Night riding 2: convert stock H7 bulbs to plug and play LEDs .... | GTAMotorcycle.com

Night riding 2: convert stock H7 bulbs to plug and play LEDs ....

MacDoc

Well-known member
Site Supporter
I'm sure people have done this.

Looking for

a) source

b) results

On the night ride last night I noticed my high beams on the CBF sucked tho the low beams were okay..

Anyone got tips on LED conversion?

Not doing HIDs
 
Tried long reply, "internal server error".

Majority on the market are crap.

Look for a small LED source in the same location as the filament on the halogen bulb. Do not buy those with a large number of smaller LEDs in a cylindrical pattern.

A fan is a mechanical thing that can fail.

Heat sinks can be rather large.

The good ones nowadays seem to have flexible copper strips for heat dissipation that you can tuck away around the socket.
 
Last edited:
Timely thread. I ordered a cheap chinese H7 LED months ago. They arrived some time ago and I finally got around to installing it on my VTX a few nights ago, and went for a ride. Absolutely terrible - low beam was almost like there was nothing at all, and high beam was passable (I could at least see where I was going) but still not even comparable to the factory halogen.

So, last night, I ordered one of these from Amazon.

https://www.amazon.ca/gp/product/B01M0F8DCZ/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o00_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

The price seems too good to be true, but the reviews are solid, glowing even for the most part.

I just got the shipment notification and I will have it tomorrow. I'll install it and go for a ride after dark and report back.
 
Just noticed you listed H7 as the bulb type - you didn't mean H4 did you? If not, disregard my post, as those are H4's.
 
Local vendor: http://dynamicinno.ca/index.php?route=product/product&path=59_62&product_id=52

I have an H4 from them in one of my bikes. Advantage over stock is that the low-beam pattern remains on when you select high beam. The beam pattern is decent. No cooling fan = no moving parts.

It will be interesting to see PrivatePilot's results. To me, that one seems too cheap to be good, which is a close relative of too good to be true. It is a 3000K colour temperature, which will be yellow. It has a cooling fan, which I wanted no part of.
 
It does seem to be too good to be true, but again, the reviews are all really solid.

Worse case I'll put it in my wife Vstar and order something better yet - she always rides behind me at night anyways so she doesn't need super bright, but better than the Halogen is an improvement. Cooling fan, yes, but I've heard that in confined spaces of a motorcycle light housing that's a big plus - heat kills LED's and without some airflow their lifespan is lowered dramatically.

Brian, how much are the H4's on their site? I tried adding one to my shopping cart but the site doesn't appear to have any prices listed.
 
I found the original thread: http://www.gtamotorcycle.com/vbforum/showthread.php?200595-H4-LED-Headlights&highlight=led+headlight

Dynamic Innovations website seems whacked, not sure why. Things I've found has been true in abundance with these: You don't get what you don't pay for. There is no free lunch. Too cheap to be good = too good to be true. The LED headlamps that I've found to be acceptable are $40 and up per bulb depending on bulb type. The cheap stuff is invariably absolute crap. Reviews on ebay etc are frequently bogus.
 
@PrivatePilot iirc they are just around the corner from me. Let me know if you need me to pick it up for you and I can probably get it to you ~1 week later.

sent from my Purple LGG4 on the GTAM app
 
I'll be watching this as my 1500 Goldwing runs candles for lights.

I've been looking at some stuff from the USA but the prices are substantially higher and in USD.

Changing a bulb is a major R&R IIRC, not like a car where you pop the hood and twist out the socket.

Brighter isn't better if the light source doesn't match the designed focus of the housing.
 
I simply switched from stock bulbs to PIAA high output. No worries and no led hassles.

Sent from my SM-A500W using Tapatalk
 
I just ran the tracking number for the headlight Amazon shipment (they shipped it separately) and I know why it was shipped separately now - it came out of their Vancouver warehouse. So, they Purolated it overnight.

I sometimes wonder how they make any money. There's no way it didn't cost at least $25+ to overnight (across the country by air) a box big enough to hold that bulb securely and safely.
 
Guess it's that time again when I have to say this. Do NOT put leds in your headlights.
Don't do led lighting, it only provides extra forground lighting (which focuses your eyes infront of your bumper vs down the road, so not only can you not see into the distance, you're adding extra strain to your eyes to see).
It also throws large amount of light (aka glare) into other vehicles, which can get you a ticket.
Your best bet is to upgrade your halogen following this guide.
https://www.hidplanet.com/forums/showthread.php?t=1409801
Other than that, a proper hid projector retrofit is your best option, however much more expensive

For your h7 specificly, swap to a Philips Racing Vision H7 for 20-30% more lumens.
Source: I own www.gtaretrofits.com, and specialize in automobile lighting. I don't even sell led headlight bulbs because they just don't work, and are not safe, even though it's a quick buck.

Sent from my Nexus 6P using Tapatalk
 
^^ I'm not sure I agree with that advice.

It's been almost my exclusive experience that HID's retrofitted into *ANY* enclosure designed for halogen just ends up with some more light for the rider, but a terrible amount of glare for any and all other motorists around them.

LED's seem to retrofit better, to the contrary.

And the issue with just putting in a dramatically higher wattage incandescent style headlight bulb (no matter what brand) is that the electrical draw also goes up as well which can cause electrical (overheating wires) and charging system issues if the system is already running at it's bleeding edge. There's also well known issues on some bikes where it burns out the contacts in the start button as well since the headlight is often run through there as well to kill it's power during cranking.

If you want to get into wiring in relays and such to absorb the extra load, and you're confident the charging system is up to the task, then that's a viable option for sure, but one of the biggest advantages of LED's is their significantly lower wattage draw for an equal amount (or more) of light vs an incandescent.
 
Last edited:
Also... HIDs are not suited for motorcycles where flashing the light quickly is one method of signalling another driver. The HIDs do not fire up to full brightness soon enough to flash.

I have LEDs and have verified that the beam pattern on a wall at the correct distance was unchanged from before the install.

I agree that not all LEDs are created equal and some bulb makers are crappy at making their bulb geometry resemble a halogen light.
 
Guess it's that time again when I have to say this. Do NOT put leds in your headlights.
Don't do led lighting, it only provides extra forground lighting (which focuses your eyes infront of your bumper vs down the road, so not only can you not see into the distance, you're adding extra strain to your eyes to see).
It also throws large amount of light (aka glare) into other vehicles, which can get you a ticket.
Your best bet is to upgrade your halogen following this guide.
https://www.hidplanet.com/forums/showthread.php?t=1409801
Other than that, a proper hid projector retrofit is your best option, however much more expensive

For your h7 specificly, swap to a Philips Racing Vision H7 for 20-30% more lumens.
Source: I own www.gtaretrofits.com, and specialize in automobile lighting. I don't even sell led headlight bulbs because they just don't work, and are not safe, even though it's a quick buck.

Sent from my Nexus 6P using Tapatalk

Not sure why you would say LED headlights do not work. I have an LED headlight on my '15 BMW R1200GSA and they are the best lights I have ever had on a bike. Nice clean white light down the road. Maybe aftermarket is what you are talking about?

As to the original question, why not look at adding some spot lights rather then replacing the headlight? Lots of dual beam LED options out there that will give you the extra light you want at night while being able to dim for city riding while making you more visible.
 
Not sure why you would say LED headlights do not work. I have an LED headlight on my '15 BMW R1200GSA and they are the best lights I have ever had on a bike. Nice clean white light down the road. Maybe aftermarket is what you are talking about?

As to the original question, why not look at adding some spot lights rather then replacing the headlight? Lots of dual beam LED options out there that will give you the extra light you want at night while being able to dim for city riding while making you more visible.
If it comes with led from factory, that is fine. They're still not as good as factory hid, but at least the led projector has been designed around the chip.

Sent from my Nexus 6P using Tapatalk
 
^^ I'm not sure I agree with that advice.

It's been almost my exclusive experience that HID's retrofitted into *ANY* enclosure designed for halogen just ends up with some more light for the rider, but a terrible amount of glare for any and all other motorists around them.

LED's seem to retrofit better, to the contrary.

I think you're confusing bulb swapping and actual retrofitting of the correct projector housing for HID bulbs. Big difference.
 

Back
Top Bottom