Triumph Rat Motorcycle Forums banner

HID and LED conversion

12K views 33 replies 12 participants last post by  S1mon 
#1 ·
Hi all.
Apologies for adding another lighting post, but I'm a little confused (that's not hard...)
I have a plan to upgrade my 2008 ST to twin HID and an LED main beam.
From my understanding, the HID will be bright enough for everyday use, but I plan to use the LED as a passing/Flash light, as opposed to a main beam which may be overkill with the HID's.
I have found several old threads on using HID, but scant few on the LED option, and none (that I've found) mixing the 2 technologies together.
I understand colour theory, so will plan to get kits with the same colour temperature, but, please, if anyone has any experience of this plan, can you let me know if it's daft, or not?
Thanks in advance, from a fairly new ST owner..

Sent from my Samsung S6 please ignore any typos.
 
#2 ·
Hi,
I bought a 2008 Sprint ST last fall that came with HID low beams and a standard halogen bulb in the high beam. While the HID's give a lot of light and I really like them, the standard high beam doesn't add anything to brightness or throw. I really can't tell if it's on or off. As a result, I've also been looking at/thinking about converting to an LED for the hi beam.

Which LED kit are you contemplating?
Thanks,
Jeff
 
#5 ·
Before shelling out for HID, which can be a pain with an M/C, look at LED's for the lows as well. HID ballasts do not react well to the M/C ignition routine. When you turn on the bike the ballasts are charged and the bulbs begin to warm up. However, when you hit the starter button, the power to the lighting is cut. This is problematic for HID ballasts, and can shorten their life span greatly. The only way to resolve this is to install a switched relay to the headlight assembly.

LED's, on the other hand are not affected by this. They are instant on and off. They also draw a lot less power, and generate and equal amount of light. I'd consider LED's for the mains/low as opposed to HID's for these reasons.
 
#6 ·
LED's, on the other hand are not affected by this. They are instant on and off. They also draw a lot less power, and generate and equal amount of light. I'd consider LED's for the mains/low as opposed to HID's for these reasons..


Of course, hadn't thought of that.

Thanks you, it's also probably easier to install LED'S which don't need a large strike current..

Mike

Sent from my Samsung S6 please ignore any typos.
 
#10 ·
So, I have a set of H7 LED replacement bulbs I acquired to drop into my low beams. Had the Sprint in at the dealer to have the clutch rebuilt (long story). While there I asked them to pop in the bulbs. When I picked up the bike they said they elected not to do so as that would mean removing the rubber boot that seals the headlight bucket completely. I had anticipated the need to remove the boot, but they were not willing to do it, citing the bucket would no longer be sealed.

So, my question is, has anyone installed H7 bulbs in the low beams (bulbs have waterproof fan heat sink combination) and had any issues without the boots in place?
 
#19 · (Edited)
So, the sod it fairy came to visit last night at the end of a bottle of wine..
I bought these https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/aw/d/B01N51ZM1A/ref=yo_ii_img?ie=UTF8&psc=1 and they were delivered today (Amazon, crazy fast delivery to a locker...)
They're in, and working, look much brighter.
Proof will be in my commute to work next week, but the un scientific approach of shining them on the inside of the garage was amazingly different to the halogen ones.
If I were to do this again, I'd investigate the ones with the ribbon heatsinks, and not the ones with a fan on them.
I'll report back after a dark ride.

Mike.
---------
Sent from my phone please ignore any typos.
 
#22 ·
I just had one of my low beam bulbs burn out, and am going to take the opportunity to upgrade to LED.

I'm concerned about not having boots, mainly because it'd be a huge pain in the ass if water/dust got inside the housings. Anyone know if you can get new boots if I hack these ones up and it goes badly?

This seems like a decent LED kit: http://www.cyclopsadventuresports.com/4000-Lumen-H7-LED-Headlight-Bulb_p_86.html
 
#24 ·
I've just put a pair of those on my Tiger. I definitely recommend them. The ballasts (drivers) are really slim and I just pushed them into the bottom of the headlight housing so I never had to cut anything. Can't picture what the Sprint headlight looked like so no idea if that will work for you. The (so called) slimline HID ballasts I had on the Sprint would never have got anywhere near the gap I squeezed them into.
 
#26 · (Edited)
For anyone curious, I did a bit of research on these bulbs. Something doesn't quite line up, and I sent an email over to Cyclops for clarification. Here's a snippet below:

I noticed your bulbs are listed as 4000 lumens, 5700K color temperature, with two Cree MKR emitters per bulb.

The 4000lm figure on these are very impressive! I decided to do a bit of digging to see how Cree is managing this, however, Cree's own datasheets list their highest binned MK-R emitters at only 1769 lumens. Two of these emitters on a bulb comes out to only 3538 lumens. Additionally, I suspect this is at their "for reference only 25 degrees celsius", rating, not the realistic 85C output (which is also listed, and is even lower).

Can you explain the difference?
I'll update with their response as soon as I hear back.

EDIT: They responded to me this morning stating that the website hadn't been updated, and the new bulbs use XHP50 emitters. He noted that they were going to reach out to their web developer and get the website updated. The XHP emitters have a significantly higher output, so this looks legit to me. I'll be picking myself up a set in the next week.
 
#27 ·
Regarding the OPs original gameplan, I recommend LEDs all the way, both high and low. HIDs were a major step forward over tungsten lighting, but are already obsolete. LEDs have finally arrived and are here to stay. No ballast to find a spot for, no more warm up, less power consumption and any decent quality LED will outlast anything else. My FZ-10 came with 100% LED lights for everything on the bike. I'm gradually replacing everything in my home as well with LED. Great technology.
 
#34 ·
I just installed LED's to the 2 side lamps. I retained the boots and fitted them to the lamp, with the fan element extruding from the rear of the boot. The connections to the wires are tucked up tidy underneath the binnacle and out of the way of any rain. I'll tackle the main beam, when I have a bit more time.
 
This is an older thread, you may not receive a response, and could be reviving an old thread. Please consider creating a new thread.
Top