LED Ugrade

[juliang]

Motorcycles lasted for decades with air cooled engines. Surely air cooled lights should be OK?

[davpag1]

Originally Posted by Thomasec

The LED headlights do need to be cooled. They either have little fans offering cool airflow or have some sort of passive heat sinking. In either case they require access to outside air. Stuffing an LED under the rubber boot will not allow them to cool properly and will shorten their life. But prices are coming down enough now that changing them out when they fail is not a huge issue. Unless you are far from home on a dark night and BOTH LED's fail.    I would advise cutting the back of the boot somehow to allow them to cool. I am working on a solution to that right now myself. Will share when I finish my own install.

Most riders nowadays have secondary lighting attached to the body frame, crash guards or handlebars. Enough to get them home. So it's a bit of a mute point for most, but definitely worth mentioning.

I'm always a bit worried when installing an upgrade that we have to cut, bend, or remove certain parts of the bike to make these "plug n play" upgrades to fit correctly. So would be grateful seeing some clear photos of your "solution" for the dust-cap and heat generated by the LEDs not having enough air flow.

[zamfield]

Search led dust cover on ebay...

[Peter629]

Amazon lists 4 options H4 9004 9006 or 9007. Which one is the best fit for V2?

[Thomasec]

None of those. You will need a pair of H7 types.

[davpag1]

 Have now upgraded my headlights and side lights to the model below.

Far superior lighting from stock. Just plug and play.

H7 LED Car Headlights Kit 50W 8000LM Auto Replacing Bi Xenon Bulbs 6500K White LED Lighting Lamp 12V H7 LED Bulb Car Headlights
 http://s.aliexpress.com/Arua6ryY
(from AliExpress Android)

[Vespista1960]

Based on my experience I would not advise to waste time with leds for these reasons:
- The light beam is more powerful, but it's "strange" and there is no overall improvement over the combination oem halogens + oem foglights,
- the retaining clips of the bulbs rub against the heatsinks making a very annoying noise around 6000 rpms,
- I have many doubts about the impermeability, whatever caps you use,
- There is a "ball of light" effect which aesthetically is a bit ridiculous (see attached pic).
In short, even though I read that many are satisfied with the leds, I have quickly gone back to halogens.
Maybe it would be worth trying with a xenon kit instead.
Just my opinion.

[zamfield]

Totally disagree... Having no issues with mine..
The light pattern is much better and looks much better,

[Le ptit Quebec]

 

And I kept the EOM dust caps. No problem even with the high temps we got lately.

[Huckleberry]

I've found these bulbs to be a very effective replacement for the O.E.M.'s.  And they are literally plug & play, no heat sinks to accommodate.

PIAA 70785 H7 Night-Tech 55W=100W Halogen Bulb

Side note:  Not sure how tight the manufacturer QC is on aiming headlights.  Spending a little time on adjustments makes a world of difference, no matter what system you prefer.