I have experimented with some LED bulbs and am making an effort to post what I have found in case it is of any use to someone.
My original glass headlamp with affixed reflector had a H4 Halogen bulb that had a very good dip cut-off, and gave a reasonable night riding light, but didn't look as visible when used as a daytime riding light. I was envious of the white glow that some other vintage bikes seemed to have and reasoned that I did not need to keep putting 5 amps and 60w through a filament bulb.
Don't get me wrong, I am dead against the increase in vehicle light intensity, and the dazzle coming from LED over bright lamps.
The picture shows three recent eBay purchases. I could have bought bulbs from some motorcycle parts suppliers but one I looked at wanted £40 for a LED replacement H4. I realised I was taking a gamble with eBay (Chinese) bulbs, and you can benefit from what I found. I measured all the current draws with an ammeter through a bench top battery of 12V.
A 60w H4 Halogen bulb should give a light output of between 700-1,500 lumens.
The £8.89 H4 9003 LED bulb was advertised as being 900 lumens, which might be true, it consumed just 4w, but the beam pattern was non-existant - a complete spread of light in all directions on dip and main. Nice and bright for a daylight lamp but one for the bin.
The £19.70 Lucas 12V BA15D fitted perfectly, consumes just 0.5w tail and 2.0w stop (versus 6w/21w appx. for the filament bulb) and gave a very similar light intensity.
The £14.99 AUXITO H4 HS1 LED bulb fitted nicely once I had filled a small slot in one side to be able to tip it in. The beam pattern was just perfect and almost identical to the H4 Halogen, if anything slightly tighter. It consumed 8w dip and 10w main. It is advertised as being 15,000 lumens, which worried me, but I would assess it as being perhaps 2 or 4 times as bright as the halogen, i.e 2,000 - 4,000 lumens, based on the glow spread around my workshop. There was no dazzle when outside and looking at the dip beam from a distance, but bending down and looking into the beam from a 2 foot height it was seriously intense. Yes, it makes much more impact as a daytime lamp, but I am more happy that it produces no dazzle when dipped.
Useful. I did try a no-name…
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LED
Norman's interesting post with the Auxito H4 9003 mirrors my own experience but results may vary according to the H4 glass insert fitted. They're dual polarity so work on +/- earth.
Mint condition legend the Cibié Z180 on Commando and Atlas has the typical sharp cutoff and a bright crisp pattern day or night with an Auxito or similar, a 2023 Hella H4 is the same.
However the Hella has a V shaped dark spot in the centre on low beam with different brand LED H4s I tried (and returned on eBay)
Not ideal on corners at night as the centre of the road isn't as well lit.
A good stop/tailight is an essential safety feature given the small sizes of most British lense sizes. The Lucas Type 917 on a Mk3 is really only a small round light and benefits greatly from a brighter LED. This should be a positive earth type in red to match the lens color for a more intense red light. A white LED will give a washed out look.
I fitted additional aluminium reflectors under the lense for added visibility. Very important along with a good LED headlight on a rainy night when you're soaked through, freezing, lonely, frightened and hungry a long long way from home.
Positive earth red 380 stop/tailight LEDs for the Commando are around £22 a pair on eBay.
An equivalent single Lucas at £19.70 is taking the mickey just like overpriced H4 LEDs from some BritBike/ classic car suppliers.
I've kept the standard non LED Mk3 indicators using Phillips Vision Plus bulbs and the original Mk3 flasher unit. Effective and 100% reliable over high miles.
Cheap LED bulbs fixed a long standing vibration problem with the twin bulb tail unit on my Yamaha. Used to blow a bulb, or both every few thousand miles. LED replacement is brighter and completely eliminated the problem, in the last 50k miles at least.
The same LED H4 Auxito as used on my Commando (with twin relays on both bikes) has transformed the average rectangular headlight to a very effective one suitable to fast sport touring the bike was designed for.
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What a usefull thread . For…
What a usefull thread . For those who have not tried LED , i have fitted both front pilot and rear stop/tail led's on my 99 and would not now be without them. Main dip will be next. My only issue is .what to do with the excess current generated.
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Also don't be put of by the…
Also don't be put of by the compact headlamp versions which most are these days as they tend to get over the heat issue by limiting current when the lamp gets hot. I have an old Compact Twenty20 and it does not dim in use. I choose this type which I think most are these days as it has the same fitting envelope as the standard H4 as it does not have the big heat sink that you can see on some of the early versions of LED H4.
If you MOT the bike with an LED headlamp bulb don't let the tester tell you it is illegal. Yes, replacing LED for halogen on a car is illegal but for a motorcycle it is not. The regulations for motorcycle only say light source which needs to be capable of giving the correct beam pattern which is checked by the tester. Providing it gives the correct beam pattern then the light source can be anything you like.
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Robert, your answer could be…
Robert, your answer could be heated grips!
Dan
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Useful.
I did try a no-name H4 LED and the beam was dreadful. But the AUXITO one sounds promising. I've seen H4 LEDs where the dip beam remains on when the high beam is on, almost doubling the light output. Has anyone tried these?
As for the stop/tail, £20 for a saving of 0.5A on the tail light is debatable. Stop light's not on long enough to bother about. But if it turns out to be more reliable, and an LED should be more robust and longer lasting, it's something to think about.