H4 LED + other LED lighting

[Tomchri]

On 2/3/2023 at 11:32 PM, docc said:

The cheap, Chinee LED H4 I tried burnt out at 10,000 miles, not unlike the immensely hot hi-wattage H4s I tried from Sylvania.

3 1/2 years/ 15,000 miles and still very pleased with this plug&play solution:

https://vintagecarleds.com/shop/bulbs-only/vcm3-bulbs-only/

What docc says, I am very pleased to. You get what you pay for.

Cheers Tom.

[gstallons]

The Chinese LEDs are pathetic. We install these @ work and 1/10 of them go out as soon as you apply voltage . 

[Pressureangle]

H4s are about 3/4 down the page. 

Daniel Stern is one of the largest OEM lighting engineering firms in the world. He's also a classic Mopar guy which is how I came to know him. There's 6 metric tons of knowledge on his website. I haven't reviewed it lately for updated LED information but it doesn't seem that he sells any. I haven't replaced my headlamp bulb since owning the bike, but when I do I'll buy here rather than risk the attendant problems with unproven LEDs.

http://www.danielsternlighting.com/products/products.html

[Weegie]

Some explanation of what I did to install the Koso Thunderbolt LED Headlamp

The bike had a Bosch H4 Unit installed as standard & looks better, don't think there wold be any argument there.

The Unit is very large and the hole in the fairing to accomodate it is approximately 306mm diameter

The Koso Thunderbolt lamp is 170mm diameter.

This left a large gap and as the unit doesn't have a bucket would also be deeper in the fairing

After looking to try to find a suitable bucket and failing I came across a trim ring on Ali Express

https://www.aliexpress.com/item/1005002252489460.html?spm=a2g0o.order_list.order_list_main.9.775d1802WuUIaq

This would take up some of the gap, but wasn't wide enough, to protrude into the fairing from the mounts that the headlamp mates to. So I ordered 2 with the idea of joining them together, the outer diameter of the tirm ring was 190mm. That would reduce the gap from approx 18mm (36/2) to 8mm (16/2).

I'd also have the issue of how to secure the headlamp and the trim ring to stop it freely rotating. The Bosch butted onto the mounting tabs and tightening the tabs to the bucket prevented it rotating.

Eventually in desperation after running out of ideas I used Gorrila tape to join the 2 trim rings together. To my surprise this worked much better than expected and the trim rings were quite secure. I also needed to buy 2 thread reducers from E Bay as the trim rings were tapped for M10 and I needed M8

Using a 5mm sponge strip, usually used for draught excluders on doors, I placed that around the headlamp and squeezed the trim rings onto the headlamp.

To stop the whole thing now freely rotating I got longer bolts that bottomed out inside the headlamp then using nuts between the lamp and the mounting tab I could screw them onto the mounting tabs on the inside, clamping the bolts onto the tabs. As the bolts also bottomed out in the headlamp and the trim rings were secured to the lamp with foam it was held captive. Sort of difficult to explain so this picture might help to make it clearer, you can see the nut on the inside clamping the tab

Finally I need a rubber trim to take up the gap between the trim ring and the fairing, somewhere around 8-9mm. After a few fails I purchased a some D rubber strip, this is normally used to seal doors, hatches etc: The one I chose would usually be used for hatches on boats. As the inside is hollow it can be compressed down to squeeze through the 8mm gap and expands back out either side and worked a treat.

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/112139428859

Not sure if that helps or not

[Pressureangle]

Here's another bit, specifically addressing HID 'upgrades' not LED but the points and questions remain.

Personally, I believe that if an LED allows me to see better than the standard incandescent lamp, I'd use it. If, as on my Aermacchi with it's 140 watt charging system, an incandescent puts the battery charging at risk, an LED is preferred and installed. But my own experience is that I'd rather upgrade the wiring and plug to use a 55w/100w incandescent than an unknown quality LED which may not put the light where I want it. Education and judgement are always in the hands of the user.

https://www.danielsternlighting.com/tech/bulbs/Hid/conversions/conversions.html

[Pressureangle]

9 minutes ago, Weegie said:

Some explanation of what I did to install the Koso Thunderbolt LED Headlamp

 

The Koso Thunderbolt lamp is 170mm diameter.

 

This is the same lamp I installed in my Aermacchi, and it's absolutely lovely. Far better than the Phillips sealed beam I had before, and far less load on the charging system.

[Weegie]

1 hour ago, Pressureangle said:

Here's another bit, specifically addressing HID 'upgrades' not LED but the points and questions remain.

Personally, I believe that if an LED allows me to see better than the standard incandescent lamp, I'd use it. If, as on my Aermacchi with it's 140 watt charging system, an incandescent puts the battery charging at risk, an LED is preferred and installed. But my own experience is that I'd rather upgrade the wiring and plug to use a 55w/100w incandescent than an unknown quality LED which may not put the light where I want it. Education and judgement are always in the hands of the user.

https://www.danielsternlighting.com/tech/bulbs/Hid/conversions/conversions.html

I agree, as I don't do much night riding, it's not much of an issue for me.

Installing either an LED bulb or an HID (although they've mostly been surpassed by LEDs) is always going to result in a compromise. The H4 shell optics are designed for an H4 bulb and anything else will probably result in more stray light and possibly reduced performance. Some of the reduced performance will be overcome to a degree I suppose by the sheer brute force output of LEDs.

If you just want to be seen during the day though IMHO an LED bulb is a good way to enhance visibility to other road users, but could become a liability after dark.

My preference is to install an LED unit and not a Chinese cheapy. There are a few YouTube channels where some folks did extensive testing on many units. As I recall the JW Speaker's products scored consistently high on the ratings and nearly all the Chinese offerings were woeful.

[Tomchri]

On 2/5/2023 at 10:37 PM, Pressureangle said:

H4s are about 3/4 down the page. 

Daniel Stern is one of the largest OEM lighting engineering firms in the world. He's also a classic Mopar guy which is how I came to know him. There's 6 metric tons of knowledge on his website. I haven't reviewed it lately for updated LED information but it doesn't seem that he sells any. I haven't replaced my headlamp bulb since owning the bike, but when I do I'll buy here rather than risk the attendant problems with unproven LEDs.

http://www.danielsternlighting.com/products/products.html

Sorry, wrong button, Mopar and interesting news = thanks.

Cheers Tom 

[docc]

Has anyone used the quality VintageCars LED "H4" replacement in the later V11 plastic bucket?

This "H4" LED has great beam patterns in mySport's steel (Bosch) bucket.

Almost 4 years/ 18,000 miles/ 28.500 km.

https://vintagecarleds.com/shop/bulbs-only/vcm3-bulbs-only/

[guzziart]

One of the inexpensive clones I bought had a base that I felt was too thick to install.  As a result of the thicker base, the bulb retaining springs exerted more pressure on the two retaining tabs on the reflector.  I was concerned that the additional tension would break the plastic reflector tabs so I didn't install the bulb but instead bought another inexpensive bulb having a thin flat stamped steel base like a conventional H4.  Anyway, the bulb only lasted a  few months, if that and I've ordered another inexpensive LED H4 to "try".

[docc]

19 minutes ago, guzziart said:

One of the inexpensive clones I bought had a base that I felt was too thick to install.  As a result of the thicker base, the bulb retaining springs exerted more pressure on the two retaining tabs on the reflector.  I was concerned that the additional tension would break the plastic reflector tabs so I didn't install the bulb but instead bought another inexpensive bulb having a thin flat stamped steel base like a conventional H4.  Anyway, the bulb only lasted a  few months, if that and I've ordered another inexpensive LED H4 to "try".

I recall bending the connector spades 90º to make space in the bucket . . .

Yet, again, the early steel bucket is completely different from the later V11 headlamp buckets, including the reflector and the lens. So, no idea what kind of solution this is for later V11 . . .

[guzziart]

I wish MG would have stuck with the steel reflector for the Lemans.  Or at least the bezel set up as the retaining device for the reflector.

[Tomchri]

Have the Vintage bulbs in my 03 Rosso Corsa, and 04 Nero Corsa.  Fits perfect. Serious warranty to.

Cheers Tom. 

[guzziart]

On 2/5/2023 at 7:26 AM, gstallons said:

The Chinese LEDs are pathetic. We install these @ work and 1/10 of them go out as soon as you apply voltage . 

Yeah, I've had zero luck with H4 style stuff and have become very proficient at removing the Lemans fairing as a result.