| Author | Message | ||
     Cataract2 |
Advmonster has LED Cree bulbs available for use. Going to order a set myself. Reports seem very positive so far. http://stores.advmonster.com/h8-led-headlight/ | ||
| D_adams |
Color is going to be on the blue side of the spectrum, you may not like it. Anything above 5k color starts washing out and turns blue then purple I think. Less visible light spectrum if I recall correctly. | ||
| Terrys1980 |
I'd like to see a side by side comparison with 6k HID. The blue tint in 6k light is very dependent on the manufacturer. I've always used 6k in my bikes/trucks and it is just enough blue to make it look good. I will consider going to LED once my HIDs give me problems but I've been running them in my Buells since 09 with no issues. | ||
| Jaredc01 |
Long-winded HID response that partially applies to the LEDs up and coming: 4150K is the industry standard HID color. More recently there have been a few 5000K OEM bulbs coming out. The 5K bulbs are considered "pure white" with the 4150K bulbs being "daylight white". The 5K bulbs are also the highest lumen output bulbs you can find. Above or below 5K and you start losing output. Once you get above 5K, you start to get into the more-blue level. 6K is still relatively white, though you'll notice a slight blue tint. 8K is the first level that you'll really start noticing the blue color, and what a lot of idiots out there choose because they don't know any better and just want the blue color of OEM HIDs (which are really 4150K with a proper lens). Once you get to the 10K-12K mark, you're pure blue, and assuming it's on a 35w HID kit, you're producing less light than a 55w halogen bulb. 14K is as high as I've seen sold, and they're purple. As with the 10K-12K bulbs, the 14K bulbs produce considerably less light than a 55w halogen. With that out of the way... Lumen output for a proper 4150K D2S bulb like the Philips 85122+ is 3200 lumens. Standard 55w halogen bulbs are right around 1500 lumens. The LEDs you listed, assuming they're using the correct Cree LEDs they say they are, can hit ~1200 lumens a piece at maximum power (3A @ 3.3v). The total light output between the two bulbs should be near 2400 lumens if all is correct. The only issue that I can think of would be the optics. The reflector bowls are designed with the long metal filament of a halogen bulb in mind, with 360 degrees of light emission... The LED bulb puts out a 125 degree beam from a single point, on each side, covering a total of 250 degrees of light emission. The gap in degree coverage may be enough to drop the usable output from the bulb down closer to what a halogen bulb would put out already, but I'm not sure. If you want to be the guinea pig, post some pics! I'd be curious to know if there's an LED kit out there yet that will fit the headlight housings without leaving the dust covers off. | ||
| Reepicheep |
I wouldn't mind switching to an LED for my high beam (currently still normal bulb) now. And if that worked well, I'd be fairly tempted to switch out the old HID stuff in my low beam as well. So long as there is reasonable diffusement in that cree point source light. There are a few Harley riders showing up around here now with LED replacement headlights, and they put the LED's directly forward facing. You might as well be shining laser in my eyes... its almost as rude as loud pipes. Nothing like driving around screaming "look at me I'm an &^%%hole". | ||
| Ratbuell |
...just wait till LED headlight modulators hit the market...  Another note from my color theory / stage and concert lighting design days - the human eye is least responsive to blue light. Lumen output may read as higher...but our eyes "see" less of it than any other color in the spectrum. Put an HID/blue light next to an incandescent, and look at the field of light. I guarantee you'll see better definition and contrast in the "yellow" section than you will in the bluer area. Its just the way our eyes are built. | ||
| Oldog |
After having seen the 1190 led head light in person I will wait or use what I have they work but they are not hid level of light, those optics are designed for the led set up, putting leds' in regular housings is not likely to work well. |
