket and shines a fairly bright light w/ just the ignition key turned on. When the bike starts, the light flickers. After doing some research, there's a wide variety of LED bulbs, and the best design is one that uses a cooling fan and external capacitor. The choices and prices are endless. So my question is:
Who has converted to an LED bulb that's worked well on their Laverda- what brand and model? Or is some electrical modification needed to prevent the flickering?

Thank you

 

[The Sock]

I used an Auxito H4 bulb.
The only "flickering" issue that I had was that the headlamp would dim, slightly, when the indicator bulbs were "on".
This was cured by fitting, a vast improvement, LED indicator bulbs and a Kellerman Flasher relay.

 

[piranha-bro2]

A relay would surely help isolate the circuit from extraneous ancillaries like indicators.

 

[TeddyG]

Thank you so much, but question on the flasher relay- did you install this due to flickering while using turn signals, or were you getting flickering just from the LED itself? My 750SF doesn't have turn signals and has the OEM Lucas flasher relay.
I found this video on LEDs informative:

Here's what my LED looks like w/ a built in cooling fan and capacitor- not sure if this is good or not

 

[The Sock]

Thank you so much, but question on the flasher relay- did you install this due to flickering while using turn signals, or were you getting flickering just from the LED itself? My 750SF doesn't have turn signals and has the OEM Lucas flasher relay.

If you don’t have turn signals, then there shouldn’t be any issue with the LED headlight.
Unless, perhaps, your regulator is misbehaving?

 

[TeddyG]

Yes, next I have to check the charging system since the generator light is permanently on, so something's amiss here-

 

[RGS1000RGS]

I have fitted Auxito LED bulbs in the headlights of our Jeep Cherokee and they are excellent. I had previously fitted another set of LED headlight bulbs which were okay on dip but totally ineffective on mainbeam, and the Auxito bulbs were excellent performing on both settings. I have bought 3 more Auxito bulbs, 2 for my Jota Sprint, amd the other for my 900 Thruxton to refit the OE headlamp, after trying the LED 1 piece unit that wasn't that great.

 

[natm]

I fitted a Cenmoll bulb to my SF3. Uses less watts but a lot brighter.

 

[piranha-bro2]

Nat, there's no way that the yellow-orange glow from the headlight in the 2nd pic is from a well set up H4 halogen ... might be a halogen, but I can guarantee just looking at it that it isn't receiving full voltage - a relay and healthy earth on that circuit would produce heaps more light. Not saying keep the halogen (I have 2x LED H4s in the SFQ) but your example doesn't accurately compare the two. I so often see headlights on ageing cars at night that are like a yellowish glow - guaranteed sign degradation of the wiring and earth systems. A good H4 halogen puts out a stack of white light.

 

[Paul Marx]

I still have a yellow H4 on my SF2. French legislation until the 90s.
Can't see a thing at night much better for oncoming traffic.
Slower is safer.
Paul

 

[The Sock]

Slower is safer.
Paul

Leaving it in the garage, for most of us, is safer still.
Hardly the point for most of us, though.
Here's the dipped beam comparison (incandescent on top), on mine (before I corrected the alignment).
The brightness difference is obvious, as is the is the improved visibility, while riding at night.

 

[Paul Marx]

Leaving it in the garage, for most of us, is safer still.
Hardly the point for most of us, though.
Here's the dipped beam comparison (incandescent on top), on mine (before I corrected the alignment).
The brightness difference is obvious, as is the is the improved visibility, while riding at night.

View attachment 88396View attachment 88397

I'll probably put leds at the front on my bikes, they all have leds at the back including the Falcone.
When out at night, I find the leds of oncoming vehicles painful. I live out of town, so need to see where I'm going.
On the subject of lights, I find it criminal that cars with automatic headlight switching on are allowed when it doesn't switch on the rear lights.
Paul

 

[Tippie]

I find it criminal that cars with automatic headlight switching on are allowed when it doesn't switch on the rear lights.
Paul

Virtually all of them here do. When they go into a tunnel the tail lights come on. Cars with permanently on daytime headlights often do not have the tail lights on as well, until you turn the switch to "on" and many forget because their headlights are on. Automatic high beam is another matter still.

 

[Paul Marx]

Virtually all of them here do. When they go into a tunnel the tail lights come on. Cars with permanently on daytime headlights often do not have the tail lights on as well, until you turn the switch to "on" and many forget because their headlights are on. Automatic high beam is another matter still.

Front and back must be coupled.
Paul

 

[natm]

Nat, there's no way that the yellow-orange glow from the headlight in the 2nd pic is from a well set up H4 halogen ... might be a halogen, but I can guarantee just looking at it that it isn't receiving full voltage - a relay and healthy earth on that circuit would produce heaps more light. Not saying keep the halogen (I have 2x LED H4s in the SFQ) but your example doesn't accurately compare the two. I so often see headlights on ageing cars at night that are like a yellowish glow - guaranteed sign degradation of the wiring and earth systems. A good H4 halogen puts out a stack of white light.

I'll be fitting a couple of relays to the loom shortly. Keeping the LED though.

 

[piranha-bro2]

I'll be fitting a couple of relays to the loom shortly. Keeping the LED though.

Yep, good move. They seem to be improving them all the time, as they are now very common 'upgrades'. The low beam on the twin LEDs in m y bike are fantastic, but high beam is awful - I need to find out why. They are high-end LEDs so the position of the filaments should duplicate a halogen H4 really well.

 

[motoddrob]

I can't remember the last time I turned on the headlights on the Motodd. I just don't ride at night. I did fit 2x HID projector lens lights in the fairing when I rebuilt it. It has a single filament bulb for both hi and low. The beam is lifted by a baffle panel operated by a servo and spring.
They're probably not legal in Oz and they come with a heap of complicated wiring and boxes that looks like a nightmare when the fairing is removed. I'd like to bin the lot and fit LEDs but not sure they'd work with the projector lens. IIRC the filament is H1.
The fairing was molded around the use of those projector lens so I'm sort of stuck with them.

 

[sfcpiet]

Daylight driving lights in cars are not connected to the tail lights. DDL are meant for better visibility for oncoming traffic only, pretty pointless having the rears light up as well. Would also defeat the initial aim of also being economical, ie, not putting excessive strain on the electrical circuit. This may not make much of a difference for the individual, but it certainly makes itself felt in a fleet of 25+ million vehicles... there's no such thing as free lunch.

Rears are connected in the pilot light circuits in 99.9% of all vehicles.

Automatic dip systems should be made mandatory everywhere, too many lazy cunts that couldn't care less if oncoming trafic sees anything or not, exerberated with modern xenon and LED systems.

A bright light on the garage door doesn't necessarily make a good headlight on the road. Many "high power" bulbs fail miserably in actual working conditions, penetration and spread is often inferior to the bulbs they replace. A test in light mist or drizzle quickly shows up the true qualities of lighting equipment.

piet

 

[Vince]

It helps 100% to find a long straight bit of road on a moonless night and aim the bloody things as well, the low beam is aligned to hit the road as far away as it can and still show up obstacles, focus it on the road surface and high beam doing similar but also downward so it doesn't blind oncoming vehicles. There used to be diagrams in manuals showing target heights at set distances, I vaguely remember seeing machines for car headlight high setting they used. I doubt any of this happens much these days. I couple of times I have been caught out being forced to do long night rides with crap headlight adjustments and it's horrible. I had mine nipped up that tight I couldn't adjust it, now it's possible to move it but still tight enough to not move on its own.

 

[Paul Marx]

Daylight driving lights in cars are not connected to the tail lights. DDL are meant for better visibility for oncoming traffic only, pretty pointless having the rears light up as well. Would also defeat the initial aim of also being economical, ie, not putting excessive strain on the electrical circuit. This may not make much of a difference for the individual, but it certainly makes itself felt in a fleet of 25+ million vehicles... there's no such thing as free lunch.

Rears are connected in the pilot light circuits in 99.9% of all vehicles.

Automatic dip systems should be made mandatory everywhere, too many lazy cunts that couldn't care less if oncoming trafic sees anything or not, exerberated with modern xenon and LED systems.

A bright light on the garage door doesn't necessarily make a good headlight on the road. Many "high power" bulbs fail miserably in actual working conditions, penetration and spread is often inferior to the bulbs they replace. A test in light mist or drizzle quickly shows up the true qualities of lighting equipment.

piet

I'm not talking about DDLs, but headlights that come on when it rains. In their vast majority, they aren't coupled with the rear lights. When you're riding in the rain, with mist inside your visor, drops outside and less than optimal brakes, any advance warning that there's an f...ing car in front is a potential lifesaver.
Paul