| Author | Message | ||
     Mhevezi |
Soooo... the first owner of my ride (I am owner 3 of my '08XT) swapped the stock headlights for HID's. Largely they worked fine. Yeah, the flash-to-pass was slow as the bulbs needed to warm and that pause between low & high beam caught me off guard a few times, but they were bright and well, worked. Until recently when they got very flaky on me. I checked and cleaned all the connections and they still would go out at random times. Very frustrating. Well, I was at my local Cycle Gear and they had a sale on LED setups for motorcycles and I bought a pair of H7's for my Buell.  Ripped out the old HID's and swapped in the new H7 LEDs. Went pretty smooth and they seem very bright. And they are INSTANT on! I have my flash to pass back!     Less junk under the flyscreen too.  Cant wait to try them out in the dark! I'll let you know how they do. Oh, and the lights were $60/ea. Took about an hour to swap.   | ||
| Rayycc1 |
look bright ... i might have to check into those...let us know how they perform on the road. | ||
| Xaman |
Definitely interested in how they perform at night, please let us know  | ||
| Woodnbow |
I like those, I have the HID bulbs too and every so often they don't fire. I have to shut off the ignition and restart and so far that works. I'll be lookin into those.. | ||
| Buewulf |
I'd be curious to know how they work. I have seen a lot of bikes (and pickups for some reason) around these parts that have LED or HID conversions, but the vast majority just seem effective at scattering light all over the place and blinding oncoming traffic. (Message edited by Buewulf on February 16, 2015) | ||
| Woodnbow |
I haven't noticed that effect Buewulf... or at least nobody has tried to run me off the road lately. | ||
| Natexlh1000 |
We have a lot of those pickups in my area too. One commutes past my house every night. Looks like a purple cone of death blasting across everyone's yard. The focusing thing is the hardest part I guess. | ||
| Lyonne |
I was considering these http://stores.advmonster.com/h7-led-headlight/ and was wondering if you considered them as well. | ||
| Ratbuell |
I have HID in my low beam, with an LED high beam. Forget the brand, but I want to say its 2500 lumens? Got a pair, mainly so I could run the same arrangement (HID lo / LED hi) on my charging-challenged 1125. I do like the jnstant-on of the LED, but the HID definitely puts more light downrange. | ||
| Mhevezi |
Hmmm... I didn't look at the ADV Monster LED's. I kinda impulse bought the LED's I used as my HID's were getting to be an issue. Took the bike out last night and after some adjustments, I really like the beam pattern light these put out. They seem on-par with my old, HID's. My buddy has an '09 Uly with stock beams and we are going to find a quiet parking lot and do a side-by-side comparison. I'll get pics and post up some additional feedback on these. Oh, and I am using my stock, 7yr old light housing. It's a little faded and dull, but not burnt and roached as I have seen in some XB's. I'm sure a new housing would help! | ||
| Natexlh1000 |
I had to buy a new headlight housing and found one at American Sport Bike. To my delight, it came with new bulbs and wiring as well.... http://americansportbike.com/newdir/Item/17620 I would go that route if your reflectors aren't reflecting. | ||
| Argentcorvid |
I've got the ADVmonster ones. work pretty good. Better than silverstars, but not as bright as HIDs | ||
| Natexlh1000 |
If they are better than silverstars, they must be better than normal halogen jobs, eh? How do the ADVmonster LEDs focus with the stock reflectors? | ||
| Argentcorvid |
these are taken with as close to the same settings as my point & shoot camera would let me. IIRC, the apeture settings are the same, but the stock one's exposure time was longer so it should be even darker when compared to the LED. Stock:  ADVmonster:  | ||
| Mhevezi |
So after a side by side comparison, the LED's are just as bright as stock halogens, but the LEDs are a much whiter light. The HID's I had before were a little brighter, but I'm very happy with the LEDs. I love the crisp, white light and the instant on. Overall I needed new lights and these fit the bill. Not a huge increase over stock, unless you want that white light and super long bulb life. | ||
| Ferris_von_bueller |
My buddy and me are going to find a quiet parking lot and do a side-by-side comparison. I'll get pics and post up some  | ||
| Lyonne |
We'll the ADVmonster leds are now $29. I'm not sure, but I thought they were higher. At that price, I jumped in for the whole set. I'll try to get some comparison pics when I swap out. Finally my wife's photography equipment has a real use.  | ||
| Rayycc1 |
Lyonne... you will not be disappointed with those LEDs...I love mine...its like night and day | ||
| Mhevezi |
Ok, so when I went to dinner with my buddy who has a 2009 XB12XT... his low beam was out, so I couldn't get the comparison. But, his bike is fixed and he brought it over last week. So, on regular (low beam) the stock, incandescent bulbs are brighter in the center, but don't flood as well as the LED's. Plus the LED's are MUCH more of a White Light. Side-by-Side (low beam)  And on High Beam- his just seems to be more intense in the middle, while my LED's move up and open a dark spot, right in front of the bike. Hard to tell from the photo, but take my word-  So I HIGHLY recommend that you do the High-Low beam mod to get them to both light when you switch to high beams. The LED's are definitely a more crisp, whiter light, but not necessarily brighter than stock. If you look at them, head on, the LED's look WAY more intense. The white light is nice though. Both our reflectors are well worn. Not terrible, but I'm sure a new headlight assembly would help. Overall, I am happy with my upgrade and if you shop around you can get these lights on eBay or other websites for much cheaper. The HID's are the brightest option, but they are slow to light and are power hogs- and they have a service life that is less than LED's- which should last longer than HID's and Incandescent lights. Hope you enjoyed my pics- even if they are HELLA late! Here are a few more- just for sh!ts-   | ||
| Arry |
Thanks for posting with your pictures. The LED looks very intense and focused, does it catch the attention of oncoming traffic (do you get high beams flashed at you?). I do like the idea of long lasting, low power draw LED's, but I don't like being a distraction/annoyance to other drivers. | ||
| Mhevezi |
Arry, in a car, I agree with you. On my bike, I absolutely do not mind being annoying. Not to the level of being a prick, but... I like to be noticed, seen, etc. |
