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General => General Discussion => Topic started by: Snoopzilla on September 13, 2018, 01:05:59 AM

Title: Led vs halogen headlight
Post by: Snoopzilla on September 13, 2018, 01:05:59 AM
Promised this a week ago or so and finally got around to snapping pics.  I do wish it would’ve been a little darker out but have to get up at 3:30 am for work, so this will have to do for now.   Vespa sprint halogen vs Kymco Like 150i headlight/running light and beam pattern.  Not the best pics and I didn’t realize until we put them away the Vespa was aimed right at the camera and my Like was off to the side a bit.  (https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/20180913/4575ed50f06490208210540b8ae76172.jpg)(https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/20180913/d0857639075d9d3c553fb6d5c450adb4.jpg)


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Title: Re: Led vs halogen headlight
Post by: Stig / Major Tom on September 13, 2018, 11:26:14 AM
That bottom picture is very interesting.
What a difference. ....!
Wonder what the wattage is for both -- obviously the color of the light is much different, too.
I don't lght glare from cars cresting a hill while coming at me.....would be brutal if it were LED.
No substitute for wattage.....vast difference between my LIKE's 35/35watt headlight, and the Liberty's 65/50watt headlight!

Thanks for that bottom picture!
 Stig
Title: Re: Led vs halogen headlight
Post by: EvilTessmacher on September 14, 2018, 11:20:16 AM
The OCD in me would go in and adjust that beam on the right until it was level. Heh...

FWIW, I've found that the Sylvania Silverstar ZXE Halogens are the best non-LED light's I've ever used. I have them on all of my vehicles. Can't recommend them highly enough.
Title: Re: Led vs halogen headlight
Post by: Stig / Major Tom on September 14, 2018, 11:36:01 AM
The OCD in me would go in and adjust that beam on the right until it was level. Heh...

FWIW, I've found that the Sylvania Silverstar ZXE Halogens are the best non-LED light's I've ever used. I have them on all of my vehicles. Can't recommend them highly enough.
No "level" adjuster on most scoots, or left/right for that matter.  You got up and down.
Bet his scoot was not perfectly level on the driveway.
Stig
Title: Re: Led vs halogen headlight
Post by: Snoopzilla on September 14, 2018, 04:24:37 PM
No "level" adjuster on most scoots, or left/right for that matter.  You got up and down.
Bet his scoot was not perfectly level on the driveway.
Stig

You are correct Stig.  Driveway is slanted
Title: Re: Led vs halogen headlight
Post by: CROSSBOLT on September 14, 2018, 08:27:19 PM
Snoop, what is the make, model and dealer source of that LED lamp?
Title: Re: Led vs halogen headlight
Post by: Stig / Major Tom on September 14, 2018, 10:27:00 PM
Snoop, what is the make, model and dealer source of that LED lamp?
Karl, it's in his new LIKE150i.
Owner's  manual probably gives #type,,,maybe not much else. Order from Kymco dealer.

Stig
Title: Re: Led vs halogen headlight
Post by: Snoopzilla on September 14, 2018, 11:12:44 PM
Snoop, what is the make, model and dealer source of that LED lamp?

Yes like stig mentioned it’s the stock unit out of the Like 150i. I looked up replacement cost for it and all I could find was the whole assembly at a cost of $285 if memory serves right.  It’s pretty much an led projector unit. 
Title: Re: Led vs halogen headlight
Post by: CROSSBOLT on September 14, 2018, 11:52:31 PM
OK, a light designed to properly use an LED lamp. But they don't even list the lamp? That's nuts!
Title: Re: Led vs halogen headlight
Post by: Snoopzilla on September 15, 2018, 12:03:39 AM
OK, a light designed to properly use an LED lamp. But they don't even list the lamp? That's nuts!
(https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/20180915/17fb0d0d1cda915ca0c823044c8f5a53.jpg)

Here’s a close up (with part number if anyone is interested). Not sure if there is just a lamp replacement or not (there’s gotta be right?).  Been a little headache trying to find parts and I really would like a nice repair manual.  But am being patient....sometimes it’s the pain of being an early adopter



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Title: Re: Led vs halogen headlight
Post by: gctkaz on September 18, 2018, 07:50:57 PM
For the last year+, I have been using LED headlights in my bikes - drop-in replacement for the stock halogen bulbs, and have been very pleased. You have to make sure you get one with the LED emitters in the proper placement to match where the halogen filaments would be.

Here's a pic of my H4 LED (admittedly on a different bike), but I have the same bulb installed on my Super 9. Low and high beam patterns are almost the same as stock with good cutoff, but a bit brighter and white.

Title: Re: Led vs halogen headlight
Post by: CROSSBOLT on September 18, 2018, 08:00:04 PM
For the last year+, I have been using LED headlights in my bikes - drop-in replacement for the stock halogen bulbs, and have been very pleased. You have to make sure you get one with the LED emitters in the proper placement to match where the halogen filaments would be.

Here's a pic of my H4 LED (admittedly on a different bike), but I have the same bulb installed on my Super 9. Low and high beam patterns are almost the same as stock with good cutoff, but a bit brighter and white.

That's really good news! What brand, where got and part number, cost, please. How did you determine LED location? Was that AFTER you bought these H4 lamps?
Title: Re: Led vs halogen headlight
Post by: DIRKHUNT on September 24, 2018, 03:50:38 PM
My Bajaj came with the 35/35 H4 as well, best mod I did was swap for the 55/35 H4 out of a Volvo.

35/35 at 55mph was useless
If the LED is a hard find for the Vespa, try the Volvo H4 bulb. It literally turned night into day.[emoji16]

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Title: Re: Led vs halogen headlight
Post by: CROSSBOLT on October 04, 2018, 01:20:03 PM
The issue is useful beam pattern AND not blinding other drivers. You will minimize blinding others if the pattern is useable. Most LED replacements cast a flood, out of focus pattern.
Title: Re: Led vs halogen headlight
Post by: gctkaz on October 06, 2018, 02:01:57 AM
That's really good news! What brand, where got and part number, cost, please. How did you determine LED location? Was that AFTER you bought these H4 lamps?

The specific LED in question I purchased on eBay, from neverland-usa (bought a ton of other LEDs from the same seller for cars, etc.)
You have to be careful because not all of them are street-legal with cutoffs. I'll post a few pictures that I took from this bike, but the same LED is installed in my other bikes so the effect is similar. I did recently replace them with an updated, brighter model from the recently re-branded company.

I was aware of cutoff issues before I purchased, so I had to choose one that was advertised as no glare, though with Chinese stuff it's often a matter of trust in the manufacturer's word.

Here are the pictures that I posted on another forum:
(limit 4 attachments so I will split across two posts)
This one just shows the H4 bulb, with passive heatsink. I think you can see the model number on the box.
Title: Re: Led vs halogen headlight
Post by: gctkaz on October 06, 2018, 02:03:03 AM
And here are the before/after comparisons of that bulb, vs the standard halogen H4:

The price was in the ballpark of USD$30 shipped to Canada, so I felt I got good value out of this upgrade.

The ones you should be looking for with proper cutoff will be the ones with the solid, passive heatsinks, or the flexible fin heatsinks. I have the newer solid ones in my bikes, my wife's car, and my dad's car high beams, and the flexible ones in my dad's car low beams. All of them have good cutoff.

These are the updated version. (https://www.novsights.com/collections/h4-headlight/products/novsights-n15-h4-50w-pair-10000lm-pair-6500k-seoul-csp-y19-led-chips) A little pricier, but why wouldn't you want the brightest one? And they come in pairs, so you can split the cost with a friend.
Title: Re: Led vs halogen headlight
Post by: EvilTessmacher on October 08, 2018, 04:28:08 AM
And for those of us with two headlights, that isn't too bad of a price.

The best price for the Sylvania Silverstar ZXE I've found locally was $46.95 and the best price online is $36 so that's a little savings.

My question is, what kind of reliability have you had so far?

The last time I tried an LED light, it lasted about a month before something gave out and only one side of one of the LEDs would light up. That's what I get for ordering bulbs from DHGate. They were only about $18 for the pair, but they took four weeks to get here, and only lasted about that long.

It was hell the ruggedest mile to change those bulbs without taking the whole front of the bike off (the PCX), and it doesn't seem that much easier on Diana. I know I can reach up underneath from the tire-well, but my hands aren't small enough to reach up in there very well. I can get fingertips on the back of the bulb, but not enough to get a grip. Therefore, I'd rather not have to change them all the time. 

 

Title: Re: Led vs halogen headlight
Post by: gctkaz on October 16, 2018, 05:52:01 AM
I can't say I ride too often, so each of the bikes only has a few hundred kms on the LED headlights. But they are holding up fine and the longest ride I've been on had the bike running for about 4 sessions of 2 hours or so.

I took my Super 9 out two nights ago on an unlit twisty forest park road, and while the beam pattern is great on my other bikes, there's a bit of a dead spot right in the middle of the low beam with the Super 9. It's OK and the beam is wide, just not even. High beam is still pretty good.