Conversion to LED bulb in Headlight

[gregjet]

Showbizwolf. That bulb will NOT give a proper pattern with a halogen reflector.
The light scatter from LEDS AND HID bilbs is because of emmiter size, position and orientation. The LEDs that emulate the QI's scatter exactly the same as a QI. Colour temperature is available in a range from mud ( old incandsecent colour) through semi mud ( QI Colour temperature) to decent sun temperature to ridiculous greens and blue ultra highs . They are no more blinding than other lights if focused and cut off properly. The upper end biggest problem is light scatter from water particles and country road contrast problems.
In a city, the background light will make ALL car bulbs almost irrelevant if focused properly as you eyes stop down for the extra available light.

[ShowBizWolf]

Wait... ok so you're saying the Native H4 I linked to will NOT work ? Darnit!!

Here I was all excited because I sent ADVmonster an email last night... and they got back to me today. Said they have had other GS owners confirm that it does fit, (yes I specifically asked about the stock round E headlight), that it does work how it's supposed to, and it uses 25W instead of the stock 55W.

sigh ...well... they also said that if I did go ahead and buy one and it didn't fit, they would give me a refund (even though their policies say otherwise.)

Gonna have to think about this one some more I guess 

[Big Rich]

It would be pretty quick & easy to test the light pattern (at least after you have the headlight apart).

Biz, here's the link to Sanjoh's thread on ADVRider:
http://advrider.com/index.php?threads/led-auxiliary-lights.607184/page-243

There's discussion about ALL of his products in that thread, including his H4 led replacements.

[ShowBizWolf]

Ahhh Big Rich that's so crazy I was just reading that now!!

I'm leaning towards just taking one for the team and trying it out... not totally ready yet... but leaning that way.

Also thought this thread was interesting because it has more pictures of the bulb:
http://f650.com/forum/showthread.php?33846-Advmonster-native-H4-LED-headlight-bulb/page2&s=69702001925ef41c93f57d15acfa7a5d

Wish more people who have installed these would have posted reviews and thoughts on the actual site.

[Big Rich]

I am pretty sure Ben2Go has tried an led bulb in the E bucket.....might try and send him a pm as well.

[ShowBizWolf]

Got it. PM'd 

Thank you to everyone so far for all your replies and input in this thread. I don't want to part with $50 if I don't have to... but I'd like to finally get to the bottom of this and maybe help people find a simple solution if it finally exists / has been developed.

(...can you guys tell it's been slow here at work lately?) 

[ben2go]

I have installed a couple Advmonster H4 R3 units into the E model head light. The original Advmonster H4, I believe was design with the round Stanley style headlights in mind that are used on many bikes all around the world. The ones I have installed for people have yet to find any problems with them. The headlight will need to be adjusted afterwards. They usually need to go down a little. The rubber boot on the back of the head light will need to be cut open a little to allow for the back of the bulb.

http://stores.advmonster.com/h4-r3-led-headlight/

[ShowBizWolf]

Ahhh wonderful! The same one that Bluesmudge has had success with. Thank you for the reply Ben, many thanks.

If they were able to develop that bulb which will work with the stock housing and reflectors then I don't see why that compatibility would go away with the "new and improved" Native H4.

Based on everything I've looked up, read and all the replies here, I'll most likely give it a shot and find out for sure if it will work.

[ben2go]

Ahhh wonderful! The same one that Bluesmudge has had success with. Thank you for the reply Ben, many thanks.

If they were able to develop that bulb which will work with the stock housing and reflectors then I don't see why that compatibility would go away with the "new and improved" Native H4.

Based on everything I've looked up, read and all the replies here, I'll most likely give it a shot and find out for sure if it will work.

You're welcome. Happy I could help.

[Big Rich]

Cheers Ben! I knew we could count on ya.

[ben2go]

Cheers Ben! I knew we could count on ya.

Thanks Rich. I help when I can.

[mr72]

There's a ton of discussion of these things on other automotive forums.

The LED bulb will work fine... this one along with many others, including those which do a good job of switching to high-beam. I will probably eventually get one as well for my GS, unless I replace the entire reflector assy with an LED light.

The biggest complaint most people have about these is about the cutoff not being precisely the same as it is with a halogen bulb, so they are said to "blind" other drivers. I can imagine this would be a worry in a car where you are primarily using your headlights at night to make driving visible (and there are two of them) but on a motorcycle a big part of the value of the headlights is to make the motorcycle visible even during the day. Some extra light "bleeding" doesn't sound like such a bad thing especially if the lights are brighter, particularly during the day.

BTW there are many other LED H4 bulb replacements that all should work and a lot of them are half the price of this advrider one, if that makes a difference. For just about $10 more than this advrider bulb you can get an entire 7" LED replacement lamp that eliminates the issue of reflector compatibility altogether.

My only concern with this particular bulb and many of the other replacements is the limited amount of space behind the headlight reflector where all of the wiring is crammed. On my bike, it could be a challenge to fit the heat sink and little brick in there.

[ben2go]

There's a ton of discussion of these things on other automotive forums.

The LED bulb will work fine... this one along with many others, including those which do a good job of switching to high-beam. I will probably eventually get one as well for my GS, unless I replace the entire reflector assy with an LED light.

The biggest complaint most people have about these is about the cutoff not being precisely the same as it is with a halogen bulb, so they are said to "blind" other drivers. I can imagine this would be a worry in a car where you are primarily using your headlights at night to make driving visible (and there are two of them) but on a motorcycle a big part of the value of the headlights is to make the motorcycle visible even during the day. Some extra light "bleeding" doesn't sound like such a bad thing especially if the lights are brighter, particularly during the day.

BTW there are many other LED H4 bulb replacements that all should work and a lot of them are half the price of this advrider one, if that makes a difference. For just about $10 more than this advrider bulb you can get an entire 7" LED replacement lamp that eliminates the issue of reflector compatibility altogether.

My only concern with this particular bulb and many of the other replacements is the limited amount of space behind the headlight reflector where all of the wiring is crammed. On my bike, it could be a challenge to fit the heat sink and little brick in there.

The Advmonster LED bulb has the cut off on low beam. There's many pictures of this on the advrider thread that has been linked to in this thread. Advmonster designs their LED headlights specifically for motorcycles, not cars. Automotive lighting is different from moto lighting.

HID lights blind everyone, unless they are in a projector housing. The projector is what gives the beam pattern and cut off. That is a whole different topic tho.

[ShowBizWolf]

The LED bulb will work fine...

Thank you for the additional note of confidence!

but on a motorcycle a big part of the value of the headlights is to make the motorcycle visible even during the day. Some extra light "bleeding" doesn't sound like such a bad thing especially if the lights are brighter, particularly during the day.

That makes sense to me... good point !!

BTW there are many other LED H4 bulb replacements that all should work and a lot of them are half the price of this advrider one, if that makes a difference.

I guess I just didn't look hard enough or well enough. Could you maybe link some of these other LED H4 replacements to this thread so others can see and have options to choose from? Future searches, lurkers, etc.

For just about $10 more than this advrider bulb you can get an entire 7" LED replacement lamp that eliminates the issue of reflector compatibility altogether.

That was indeed another option that was brought up earlier in this thread. I personally didn't want to go that route however because I've done a decent amount of work to my stock headlight bucket over the years... soaking it in Evaporust, coating the inside with bedliner, doing a nice paint job on the outside of it and also paying a stupidly high amount of money for a brand new OEM chrome ring to replace my rashed and rusted one. Didn't want to just chuck it and replace after all that TLC  But that doesn't mean others won't want to do it! I'm sure there are some quite nifty ones out there for sale.

[mr72]

With a replacement led lamp like this knee
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01DUDR90C/ref=wl_it_dp_o_pC_nS_ttl?_encoding=UTF8&colid=18UX50URVZ2DT&coliid=I1XBNKSF61PZ49
You only replace the reflector and lens assembly, you keep the bucket and trim ring.

In theory anyway, I haven't tried it.

Search amazon or eBay for LED H4 bulbs and there are plenty with the emitters on one side and flexible heat sink like the advrider one that should work. The beam cutoff is from the reflector and lens, not the bulb. You just need a bulb that emits light in the same orientation and direction as the halogen bulb so it directs light into the stock reflector the same way. For cars, that seems to be kind of a tough trick but I bet it works well enough for a GS with most of the directional LEDs.

Again, in theory.

The advrider bulb is a known quantity and worth the peace of mind.

[ShowBizWolf]

OH oh I understand what you meant now. When I first read it, I thought you meant that there are many other LED H4's that are just the single bulb like the Native is. You were talking about the bulbs with the extra wiring, heat sink, etc. Yes I did find a selection of those... like for example the one that Watcher linked to as well as the one Bluesmudge uses.

I wasn't wanting to mess with that extra stuff and that's why I was excited to discover the Native H4.

Status says shipped! Should arrive by the end of the week so I can test it out.

[ShowBizWolf]

Just finished installing the Native H4. It fits in the stock E housing and is super bright!!! Also has a very similar cutoff as the stock bulb (I took pics before) but I want to adjust things correctly when I'm sober (it IS Christmas eve afterall  )

[Big Rich]

Good to hear Biz! Comparison pics would be awesome.....

[ShowBizWolf]

Ok so I haven't had much time to mess with this but I did find out that I don't have 25' of space so I can aim the headlight. My garage is exactly 25' long... if I open the door and back the bike out into my driveway to make it 25' from the headlight to the back wall, it's not gonna be accurate because my driveway has a downhill grade to it... the bike won't be level.

I want to do this properly because tbh, I have never aimed the headlight... nor do I know for sure if my inspection mechanic ever messed with it... but I DO know that my high beam has always been worthless imo. Low beam has always been great.

Can the headlight be aimed correctly if I do.. let's say.... 20' away from the back wall? I found one YouTube video demonstrating how it can be done from 12' away... but when ya google search and get 10+ results saying 25' and only 1 that says 12' it kinda leaves me wondering 

Oh and also, the cutoff is (as I said before) very similar to the stock bulb... I'm just thinking it'll need adjusted down just as ben2go predicted... but again, I don't know if what I was starting with is/was correct.

Merry Christmas to everyone btw!!! 

[ben2go]

I have never done the wall method. I find a large empty parking lot after dark and set my high beam, then check the low beam. Then take a ride to check it out. Then I adjust as need, if needed.