Let there be Light : Bike Lighting, HID etc

[arya809]

Re: Let there be Light : Bike Lighting, HID etc

Did some testing on various headlight H4 bulbs and thought I should share the results here:

I would choose the N1 as the winner.

Hey, you have tried and tested so many LED headlights, I guess you can sufficiently answer my query regarding karizma ZMR (2010). I had put osram nightbreaker 60/55 4 years back. I am quite okay with it, but I am getting greedy. I found online that this bulb outputs ~1700 lumens, whereas most of the LED headlights (above 20 watts) show an output of 3000 lumens and more.

I have to drive on single lane highways at dusk/night a lot, nowadays oncoming cars don't bother to lower their beam for anyone, I wish to counter that by using any setup I can like LED, HID etc. The stock reflector of ZMR outputs too wide light beam. Hence, what do you suggest - change the main headlight beam by 50-60 watts LED bulb OR put additional LED spot beam?

Other LED headlight owners are also requested to provide their views.

[deejayrox]

Re: Let there be Light : Bike Lighting, HID etc

1. Don't go by lumens mentioned in aliexpress, most of it is fake or estimated values.
2. When you put led or hid bulb directly in normal reflector designed for halogen lamp, you may not get the desired out put as light charactersitics will be differeent between these three types. Also there is a chance that you will end up only blinding oncoming traffic without much usable light on road. So people usually spend to include a projector setup which will concentrate most of this light on a smaller area instead of a normal reflector throwing light allover the place.
3. main advantage of LED is it requires less current so less load on electricals, HID also needs less current, but they need a higher staring current. also needs a warm up time for HID to get normal output.
4. Also check if karizma is AC or DC setup. You will have to convert to DC if AC

[maahinberi]

Re: Let there be Light : Bike Lighting, HID etc

What do you suggest - change the main headlight beam by 50-60 watts LED bulb OR put additional LED spot beam?

Other LED headlight owners are also requested to provide their views.

Correct me if im wrong but the ZMR originally came with a 35w headlight bulb. That means that you are already around 25w over the recommended load that your bike can take. Adding another 25-30w of load by adding spotlights may overload the system and might start causing problems with the RR Unit or Battery.

I would suggest switch to an LED bulb in the headlight. Most LED Bulbs only draw around 25w which is lesser than the stock bulb and leaves some room to install more accessories. My setup, with the N1 LED and spotlights together draws a total of 50w, which is still lesser than the Osram Night Breaker.

So my suggestion would be to start by changing the headlight bulb and then decide whether or not you need spotlights.

As for the pattern, you propably saw in my comparison post that the Cn360 N1 LED has an almost identical pattern as that of a halogen bulb, and it does not cause glare to oncoming traffic.

The advertised Lumens is not a good measure as we cant be sure of the authenticity of that number, however i can tell you that LED bulbs are way brighter than any 60w halogen bulb.

Finally, though HIDs might give you brighter light, a good set would cost you way more than the above mentioned LED bulb. Also there is no fuss with relays and ballasts or startup times.

The CN360 can be obtained for around ₹800-1000 which is around the same price as the Osram Night Breaker or a Phillips Xtreme Vision bulb.
The only drawback is that you’ll have to wait around 20-30 days to get it from AliExpress

P.S. Please check whether your bike’s setup is AC or DC. The above mentioned Led headlight bulbs do not work on AC setups. There are a few LED bulbs that claim to work on AC, but I have not tried them.

[arya809]

Re: Let there be Light : Bike Lighting, HID etc

[QUOTE=maahinberi;1336818]
So my suggestion would be to start by changing the headlight bulb and then decide whether or not you need spotlights.
/QUOTE]

Your suggestion is spot on, I was thinking the same that I would first put LED bulb then decide whether or not to buy another spotlight or projector.

I forgot to mention, I do understand that I am already putting too much electrical load. When I was talking about spotlight, I planned to put stock 35W bulb as main headlight and then put additional spotlight. Anyhow I dropped that idea because there isn't much space in Karizma zmr to install such aux lights.

I am also buying p21 type LED bulbs for indicators, If I am not wrong, my stock 21wx21w setup means at a time 42w are consumed by the indicator bulbs, isn't it? I plan to reduce this significantly. Also I am buying a relay for LED indicators with adjustable timings. Currently the headlights dim a little when indicators are blinking, and if I use the horn at the same time, both headlights and horn lose power.

Right now I have put all these items in my (aliexpress) cart but haven't completed the order, I am not in a hurry and decided to chat with others for better understanding. I have put this bulb in my cart, its H4 Hi/Lo version outputs 40W for low beam and 50W for High beam:-

https://www.aliexpress.com/item/12000LM-Super-Bright-Car-LED-Headlight-Kit-H4-HB2-9003-Cree-Replacement-Bulb-With-Anti-Dazzling/32688165668.html?spm=a2g0s.13010208.99999999.290.KtdgDw

Yes, my motorcycle is completely DC. The stock alternator provides 232 Watts at 5000 rpm.

Oh, I am planning to buy 4300K version of this LED bulb, but as I can see on the product page, they just put a yellowish plastic cylinder over the LED bulb to simulate 4300K light, but is that correct? Can they change color temperature just by putting yellow cover over it? My wild guess is that it's a sham and I will be better off with the plain 6000K version i.e. without any colored plastic cover.

[maahinberi]

Re: Let there be Light : Bike Lighting, HID etc

Oh, I am planning to buy 4300K version of this LED bulb, but as I can see on the product page, they just put a yellowish plastic cylinder over the LED bulb to simulate 4300K light, but is that correct? Can they change color temperature just by putting yellow cover over it? My wild guess is that it's a sham and I will be better off with the plain 6000K version i.e. without any colored plastic cover.

I too have the 4300K version. It comes along with a glass cylinder which you can put on top of the LED bulb. With this cover, the light is a greenish yellow light, which I don’t like. So, I use the LED without this cover. You can get the 4300K version and if you don’t like it, you can remove the cover.

[maahinberi]

Re: Let there be Light : Bike Lighting, HID etc

Oh, I am planning to buy 4300K version of this LED bulb, but as I can see on the product page, they just put a yellowish plastic cylinder over the LED bulb to simulate 4300K light, but is that correct? Can they change color temperature just by putting yellow cover over it? My wild guess is that it's a sham and I will be better off with the plain 6000K version i.e. without any colored plastic cover.

I too have the 4300K version. It comes along with a glass cylinder which you can put on top of the LED bulb. With this cover, the light is a greenish yellow light, which I don’t like. So, I use the LED without this cover. You can get the 4300K version and if you don’t like it, you can remove the cover.

Here's some photos with the 4300K cylinder installed
Looks more green than yellow to me. (Might be good in foggy and rain conditions)

[arya809]

Re: Let there be Light : Bike Lighting, HID etc

Thanks to Maahinberi, I went ahead and ordered that LED headlight bulb. It consumes 40 watts for lower beam and 50 watts for upper beam. That's why I chose this one. For anybody who is wondering how to contact seller on aliexpress to sell 1 bulb instead of the usual pair, here's my guide.

First select the bulb of your liking, preferably reputed brands with lots of positive feedback. Also check the size of the bulb, especially the rear portion which sticks out of the reflector after fitting the bulb. Maybe there isn't enough space in your motorcycle to accommodate bulbs with thick rear portion. I measured the gap in my karizma ZMR and accordingly selected that bulb. Refer the picture below.


After putting the item in your cart or wishlist, click on "contact now" on the product page below the seller's info. Tell the seller in simple words that you want 1 piece and not the pair. IF he agrees, he will tell you to buy the bulb pair and pay for it but don't pay for it! Yes, he will keep telling you this again and again. Turns out, the trick is to start payment process but cancel the payment at the last moment which puts your order in "awaiting payment" category.

To do this, go to your cart and checkout by filling your shipping info etc, but JUST BEFORE clicking Make payment button, click on CANCEL button (you won't find it if you selected debit/credit card option) or simply click on BACK browser button. The website will ask whether you want to cancel the payment now, click YES. Now when you go to My orders page, you will find the order under the "awaiting payment" tab. Copy the order number and send the order number to the seller with whom you were chatting. After a few minutes, when you refresh that page (awaiting payment) you will find that the product price has been changed.

Now click on make payment and complete the payment by any means. Also write "please send 1 piece of hX XXXXX bulb" X being the color or version you want. Also thank the seller and tell him that you made the payment. He will thank you back and hopefully inform you about the shipping.

In my case the seller immediately shipped the bulb after the payment.

I will post the installation and results as soon as I get my hands on the LED bulb.

[arya809]

Re: Let there be Light : Bike Lighting, HID etc

Here's some photos with the 4300K cylinder installed
Looks more green than yellow to me. (Might be good in foggy and rain conditions)

I received the LED H4 headlight few days back. I chose to install it without the yellow glass cylinder. The bulb is horribly bright, but my karizma ZMR's headlight reflector is too wide, now the beam is all scattered, without focus. The upper beam doesn't focus on the road, there is virtually no difference between high and low beams. I can see that your FZ's beam is much better in terms of focus. Maybe I need to put back the yellow glass cylinder to get a better focus?

I have a silly, absurb idea. What if I remove the cover from the low beam LED (the top most one in the above pic) so as to make my headlight an all time high beam one? I live in Jodhpur (Rajasthan) and most of the car drivers here are inconsiderate bastards, they drive in high beams throughout the city, especially those fortuner owners! I will give them a taste of their own medicine!
BTW if I decide to do that, I plan to put a separate auxiliary LED projector to work as low beam and I will keep the main LED headlight off mostly then turn it (the main 50W LED) on only when I encounter those idiots with high beams on.

[maahinberi]

Re: Let there be Light : Bike Lighting, HID etc

I received the LED H4 headlight few days back. I chose to install it without the yellow glass cylinder. The bulb is horribly bright, but my karizma ZMR's headlight reflector is too wide, now the beam is all scattered, without focus. The upper beam doesn't focus on the road, there is virtually no difference between high and low beams. I can see that your FZ's beam is much better in terms of focus. Maybe I need to put back the yellow glass cylinder to get a better focus?

I have a silly, absurb idea. What if I remove the cover from the low beam LED (the top most one in the above pic) so as to make my headlight an all time high beam one? I live in Jodhpur (Rajasthan) and most of the car drivers here are inconsiderate bastards, they drive in high beams throughout the city, especially those fortuner owners! I will give them a taste of their own medicine!
BTW if I decide to do that, I plan to put a separate auxiliary LED projector to work as low beam and I will keep the main LED headlight off mostly then turn it (the main 50W LED) on only when I encounter those idiots with high beams on.

The Yellow Cover doesn't change the focus. As you can see from my previous post, even without it the pattern is the same:

Did some testing on various headlight H4 bulbs and thought I should share the results here:

CNSUNNYLIGHT V18s Turbo H4 LED
Link: https://www.aliexpress.com/item/1200...688165668.html
(You can contact the seller and ask him to send you just one piece in case you don’t need 2)


Low Beam:
[ATTACH]236480[/ATTACH]

High Beam:
[ATTACH]236481[/ATTACH]

Even I faced problems with the focus of the CNSunnyLight bulb. The beam is too wide and scattered (intermittent dark and bright spots).
That's why I bought the CN360. The CN360 has a very even spread on the road, though its not as bright as the CNSunnyLight one.

Nevertheless, most bike headlights are adjustable and the headlight can be adjusted up/down to focus the beam on the road. Try and see if your headlight is adjustable and try and adjust it so that the high beam goes perfectly down the road.

It's also very easy to install the LED Bulbs upside down (I speak from experience) and this ruins the focus considerably. The cup reflector on low beam should face upwards on most vehicles, but cross-check with the original bulb to see how it was.

[arya809]

Re: Let there be Light : Bike Lighting, HID etc

The Yellow Cover doesn't change the focus. As you can see from my previous post, even without it the pattern is the same:

Thanks for clarifying.
I didn't know that you had already tried cnsunnylight, else I would have asked you first.
Anyways, my karizma ZMR's reflector has slanted slots, I mean the bulb's topmost notch is tilted towards oncoming traffic by 10 degrees approx. That is company's stock design, I didn't do anything. Maybe that's one of the reasons for improper focus?
I have always played with the headlight vertical adjustment screw in the past with halogen bulbs. But this time it doesn't change much as both low and high beams focus on the same spot. Because of this, currently I have raised the headlight so much that the low beam falls 50-60 metres ahead on the road and the high beam (weak one) goes up in the trees!

Yes, I double checked the orientation, the low beam led faces upwards and there is a reflector cover on its bottom side while it's mounted inside the headlight. BTW I was thinking of removing this reflector cover (it's just a steel plate) to make my headlight all time high beam only, as I explained in the above post? Any ideas?

[maahinberi]

Re: Let there be Light : Bike Lighting, HID etc

Thanks for clarifying.
I didn't know that you had already tried cnsunnylight, else I would have asked you first.
Anyways, my karizma ZMR's reflector has slanted slots, I mean the bulb's topmost notch is tilted towards oncoming traffic by 10 degrees approx. That is company's stock design, I didn't do anything. Maybe that's one of the reasons for improper focus?
I have always played with the headlight vertical adjustment screw in the past with halogen bulbs. But this time it doesn't change much as both low and high beams focus on the same spot. Because of this, currently I have raised the headlight so much that the low beam falls 50-60 metres ahead on the road and the high beam (weak one) goes up in the trees!

Yes, I double checked the orientation, the low beam led faces upwards and there is a reflector cover on its bottom side while it's mounted inside the headlight. BTW I was thinking of removing this reflector cover (it's just a steel plate) to make my headlight all time high beam only, as I explained in the above post? Any ideas?

That's weird. Even on my FZ the slot is tilted 10 degrees, but I was able to focus it fine.
On my bulb,
Low Beam: Only the low beam LEDs are ON.
High Beam: Both Low Beam and High Beam LEDs are ON.

So I get a constant low beam 50 meters ahead of my vehicle. When I switch to High beam, the low beam stays as it is, and the high beam gets focused straight down the road.


In fact even on their page they mention this:


If your bulb does not behave like this, contact the seller and see what can be done to get it fixed. Either return or refund.

Share pictures of your high and Low beam pattern.

P.S. It's not hard to remove that reflector for the low beam. It's only attached with one screw on either side.

[mechravi]

Re: Let there be Light : Bike Lighting, HID etc

guys can my hero glamour with 5 ah battery support 30 watt external auxillary led lights without battery draining.please reply

[arsenalfan001]

Re: Let there be Light : Bike Lighting, HID etc

Hey guys,

I am looking to upgrade the lights on my fz25. I ride for about 15kms on a highway everyday after 7:30 pm. Now the stock one is very poor during night rides and I need better lights.
What are my options? Please share your experiences and suggestions. Oh and I'm feom Kolkata, so if you are aware of any workshop where I can get the mod done, it would be great.
Thanks!

[arya809]

Re: Let there be Light : Bike Lighting, HID etc

[MENTION=90766]maahinberi[/MENTION]
Thanks for replying. Yes my headlight bulb also lights up both LED's when switched to high beam, but that doesn't mean the upper/high beam will get any advantage from the low beam's light, and my high beam LED is of 10 watts only. I should have chosen a different one now that I think of it, still not that bad.
BTW the problem with bad focus is solved. I installed the bulb in a hurry initially, the bulb was hanging mid-air around half cm away from the reflector. I opened it up few days back and bent the U spring in order to fit it properly. Now the focus is as good and wide as a halogen bulb. I did remove the reflector/cap around the low beam LED, it didn't help much but it improves the overall brightness when switched to high beam.

For all guys who wish to accommodate a LED headlight bulb with a fan, don't forget to put the dust cap around the LED bulb's base, that dust cap is vital in protecting dust and mist from entering headlight reflector unit. I found out that the dust cap sits so tightly around the fan unit that the fan's air has no place to go, it may result in overheating and switching off of the LED bulb. Note that most of the LED bulbs have fans which blow air TOWARDS the led bulb, not away from it. I found a workaround for that, I had few aluminium washers lying around coincidentally, I cut a washer in half and then fit it around the fan as shown in the pics below. Now there is a gap between the fan's body and dust cap for the hot air to escape.

This is the aluminium washer being cut in half


Put the first half between the bulb's fan assembly and led base.


Both washer halves in place and dust cap still pulled back.


Final look after pulling the dust cap back in original place, notice how the dust cap is kept away from the fan's body and the air can escape from there.


I will upload the headlight's pics tonight, I can't find a single road without LED streetlights near my home, I will have to go 5 kms towards rural area to get a dark road.
[MENTION=42109]mechravi[/MENTION]
I doubt the glamour's stator coil generates high enough wattage to support a LED aux light in addition to the main headlight. Also, I would suggest you to stay away from aux lights, they look bright enough when you look directly at it but it won't illuminate the road well enough, and you just won't get a good upper/high beam from an aux light. It's better to first convert the motorcycle to full DC, then install a H4 LED headlight of around 25-30 watts.

[MENTION=46367]arsenalfan001[/MENTION]
I tried finding the type of LED bulb used in FZ25 headlight but failed to do so. You will have to first find out the bulb's base type like H1, H4, H7 etc. Either ask the Yamaha SVC guys or open up the headlight to check visually. Then you will have to find the same type of bulb online, try to buy from gearbest, aliexpress or dx.com, these sites are much cheaper compared to indian websites. Do note that it takes around 10-40 days depending on the site, seller and courier brand. Gearbest uses GATI courier company which is superfast, I get products in 7-10 days via Gati!
It's a DIY (do it yourself) job, you don't necessarily need to goto a mechanic. Else any roadside mechanic can open up the headlight and fit the bulb easily. Do note that you have to measure the CLEARANCE i.e. space around the stock led bulb on the outer side to accomodate the LED bulb's fan assembly. Check the measurements on the websites and then match it with your bike's space. In general, I don't think you need to worry a lot because FZ has got ample space behind the stock bulbs.

[maahinberi]

Re: Let there be Light : Bike Lighting, HID etc

@maahinberi
Thanks for replying. Yes my headlight bulb also lights up both LED's when switched to high beam, but that doesn't mean the upper/high beam will get any advantage from the low beam's light, and my high beam LED is of 10 watts only. I should have chosen a different one now that I think of it, still not that bad.
BTW the problem with bad focus is solved. I installed the bulb in a hurry initially, the bulb was hanging mid-air around half cm away from the reflector. I opened it up few days back and bent the U spring in order to fit it properly. Now the focus is as good and wide as a halogen bulb.

Glad to hear that

----consecutive posts auto-merged-----

Hey guys,

I am looking to upgrade the lights on my fz25. I ride for about 15kms on a highway everyday after 7:30 pm. Now the stock one is very poor during night rides and I need better lights.
What are my options? Please share your experiences and suggestions. Oh and I'm feom Kolkata, so if you are aware of any workshop where I can get the mod done, it would be great.
Thanks!

I don't think you can change the headlight bulb in the FZ25 as it uses integrated LEDs.
I think the best option for you would be to go with Aux lights

You can look at Skanda's recommendation for Aux lights here:

https://www.xbhp.com/talkies/universal-threads/4803-let-there-light-bike-lighting-hid-etc-593.html