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VStrom LED Light Upgrade?

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tshelfer

tshelfer

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Tim
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Shelfer
I'm considering upgrading the OEM headlights in my '12 VStrom 650 to LEDs. Anybody have experience with this? Is it just a straight bulb swap or is there more involved? Did you need to remove the front cowling to do the job? Any recommendations on exactly what bulb or kit I should buy?

And was it worth it? On Stromtroopers, I looked at one thread regarding an LED replacement, and there seemed to be pretty mixed reviews as to whether or not there was significant improvement.
 
I thought about doing the same to my FJR and ultimately decided against it. LEDs have come a long way but they're still not quite there in terms of replicating the accuracy of the halogen bulb they replace. In other words you do get more light but it isn't necessarily where it should be.
 
Interesting. Somebody on Stromtroopers said that - I think. They were just kind of windy & imprecise about whatever they were trying to say. Thanks.
 
With LED bulbs you just need to buy them and try them out. Some work with your reflectors and some don't and it seems to vary from headlight to headlight.

I have some bulbs from my old car that I plan to try in the Strom. They worked well in my Insight, I'm hoping they work in the bike. I'll update this when I try, but it won't be this week, kinda slammed at work.
 
Tim I liked the light my 12 Wee put out. I just added LED driving lights with an easy access switch. I also went with a quality bulb from Auto Zone. I left them on during day riding and can't ever remember being blinked off.
My now 14 1K V has very good non led factory lights. Something about LED I don't care for. Maybe not directional enough.
 
I had bad experience with trying LED bulbs in halogen reflector headlight housings on my 03 V-Strom. Lots of light but in all the wrong places and I know they were blinding oncoming traffic because I was getting hi beam flashed a lot. If you want to try them, pay shipping and I'll give them to you!
 
Think these were the ones that improved my Wee Strom
 

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My experience is that LED headlights done right can work very well. My wife's Toyota Highlander has excellent projector LED headlights. LED bulbs installed in housings designed for halogens rarely work well. Your money is better spent on a good set of auxiliary lights or better halogen bulbs.
 
I have tried the ones off Amazon with so so results.
But now have the Cyclops bulbs that are much better.
 
You might look into Pathfinder LED lights. I just put a set in my VFR. I only had time to put the low beam in first. They were so bright that when I did turn the high beam on for the ride home I could barely tell. I had time the next day to install the high beam. They are extremely bright with very good throw. No need to index them. No large cooling fan or fins. Basically a drop in.
 
LED retrofits have basically 2 main problems: beam pattern and heat dissipation.

Beam pattern depends a lot on the host headlight. Projector types usually have better luck at working well than reflector bucket types, though nothing is guaranteed. Other than trying it yourself, you'll have to trust somebody that has tried the same LED retrofit bulb in the same model bike as yours. How you the rider see the beam pattern is also not the same as oncoming traffic sees it. I would stand 25 and 50 yd in front of your bike at night to judge how annoying you'll be to other motorists.

LED bulbs dissipate heat very differently. Halogen or HID/xenon light bulbs throw the waste heat the same way they throw the light output. For most installations, this is no problem, since you are very unlikely to want to block the forward path of the light throw. The only time you need to be careful is at track days, where you need to tape up the headlights. Pull the fuse is the best way to deal with that.

LED bulbs do not throw much heat forward. Most of the waste heat generated is at the power circuits, which is almost always behind the bulb. For a motorcycle, that area is usually pretty darn cramped and no easy path to conduct/dissipate waste heat away. If you don't bother finding a way to deal with it, your new LED light might work great... for a while, until heat builds up and burns out the power circuits. Some mfrs use fans to deal with rejected heat, which is fine, but you still need to make sure there is sufficient air flow path for the fan to do its job.

Personally, for the time being, I'd rather do the tried-and-true HID/xenon retrofit, than taking a chance with LEDs. I'm sure in time LED's problems will be sorted out, but right now it is still more of a crapshoot than I would want to deal with. Efficiency improvement with 35w HID is already significant compared to 55w halogen, and the light source is much more of the same point source as the halogen bulb, so beam pattern has a better likelihood of being proper.

If you do decide on LED, let us know how it works out.
 
MidlifeCrisis said:
The only time you need to be careful is at track days,
Click to expand...

Me at a track day? :eek2::eek2::eek2:

Seriously, you make some very good points. I've read enough experiences now to realize that it's pretty much a crap shoot. Since I've never gone the HID xenon route, there's probably some low hanging fruit that I can benefit from.
 
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