LED headlights

ST-Traveler said:
How did you cut the 2 tabs at the bottom? did you use a grinder or dremmel?
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st11ray said:
Just bend them back and forth a couple of times and they will break off.
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beemerphile said:
I pinch them off with a set of side-cutters.
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@st11ray and @beemerphile do you do that with the relatively thick base plates of LED lights? Those are made of much heavier stuff than the base plates of a halogen bulb. I would not think that either method would work well on the LED mounting plate, but if you've actually done it then that shows what I know.

@ST-Traveler since that plate is aluminum (I think), do NOT use a grinder on it. Aluminum tends to plug up a grinding wheel and can either ruin it and can even cause it to explode. After you've removed the tabs, smooth the areas where they were with a hand file.
 
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ibike2havefun said:
@st11ray and @beemerphile do you do that with the relatively thick base plates of LED lights? Those are made of much heavier stuff than the base plates of a halogen bulb. I would not think that either method would work well on the LED mounting plate, but if you've actually done it then that shows what I know.

@ST-Traveler since that plate is aluminum (I think), do NOT use a grinder on it. Aluminum tends to plug up a grinding wheel and can either ruin it and can even cause it to explode. After you've removed the tabs, smooth the areas where they were with a hand file.
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Yep, that’s how I’ve removed all of my tabs over the years. Even the Eviteks. I just take a square nose set of pliers, line the end of them up with where I want it to break and bend it back and forth a couple of times and they pop right off.
 
ibike2havefun said:
@st11ray and @beemerphile do you do that with the relatively thick base plates of LED lights? Those are made of much heavier stuff than the base plates of a halogen bulb. I would not think that either method would work well on the LED mounting plate, but if you've actually done it then that shows what I know.

@ST-Traveler since that plate is aluminum (I think), do NOT use a grinder on it. Aluminum tends to plug up a grinding wheel and can either ruin it and can even cause it to explode. After you've removed the tabs, smooth the areas where they were with a hand file.
Click to expand...
Yes here as well. I cut off both Evitek F2's and the Sealight S3's with side cutters. The F2 gave up with little drama and the S3 was some kind of molded material and it gave up even easier. I put the tab deep into the crotch of the cutter.
 
There are here.
I still would like a pic of the front of the headlight housing if anyone could snap a quick pic and post it I would appreciate it.
I want to know the orientation of the bulb as seen from the front.
Anyone,Anyone????
 
ST-Traveler said:
I still would like a pic of the front of the headlight housing
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None of the 5 shots I took yesterday worked out. It turns out to be much harder than you might think, thanks to the combination of the reflector in the background and the clear plastic housing in front. Maybe it was the time of day, but all five shots had crazy reflections that obscure the bulb itself.

Install with the power lead at the bottom in the back and you will be good to go. Also, the bulbs can be rotated easily so just point the bike at a wall, put it on the center stand, light it up, and adjust until you have the beam where it belongs.

When the plastic is off, you also have free access to the up/down adjustment screw so it is easy to make changes there as needed.
 
ibike2havefun said:
When the plastic is off, you also have free access to the up/down adjustment screw so it is easy to make changes there as needed.
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Thanks,
Got them put in OK and the leads are coming out the bottom. Waiting for darkness :bigpop:
Tested them and yes they are brighter than Halogen. I checked to make sure the fans work and they do... :run1:
 
I used the side cutter to make a groove. Then used the pliers to snap it off on the scored line. Then a file to smooth the rough edges.

do give us a critical review on what you think. The nice thing is that you can adjust the level of the low beam on the fly to maximize the range of the low beam and keep it out of the eyes of on coming traffic. Being able to see 100 yards is the minimum requirement as well as light up the sides of the road.....
 
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ST-Traveler said:
There are here.
I still would like a pic of the front of the headlight housing if anyone could snap a quick pic and post it I would appreciate it.
I want to know the orientation of the bulb as seen from the front.
Anyone,Anyone????
Click to expand...
If you look at post 37, last pic of it standing vertical... just envision that rotated 90 degrees right. When installed, the braided wire coating has to be at the bottom, and then the cup-shaped shields will also be on the bottom and reflecting up, the spine (heat sink) of the LED's will also be vertical. Basically, you can't very well mess that up if you have the wire at the bottom.
 
Darkness came and the first ride is in the books.
Verdict- Truly amazing- The high beams are extremely better. the low beams shoot more of the ditch than my halogens ever did.
I do need to raise the low beams slightly though. I will be adjusting later. But for time being - Very happy -
Thanks for all the recommendations and instructions on what type to get, and how to install them.
 
Now for aiming the low beam, I noticed it seemed low ( no pun intended :biggrin:) I tried to do some research. Some say mark a horizontal line on the wall and back up 25 feet and aim the low beam on the line ( tape ) on the wall.
Any suggestion on how everyone else is doing this aim?
Now the high beams seemed perfect.

Thanks, great information here.
 
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Best way (to me, after being in front of many) is to drive or ride ahead of your bike varying distances while someone else rides it on a relatively flat road. Manually adjust headlights until they start to show very bright at the cut-off line with your adjusting knob set in the middle. Tweak to suit. Suppose you could do this with somebody sitting on it stationary while you went several distances ahead. Don't want too high, but not to low as not to be easily visible. This is a more practical adjustment.
 
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