92KK 84WW Olaf
Life time member
Number of posts : 7967
BobT wrote: 92KK 84WW Olaf wrote:I don't see anything new coming out with H4 bulbs.....all the newer motors seem to be H1 and H7 single filament. My Peugeot 405 has twin reflector lights, with H4 for dip/main and H1 main only. My son's VFR has 4 H1 bulbs in it.!
50W LED is a lot of light, or should be, 6000 lumens.
The halogen bulb has reached it peak Olaf, it did so about 25 years ago, there is no further improvement possible.
The trouble with these LED bulbs is that they are all made in China and you cannot believe the watts consumption or the lumen light output figures.
Your reflector headlight was designed to have a halogen filament, of a particular size, burning in an exact place withing the headlight. An LED does not have the same so the beam pattern will be all over the place. That is why no vehicle manufacturer uses an LED bulb in a reflector headlight that was designed for a halogen bulb. It would also be illegal in most countries.
This was my experience of the LED when I tried it out on the K and also on the car. Lots of light but it was no good for driving. In short good for being seen but not for seeing on rural roads at night. One lot I got came as 30W but closer examination proved it to be 3W supposedly equivalent to 30W globes as fitted to Japanese bikes back in the 70s. On the car the reflector headlights which have new reflectors and new bulbs work very well but high energy consumption. When I tried LED H1 and H4 they were no good. I then replaced the reflectors and hey presto brilliant improvement.
I was getting tempted to try again and decided to wait and see what a road test would show on this thread as there wasn't mention of one.
Given my previous experience with LED and with the car I decided to order a brand new reflector for the K headlight.....with a cleaned up lens, a relay wired and a clean bulb in I will probably get as good as can be got from olde worlde technology. £25 for the reflector added to an order didn't break the bank.
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1992 K100LT 0193214 Bertha Blue 101,000 miles
1984 K100RT 0022575 Brutus Baja Red 578 bought 36,000 now 89,150 miles
1997 K1100LT 0188024 Wotan Mystic Red 689 58,645 now 106,950 miles Deceased.
1983 K100RS 0011157 Fricka 606 Alaska Blue 29,495 miles Damn K Pox Its a Bat outta Hell Now 58,200 miles.
1996 K1100LT 0233004 Lohengrin Mystic Red 38,000 miles currently 51,800 miles.
1983 K100RS 0004449 Odette R100 colours 58,000 miles. Sprint fairing now 63,390 miles
Past:
1968 Yamaha 80 YG1
1971 Yamaha 125 YAS-1
1968 Honda 125 SS
1970 Honda CD 175
1973 Honda CB500-4
Honda CX 500