Led Headlight Install - 5Th Gen

[Switchblade]

You did what ???? Your just mean ....

[Skids]

Just for giggles, I sent an Email to CREE, and supplied them a few Ebay links for these sort of LED conversion kits, and asked if they were aware of the presence of these kits in the marketplace, likely all originating from China, even if the seller is located in the USA.

I also inquired if they were genuine CREE LED chips, or some sort of knockoffs.

Will post up the response I get as soon as possible. Just for info's sake.

You had to wait until after we'd bought the damned things, didn't you! :tongue2:

Mkay, just got around to sticking one of these in tonight. I did the left side and kept the right side stock for a first try so I could make an on the bike comparison.

first up, install. I have pretty slender flexible hands (former professional wrench) and I had no problem doing the whole install with the headlight in the bike. I have temporarily ziptied the ballast onto the wire harness mount in the left fairing instead of attaching it to the headlight, I did remove the side fairing to access that space. It is pretty easy to get everything to fit into the bike, and the wires all had plenty of slack to reach. I was able to stretch the rubber rain covers over the back of the LED bulbs without too much trouble. I had purchased a set of the H4 adapter rings ages ago but couldn't find them now that I need them, So I just trimmed the tabs on the LED bulbs to fit properly. They seat securely and the spring clips fall in the right place on the basses. So far all lovely.

Fired them up for a test and they kept doing this weird thing where the brightness would start out really high then drop maybe 20%. Tried it with the bike running and same result. Figured it must be a LED thing and moved on. Mounted up the tiny little fans and attached all the wiring once I had my routing picked out, slipped the fairing back on and went for a ride. Now the funny power drop has gone away. It occurs to me now that maybe the system reduces power when the fans arent hooked up to protect itself, just a thought, havent tested it. Also, man these fans are tiny!

So now for the ride review. I dont think its any brighter than a fresh set of Stanley's would be, but it is a nicer color. I've never been a fan of the yellow light cast by incandescent lights so the bluer, more sunlight like color of the LEDs is a huge plus for me. The pattern is a bit more difuse, with a little more scatter above the cutoff, but its not bad really. The pattern is both wider on the low beam, and way way fuller on high beam. I live at the base of two terrific unlit mountain roads, so I have a pretty solid test for light pattern, just head up the road and see if I can see in the corners. In this respect these lights have a significant advantage for me. low beam pattern in the LED left light was wider than in the still stock right light, so I could see in lovely white light while turning left and not so much when turning right. The other super nice thing. When you hit the high beam, you get the wide low beam pattern, AND the long range high beam pattern, not the normal switch off of the stock lights.

So I like it, your millage may vary, its not a magic solution for night ridding but it can be part of a well rounded package. I still think I need more flood light to be comfortable at speed in the dark. And for the price its a pretty cheap thing to try out. I don't really want to wade into the scatter discussion, but we are inundated with GSXRs with bad HID kits where I live, and this looks nothing remotely like that on the road. So not as perfect as the factory setup for oncoming traffic, but certainly not fiery death levels of glare either. Its a compromise I can live with, you will have to make that call for yourself.

PhotoOp, thanks for that write-up.

I've highlighted the icing on the cake for me. One of the few things I dislike about the 5th Gen is that the low beam turns off when high beam is selected. I understand why this is, but compared to my 6th Gen where, with H7 bulbs, all 4 bulbs are on with high beam selected, the difference is huge.

I may consider fitting 2 sets of H7 LEDs to my 6th Gen.....depends how they work on my 5th Gen.

[zoomzoom]

Mkay, just got around to sticking one of these in tonight. I did the left side and kept the right side stock for a first try so I could make an on the bike comparison.

first up, install. I have pretty slender flexible hands (former professional wrench) and I had no problem doing the whole install with the headlight in the bike. I have temporarily ziptied the ballast onto the wire harness mount in the left fairing instead of attaching it to the headlight, I did remove the side fairing to access that space. It is pretty easy to get everything to fit into the bike, and the wires all had plenty of slack to reach. I was able to stretch the rubber rain covers over the back of the LED bulbs without too much trouble. I had purchased a set of the H4 adapter rings ages ago but couldn't find them now that I need them, So I just trimmed the tabs on the LED bulbs to fit properly. They seat securely and the spring clips fall in the right place on the basses. So far all lovely.

Fired them up for a test and they kept doing this weird thing where the brightness would start out really high then drop maybe 20%. Tried it with the bike running and same result. Figured it must be a LED thing and moved on. Mounted up the tiny little fans and attached all the wiring once I had my routing picked out, slipped the fairing back on and went for a ride. Now the funny power drop has gone away. It occurs to me now that maybe the system reduces power when the fans arent hooked up to protect itself, just a thought, havent tested it. Also, man these fans are tiny!

So now for the ride review. I dont think its any brighter than a fresh set of Stanley's would be, but it is a nicer color. I've never been a fan of the yellow light cast by incandescent lights so the bluer, more sunlight like color of the LEDs is a huge plus for me. The pattern is a bit more difuse, with a little more scatter above the cutoff, but its not bad really. The pattern is both wider on the low beam, and way way fuller on high beam. I live at the base of two terrific unlit mountain roads, so I have a pretty solid test for light pattern, just head up the road and see if I can see in the corners. In this respect these lights have a significant advantage for me. low beam pattern in the LED left light was wider than in the still stock right light, so I could see in lovely white light while turning left and not so much when turning right. The other super nice thing. When you hit the high beam, you get the wide low beam pattern, AND the long range high beam pattern, not the normal switch off of the stock lights.

So I like it, your millage may vary, its not a magic solution for night ridding but it can be part of a well rounded package. I still think I need more flood light to be comfortable at speed in the dark. And for the price its a pretty cheap thing to try out. I don't really want to wade into the scatter discussion, but we are inundated with GSXRs with bad HID kits where I live, and this looks nothing remotely like that on the road. So not as perfect as the factory setup for oncoming traffic, but certainly not fiery death levels of glare either. Its a compromise I can live with, you will have to make that call for yourself.

Thanks for the write up PhotoOp.

Glad to hear that the lights work for you as well. As you mentioned, the lighting may not be the "end all be all" for everyone, but at least the option is there, and that a few others have also found the mod useful and beneficial.

[Mohawk]

Well over here in the UK the 5th gen came as standard with H4 55/60W dual filament bulbs & I did a little testing after my kit turned up from the USA. Complete with 18GBP customs/carrier charge.

So standard normal duty H4 on my ammeter runs 4.5amps on LOW beam & 5amps on HIGH beam, so x2 for the bike that;s 10amps of continuous current draw. That's why only one set of bulbs light at a time, the generator doesn't put out enough juice to run both sets & all the other lights together !

So the LED's exbibbit the super bright/less bright effect, but I never fitted the fans, I test that later.

Low Beam draw peaks at 0.98amps, then fals to 0.78amp as the bulb dims. So with high beam on it peaks at 2amp, then falls to 1.5amp as the light dims.

More testing to do.

[Veefer800Canuck]

Mr. McKinnon,

Thank you for submitting your questions to us regarding this matter. Your observation is spot on and we are unable to verify whether the units actually use genuine Cree LED chips. Cree sells many LED’s through distribution who sell to companies, that most likely aren’t selling their products on ebay. With that said, I also cannot confirm 100% that they aren’t genuine unless the product was thoroughly reviewed.

Cree’s legal department is well aware of the issues that similar listings are causing consumers and is trying to fight as many of these instances as they can. My best recommendation for you would be to try to contact the actual manufacturer of the product you are looking to buy and gather as much information as possible in order to make a well informed decision. I also will forward the below information on to our legal team so they can add this to their list of items/companies to check up on.

Good luck in your search and thank you for bringing this to our attention.

Thanks and Regards,

Jeff Martin

Customer Service Representative - Product Returns

919-407-5983

Email: Jeff_Martin@Cree.com

[Mohawk]

OK just popped into the garage to do some quick testing of the fan & light with regards to the light output varying.

So with the fan off its 100% then drops back to like 80% reflected in the power draw as previously stated.

So with the fan on, its 100% & stays there. Ambient temp here is approx 6 degrees C in my garage & the heat sink area where the fan fits does get warm, but no more than like 15C.

Power draw change is interesting, on LOW beam it peaks just above 2amp, then settles down at exactly 2amps. On HIGH beam, it peaks at 2.25amp & settles around 2.20amp draw. So with all 4 LEDs burning it will draw about the same as one H4 on low beam !

Light wise the light is much whiter than the standard H4. I took some pics with one LED in the left side of my bike without the fan, so at about 80% output, & one H4 in the right. There are a series with 2xH4, 1xH4, 1xLED, both & both with my hand covering each side of the headlight in turn. I'll try to post them later, just need to upload them. Unfortunately it was wet out side & the garage opposite me is a cream colour. I'll get some better pics next time its dry.

[JZH]

Mr. McKinnon,

Thank you for submitting your questions to us regarding this matter. Your observation is spot on and we are unable to verify whether the units actually use genuine Cree LED chips. Cree sells many LED’s through distribution who sell to companies, that most likely aren’t selling their products on ebay. With that said, I also cannot confirm 100% that they aren’t genuine unless the product was thoroughly reviewed.

Cree’s legal department is well aware of the issues that similar listings are causing consumers and is trying to fight as many of these instances as they can. My best recommendation for you would be to try to contact the actual manufacturer of the product you are looking to buy and gather as much information as possible in order to make a well informed decision. I also will forward the below information on to our legal team so they can add this to their list of items/companies to check up on.

Good luck in your search and thank you for bringing this to our attention.

Thanks and Regards,

Jeff Martin

Customer Service Representative - Product Returns

919-407-5983

Email: Jeff_Martin@Cree.com

Troublemaker!

It was always obvious to me that Cree did not make the kit, or the bulbs, as claimed by the seller. Quick-buck artists are always trying to piggyback off of the hard work and success of reputable companies like Cree, Philips, Bosch and the like. I guess if it's cheap enough, people will buy it anyway...

Ciao,

[zoomzoom]

Mr. McKinnon,

Thank you for submitting your questions to us regarding this matter. Your observation is spot on and we are unable to verify whether the units actually use genuine Cree LED chips. Cree sells many LED’s through distribution who sell to companies, that most likely aren’t selling their products on ebay. With that said, I also cannot confirm 100% that they aren’t genuine unless the product was thoroughly reviewed.

Cree’s legal department is well aware of the issues that similar listings are causing consumers and is trying to fight as many of these instances as they can. My best recommendation for you would be to try to contact the actual manufacturer of the product you are looking to buy and gather as much information as possible in order to make a well informed decision. I also will forward the below information on to our legal team so they can add this to their list of items/companies to check up on.

Good luck in your search and thank you for bringing this to our attention.

Thanks and Regards,

Jeff Martin

Customer Service Representative - Product Returns

919-407-5983

Email: Jeff_Martin@Cree.com

Troublemaker!

It was always obvious to me that Cree did not make the kit, or the bulbs, as claimed by the seller. Quick-buck artists are always trying to piggyback off of the hard work and success of reputable companies like Cree, Philips, Bosch and the like. I guess if it's cheap enough, people will buy it anyway...

Ciao,

As was mentioned by the representative from Cree, HE clearly CAN NOT say with 100% certainty that the bulbs and/or LED diodes were or were not made by CREE. LOOK at the highlighted portion of the email. Jeff Martin did mention that he would pass the matter on to his legal for verification. If the parts were not made by Cree and there is a patent infringement issue then it is up to the legal department at Cree to do something about it. What does this mean for those of us who purchased the product linked to in my original post, well, maybe the warranty will not be upheld by the manufacturer in question or supplier who sold them in the first place. Mind you, removing the tabs from the bulb so that they fit in our headlight housings will likely do that anyhow.

The whole Cree issue and who made the kit aside, the kit and/or kits on the market, have proven to provide adequate illumination and indeed better illumination than the stock halogen bulbs, according to the opinions of those who have installed them on their bikes. I think it safe to say now, that with more people other than just myself having installed a kit in their bikes, and having found comparative results, the actual manufactures of the parts in the kit is a mute point. There are numerous links to other manufacturers now that sell kits with very similar looking bulbs, so can you say with 100% certainty that NONE of these manufacturers are indeed using Cree products in the manufacture of their products? Be careful how you answer that, as it could be considered slanderous. Can I say that the company I chose to purchase my kit from uses Cree LED's in the manufacture of their product, NO. Can I say that none of the companies mentioned in this thread use the Cree LED's in the manufacture of their products, NO.

Speaking strictly for myself, I purchased the kit in an effort to increase the effect the headlights on MY motorcycle and to make it easier to see in the dark. The LED headlight kit has done exactly that. If you disagree that the LED's do not provide better illumination than stock bulbs once installed on YOUR bike, for whatever reason, feel free to post up your findings on the thread. My original reason for creating this thread was to highlight that I installed a headlight replacement kit on MY VFR800, and that I was impressed with the results. As I have seen and benefited from many a useful post on this site, I thought I would share my findings.

[vfrcapn]

I don't see where Cree makes auto headlights, so we're just discussing the chips. A quick check shows you can buy these, genuine Cree CXA1512 chips, in bulk for $7/ea. At 4 per kit that's $24. I don't see the profit, you're not going to sell millions.

These chips were just announced 9/18/13 by Cree and announced as available in large quantity. Is it a reach that they flooded the market and a bunch of companies are now creating auto bulbs with the chips to make a quick yen or two?

Anyway, after an hour or two, one of the fans on mine sounds like it's about to blow a bearing. I'm debating if I should just disconnect it or go through the trouble of asking the seller to replace it.

[PhotoOp]

That brings up an interesting question, if the fans die, do we bother replacing them or just figure out a way to trick the ballast into keeping the lights at full power? I feel like there is pretty solid airflow around there already, fans may not be needed. I kind of wonder if the fans are effective at all, seeing as the rubber rain covers are so close to the base of the fans.

[vfrcapn]

At the current temps I'm riding in, 35-55F, I can't see how the fans are doing much. Maybe in the middle of summer when it's 100F.

[KevCarver]

Hey guys who have installed them, quick question: Are they blue looking? I really hate seeing blue headlights, and I don't want any...

[Switchblade]

Kevin some pic's(night time) on the first post ..

[Mohawk]

No not blue, just bright white compared to normal that has a yellow hue.

[KevCarver]

So now for the ride review. I dont think its any brighter than a fresh set of Stanley's would be, but it is a nicer color. I've never been a fan of the yellow light cast by incandescent lights so the bluer, more sunlight like color of the LEDs is a huge plus for me.

This is where I started getting some concern... (I added the emphasis)

Perhaps the choice of words wasn't quite right? In any case, thanks Mohawk for the reassurance.

Do we think that Electrical Connection has purchased genuine Cree chips? Nearly double the price, though.

[Rush2112]

So now for the ride review. I dont think its any brighter than a fresh set of Stanley's would be, but it is a nicer color. I've never been a fan of the yellow light cast by incandescent lights so the bluer, more sunlight like color of the LEDs is a huge plus for me.

This is where I started getting some concern... (I added the emphasis)

Perhaps the choice of words wasn't quite right? In any case, thanks Mohawk for the reassurance.

Do we think that Electrical Connection has purchased genuine Cree chips? Double the price, though.

Write them and ask...

[zoomzoom]

Hey guys who have installed them, quick question: Are they blue looking? I really hate seeing blue headlights, and I don't want any...

Not really blue as Mohawk mentioned. I have noticed the color temperature of some of the kits varies from 4300K - 6000K. I believe that 4300 K is about as close to natural daylight as you can get. The 5000K bulbs I installed in my bike have a very white looking light with almost no bluish hue at all. I think the 6000K bulbs might have a slightly bluish hue, but it would be very slight and fairly close to the light color of HID factory headlights on many vehicles. I found this color temperature scale on the net and it relates specifically to vehicle headlight color temperature samples. Might help give you an idea as to the color of the bulbs. From what I understand the color of natural daylight is approx 4800K.

[KevCarver]

Here's a set that might be worth the extra dough:

http://www.lifetimeledlights.com/H49003-LED-headlights-_p_59.html

Lifetime warranty!

Claim a higher lumen output than both the ebay and Electrical Connection options.

[wera803]

Here's a set that might be worth the extra dough:

http://www.lifetimeledlights.com/H49003-LED-headlights-_p_59.html

Lifetime warranty!

Claim a higher lumen output than both the ebay and Electrical Connection options.

Did you order them yet?

[BonusVFR]

So now for the ride review. I dont think its any brighter than a fresh set of Stanley's would be, but it is a nicer color. I've never been a fan of the yellow light cast by incandescent lights so the bluer, more sunlight like color of the LEDs is a huge plus for me.

This is where I started getting some concern... (I added the emphasis)

Perhaps the choice of words wasn't quite right? In any case, thanks Mohawk for the reassurance.

Do we think that Electrical Connection has purchased genuine Cree chips? Nearly double the price, though.

Just give Electrical Connection a call and ask them.

They have been around for years and have posted in the past how their designs have been ripped off by others using inferior parts etc. Based on my experience with their products, I would not hesitate to buy from them.

[KevCarver]

Here's a set that might be worth the extra dough:

http://www.lifetimeledlights.com/H49003-LED-headlights-_p_59.html

Lifetime warranty!

Claim a higher lumen output than both the ebay and Electrical Connection options.

Did you order them yet?

No, I spent a lot of money this month...

I have no gripe with EC, but it seems unlikely a small shop in Knoxville pioneered the H4 LED. I don't think anybody copied anybody, but it's just the way they are built. In fact, the link I posted seems to be the most original of any kits I've seen for sale. Looks to be an all in one design without any hand cut PVC as spacer. Seems a bit DIY, IMO.

[wera803]

Looks to be an all in one design.

If there is room, the all in one design sure would be nice.

[KevCarver]

Looks to be an all in one design.

If there is room, the all in one design sure would be nice.

Hard to tell, but I don't think it's much bigger than the others with the fan attached. Probably a good idea to get overall dimensions from the Lifetime LED folks and compare to the other kits already purchased.

[Switchblade]

Here's a set that might be worth the extra dough:

http://www.lifetimeledlights.com/H49003-LED-headlights-_p_59.html

Lifetime warranty!

Claim a higher lumen output than both the ebay and Electrical Connection options.

Did you order them yet?

No, I spent a lot of money this month...

I have no gripe with EC, but it seems unlikely a small shop in Knoxville pioneered the H4 LED. I don't think anybody copied anybody, but it's just the way they are built. In fact, the link I posted seems to be the most original of any kits I've seen for sale. Looks to be an all in one design without any hand cut PVC as spacer. Seems a bit DIY, IMO.

Sure they did just ask me .....

[KevCarver]

Sent this to Lifetime LED:

Hi,

There's been lots of talk on a motorcycle forum I frequent (VFR Discussion.com) about LED H4 kits out on the market these days. I found yours through a web search and a different car forum, and I like your design and of course the lifetime warranty.

Just curious about a few things:

Can you give me the overall dimensions? Specifically how much of the unit is sticking out from the headlight shell?

Honda bulbs aren't exactly H4, but with standard bulbs we just clip off or bend back the bottom two locating tabs and they fit fine with the spring clip holding it in place. Will this affect the warranty at all?

Does your unit have a separate power regulator or ballast to mount outside the headlight shell? Looks like all the other kits are designed like that, but yours isn't pictured this way.