Motorcycle LED Headlight Conversion - Install and Test! 

Very illuminating 🤔

Good helpful video. I have a 2019 GSXS 1000 FA which come out with 2 x H7 Halogen bulbs, one bulb is low beam and both on are high beam. Here in New Zealand it is compulsory to have your low headlight beam on while you are riding. At night time you are better off riding with both eyes closed so I bought through Amazon 2 x LED H7 plug and play bulbs which use half the the power and 3 - 4 times brighter. At night it's amazing just how much brighter they are but you have a brilliant white light rather than a dull yellow shade, well worth it. Cheers, Pete from NZ

Thank you for everything you just presented to us, your very intelligent and i love your good heart to take the time to move the camera around to show us viewers. Thank you so so much!🎉🎉🎉🎉🎉 I donated to you sir... his donation is in the description for a FYI!

Very informative vid! Great job explaining and demonstrating the differences right down to the amp draw. I've just added this to my "next steps" list!

Thanks , this is the kind of informative videos we need 👌

Great alternative. Fitted mine this weekend with no issues. Very chuffed.

Way easier than a full conversion ! Idk why I'm watching this thow my bike won't even start rn 😂

Also led's produce more lumens than that of an old Halogen. A crisper whiter light, using less power, smaller diameter cable required. They pick out better details on the road as well. Great vid

Good job explaining everything clearly. Many skip that step...

Thanks for the helpful info, I have a Honda express with a six volt system and I can’t wait to my end result.

Great help. I droped my sealed beam from my k5 . Didnt no weather to go back or try new . Your vid made all the diffrence cheers . Jamie from Newzealand . Prob over $200 . But thats nz for ya .

An interesting thing is that the filament bulb is very reliant on voltage for its brightness, so at lower revs the light will be dimmer, while on the LED it is a current driven device. You will often see 9 to 32 volts or 5 to 15 volts on an LED bulb that means that even at the lower voltage you get full light output - the 'power supply' part of an LED bulb, either separate or internal as the bulbs are moving to now, is actually a 'constant current' circuit and that is why the voltage range is so large. The LED bulb will also have a temperature sensor built into the bulb, which can reduce power to LED's if the heat gets too much to prevent burnout of the LED and power supply. Maybe the temperature sensor did its job when you were testing the power draw, and as the heat built up it reduced the power drawn through your meter.

Another banger of a video =) VERY informative and I plan to use this testing scenario to FINALLY learn more about the charging circuit on my '81 GS450T. I recently replaced all of the lighting on my bike with LEDs. The lights look wonderful, but now I am faced with the risk of burning up my Stator if I don't do one of two things. 1) Upgrade my Regulator/Rectifier to a Series style to replace the old Shunt style. ...or... 2) Simply use up more power to get as close as possible to the draw the old lights had on the system. I can't find a good Series R/R that I can wire in for under $100, so my most cost effective solution is to either add more lighting or find some other cheap way to bleed off that extra power my Stator is generating. I don't want to run the risk of burning up my Stator or R/R. At least... that is the way I understand the situation =\ I wish I understood the power system better on this old bike. Anyway... EXCELLENT video about LED headlight conversion. Very ILLUMINATING! =)

Nice! I put an led in my 1979 Garelli Gransport moped, huge difference! (1157 bulb). I worry about putting them in my 03 Suzuki SV1000S due to the heat and total plastic headlight housing. Yes, my CB350 twin can't charge the battery, run the headlight, and operate electronic ignition but Ricks sent me an upgraded charging system for that project.

After I get my NUUT set up on my incandescent lights on my stock CX, I will eventually upgrade to all LED, just got to save up the money for now. Shouldn't be hard. I may even upgrade to the headlight you used in that last video, but then I'd fear I would want to also upgrade my dash and the project just never ends lol.

In Sweden low beam is legal up to 2000 lumens (at 12 feet) in brightness and the stock halogen are only around 800 lumens so I switched to a 16 watt "often sold as offroad LED's "LED with 1600 Lumens and it really makes a good difference. I also made sure the imaging was correct so you don't blind people all the time and get a ticket. In Europe LEDs are not approved legaly because they don¨t brake that often leading to loses in halogen sales....So just switch to "correct type for your bike" LEDs and save yourself from bad headlight brightness.

Nice when I saw this video I realised that I've installed this LED headlight 👍. It's awesome 💥👌

I wish my bike had a removable bulb. The bulb in my 79' CM400 is the entire glass bulb lol

Thanks for the comparison and test. Very helpful. I think the LED resistance went up with heat, and lowered the current draw as a result

Nice video....simple and easy to understand....love your sense of humor also!

All 'shunt' Rectifier Regulator ( RR )work by 'wasting' any electrical power not used by devices into the heatsink but the load on the stator is not reduced.... putting in a bulb that draws fewer amps will increase the temperature of the RR heatsink because extra power is pumped into heatsink, maybe causing burnout. I fitted an Electrex world 'series' style RR, this acts more like a light dimmer in 'series' with the load, and i tested the temperature of heatsink with OEM shunt RR fitted at 75deg C, then fitted series regulator and heatsink was 37degC and the load on stator coil reduced, both these readings were with an H4 led headlight bulb fitted. The 'shunt' RR sits across the load ( 'shunt' is electrical speak for 'in parallel with load' and 'series' is a term for 'in line with the load', which is like a regular household light dimmer works, it only allows the amount of power required through. )

This was an excellent tutorial/educational led swap video. Thank you

Nice 👍. I like the demo with your multi-meter showing current/wattage usage. I don’t know how much folks normally care about wattage usage, but MC alternators have a finite of current draw, and outside of some touring rigs, it’s not that much. Any amount you can add back into that bank so to speak, allows you to add on, as you said, other options, like heated grips, or other stuff. A very solid upgrade. I’m thinking my 2002 Connie might need an LED upgrade 😉👍😎… . Never had to change out a MC alternator, but it can’t be an easy task as it is on a cage, er automobile… .

Cheers for making this video. I saw these on ebay the other day and was thinking of putting one on my sv650

Nice video! Straight to the point, and really informative as well!

Very informative video, ready for your next video.

Awesome video man 👌🏽

Awesome video…. Very informative - great to see the V A W calculations - thanks

Thanks. Excellent presentation and information!

Thanks for this video I have an 1988 750 virago amd want a simple LED build to save on the load draw for my old bike this was a great video thanks

A lux meter at the far end and a multi meter on the battery would been helpful as reference but I'm sold on LED so far right now.

Thanks for the video my dude. Looking for a decent H4 LED bulb.

Great video...Thank you. Love the triangle👍

Interesting comparision. A couple of years ago I looked into LED car headlights for my car; the LEDs then didn't perform as well compared to halogens.

Great job on the video! Told us everything we need to know about the changeover. I just put a pair of these on my 2006 FJR1300 and changed one at a time. The pattern was exactly the same on the low beam, but it was bright white! Almost drowned out the yellow of the Halogen bulb. The only thing I'm worried about is that the plug doesn't fit on the spades very snug. It doesn't take alot to pull the plug off. I hope that they don't vibrate off in my travels!

Awesome video and helpful information brother

A gem ,many thanks.

An excellent and Scientific test..Thank you

What about distance comparison, for me the high beam is to show more of the road in front as well as the sides. You can’t judge the lights in a confined area you need to be on a dark road so you can properly compare how they light up the road. I would rather see what’s ahead than to the side as you have more time to react if it’s in front of you than trying to stop quickly if something darts out from the side.

There are no "tiny batteries" in there. What's happening when the current draw drops is that it's self-limiting the current draw because it's starting to get hot.

Get a bread board and you can test all this easier. Great job tho. I use a load resistor for my led connections due to higher resistance with led bulbs. Does this bulb have an integrated one?

I installed a 2 sided led H4 bulb on my motorcycle and got a broken up light pattern compared to the element from the halogen OEM bulb. I've heard that a 3 sided led bulb projects much cleaner. Has anyone dealt with this?

LED is the way!! 🤘

Well im convinced. Getting me some LEDs for my 83 nighthawk. She has a hard enough time charging the battery

Great video, as they all are. Have just subscribed!.. i'm in the UK and cannot find thes ebulbs anywhere over here! certainly I mod. I intend to do on all my bikes.(been riding now for 47 years1 Also. would you send anything from your shop(shirts etc ) to the UK?.. cheers Andy

Watts or wattage is the amount of power consumed by the light. It's not output. With lights you have to use a light meter and it will usually measure in Lux which is the amount of light that falls on a certain area. Lumens is the total amount of light put out by the, bulb. Those are both metric units btw. Pretty common, although generally the Lumen unit is mostly used in commercial lighting, not with something like a headlight bulb. The greatest problem to solve with designing an led headlight bulb to replace an incandescent headlight bulb is that the headlight's reflective surfaces that surround the bulb are designed to work with an incandescent bulb. The filaments, no matter what brand are pretty much always in the same place so that the reflective surfaces catch and redirect that light in a designed way so that the light is totaled and directed into a beam pattern. The trouble is that headlight reflectors designed for incandescent bulbs often don't work very well with an Led headlight bulb, because the light emitter doesn't put out the light the same way as the incandescent bulb. Often the light from the Led is fragmented, by the incandescent bulb designed reflector housing. It spreads out over a larger area so it's not directed well. Sometimes the light doesn't even go as far, and you end up blinding oncoming motorists. I think that's why there's so many different companies producing led headlight bulbs. They can each make their own claims of being the best. I own a 2013 Yamaha FJR1300a, it has two H4 halogen powered headlights. I don't like the yellowish light that they put out and have been hoping that somebody will come out with a radically different kind of H4 Led bulb that will give the same or better pattern but in a brighter whiter light, but so far it hasn't happened. This problem is really common with installing Led bulbs in a reflective housing designed around an incandescent light bulb. The latest thing I've tried is an Led H4 that allows you to turn the bulb in the housing to try and achieve a pattern and light concentration that matches or exceeds the incandescent bulb. The trouble is, you may get a decent low beam pattern and concentration but then end up with a bad high beam output. For my cycle I've been considering the possibility of retrofitting a projector light assembly into my current housing, but I have very limited space. Some of the companies that are making Led headlight bulbs make some wild claims about their light output too. Keep in mind that the emitter is not the part that gets hot on an Led, it's the base. That's the opposite of course of an incandescent bulb. So if someone's claiming their Led puts out 10,000 lens, but their base doesn't have a fan, you should question whether or not it's true. If it is true you may end up with an Led bulb that melts the headlight housing base. www.bing.com/videos/search?q=The+differencence+between+lux+and+lumins&view=detail&mid=9323DDA65FFFD028FE589323DDA65FFFD028FE58&FORM=VIRE

What a difference!

curious to see how it looks on the road. Some LEDs don't throw out as good a pattern or have sharp cut off lines.

👍👍👍 very good

Such wicked builds & finishes. Does this conversion not require a full wave bridge rectifier & capacitor ?

Now thats what im talking about

We aren't allowed to use Led bulbs with lenses that have diffusers like halogen lights have.

Are these still for sale?

I am 100% convinced LED are much better for motorcycles. But your video is just not fair. You can't expect an incandescent bulb to perform well on a stopped engine. They are designed for a higher voltage. You can't use a camera to show people who bright is a light. They are designed to adjust the image color to an average "grey". Last but not least, LED are pushing a lot of light out...but this light is also a bit more difficult to manage. Old bikes optics are sometimes unable to focus this light properly. It results in a good enough lighting of the motorcycle front ... but also a lot of ligth spread outside of the intended lighting area. It's not a problem for daytime use, and will probably help visibility. But at night it can be real dazzling for other drivers. If you make such a conversion, please test it for this aspect too.

I need to get that for my vtx

I'd love to know if you could change some of the components in the LEDs power delivery to drop the lumens a bit more

Hi ,thanx for great video ,I have a 03 R1 ,and would like to do the same mod ,Would you need to change the stock Headlight relays when changing to LED bulbs or does it not affect the relays? Thanx watching from South Africa

LED circuitry likely dumping more heat on the low beam because the current draw is the same as high beam.

If the stock bulb is 35w, will changing to a 55/60 bulb damage the reflector?

Thanks for the info

I was curious on the temperatur the led's give in a closed headlightbucket. If you could ever compare that to a stock halogen would be a 'nicetoknow'

what LED bulb is for RC200 version 2? do you have any idea sir?

I wonder how long the LED bulb will last in a incolsed headlight bucket before it overheats and burns itself out? I just put LED bulbs in my 2006 Suzuki Burgman AN 400 scooter. Now this design has a fairing with headlight reflectors much like a newer car does. It has duel headlights on both low and high beam. So the new LED bulbs came with a separate locking ring that you put in the headlight module the lock it in with the spring. Then put the rubber garment over it the install the bulb though the center of the locking ring and it twist lock in place. The heat sink is outside of the headlight housing which helps cool the bulb and there is plenty of space because the area is open for air to the radiator. Anyway the bulbs made a big difference for night riding.

I run a 65/100 bulb in my stock H4. No comparison to any LED.

The only difference in High and low beam is the location of the LEDS on the assembly, both LEDS consume same amount of current.

Pretty helpfull, thanks

How did you opened / amplified the bulb hole? I have exactly the same issue with my choice of LED H4 bulb.

Loved the video. I have been wanting to upgrade my bikes headlight but was not sure it was possible. Would this bulb work for a 2004 Suzuki VS800GL Intruder, if so where could I purchase the bulb? Thanks!

Can you do this for the rear lights too? If I start to save too much power, will I need a change of fuses?

There is more light on the ceiling than on the floor(road), maybe the bulb is upside down?

Hi will this work on 2020 Bashan storm ? Thx

What is the light and where can i get it. Thank you

wondering how much the current will drop if the bulb gets really hot. obviously it has to choose between reducing the light output or overheating itself. if the current was that low on a 55w the voltage must have dropped below 12v. I've measured a H4 55 /60 using as much as 73w

I have Never watched a video where the name of the product was deleted. Why?

Great video! I bought a used motorcycle, that had a LED bulb with a little adapter block, instead of the original halogen one. But the low beam is not working, only the high one. And I'm wondering if the LED is defected, or the guy that installed it has done a sloppy job. All LED bulbs should have both high and low beam, right?

How do you know which side of the bulb is the ground pin? I had a look at some wiring diagrams and sometimes the ground is the left pin instead of the central pin.

Where can I purchase the bulbs? Do you have any recommendations for led turn signal bulbs? Thanks. 9:49

I didn't see this on your site. Do you have a link to the bulb?

Hey BHB. Thanks for the vid. I have the same setup on my 84 Nighthawk 650, but I have a strobing/flickering issue when the bike is at idle, the bike doesnt really start to charge the battery until 2500rpm by design - any suggestions?

Very blinding if you look directly into them, but they dont light up the road very well. These are fine if you have a 1960s classic vehicle that doesn't put out enough watts to run decent bulbs.

Bulb top middle pin is not the common pin that's the low beam

I bought this same LED and I just found your vid after. If your headlight lens doesn’t diffuse light you don’t want this. The pattern is ugly and doesn’t work very well. I assume if your hike diffuses it would look great. not on my BMW XChallenge

Is it possible to swap the Halogen bulb with a LED bulb on a Honda VT1100C Shadow 1985-1986? If yes, then is it possible to convert that bike's headlight from reflector to projector by adding a projector lens into the headlight?

I have 1990 HD softail and looking to change my bulbs.. What is the actual name of the led bulbs your using here?

I tested mine at 1.3a at 12v, so about 15.6w. they're not really that much different then my original Osram Ultra life bulbs in terms of brightness. I'm not really a big fan of the colour temperature though. I'd much rather warm white but that's just me. I worked out that the break even point of £20 will be reached in 400 hours of operation. No idea how long that will take though as I maybe use my lights about 4 hours a week around winter and 30 minutes a week in summer... So that point may take 2-4 years considering it'll take 100 weeks at 4 hours/week

cannot find this light on your site?

My led is flickering when idling.

The LED do not Fit ! It is to long for the XV and Vmax Light After install the Light is to high and if you want to lower the Ligh the LED contakt the Back of the Lamp and cant go down

What was the system voltage at idle, LED vs halogen? I know some bikes don't charge at idle, like my CB360, which won't idle without a battery.

How has the bulb held up since it was installed? It isn't listed in your amazon store?

How many lumen is the led beam?

What bulb is this??

Will these LED’s be available to ship to the UK?

does this fit on a virago535?

Led bulb name?

If you keep tapping the booty, they'll make it an R rating lol

Can you show the viewers these "Tiny Batteries" you speak of?