New LED Bulbs Are IN and Tested.

[Captainmal]

Put the ordered LED bulbs in today. They fit easily with no issues. Last set I ordered had those cooling fans in the back that made installation so tough. These are plain easy as they have the same thin mounting as a regular H4 halogen bulb.


Got them on Ebay ...https://www.ebay.com/itm/374379877643 for a whopping $10 each. Do they work?



As you can see - one is in and the other (left side of bike, your right) is the original halogen. These are both on low beam for that photo. Studied the LED bulb out as it has just two LED's on each side. I see that low beam lights one LED brightly with a lower lighting LED on the other side. At high beam both LED's are full bright. Lit them up and down on the inside of my garage with bright sun outside and dark shadow inside.

This is low beam.


Now high beam.


The back of the garage showed quite a lighting on high beam LED compared to what I saw with the Halogens.



My opinion is that the low beam output of this LED bulb is about the same as the Halogen. High beam seems to show me quite a bit more light than the halogens did. Another observation is about heat. What heat? These LED's were rather cold when lite. Makes no sense to me that some have those giant fans to cool the LED's unless they have a significantly greater output.

Now I will not be testing my output at night unless there is some kind of emergency. I do not ride at night. Decades ago I rode all night in Poland running away from a Soviet Union patrol trying to arrest me. They did. Rode all night in the rain coming back from Newfoundland to Pittsburgh (Portland back straight) in horrible rain. I learned that me, motorcycles and night riding do not get along. Nuts to that. I changed from halogen to LED for reduced amperage on the battery and maybe better daytime visibility to go with long bulb life.

These are an inexpensive option that are EASY to install. That's what I know and today's ride for a couple hours told me there are no issues with their operation.

 

[WDAVEY]

Captainmal - good to see you here (I'm also on the Ram Ecodiesel forum). My suggestion is to run with high beams on in daytime. It makes you much more visible. One more LED suggestion - look at Auxito brand. I bought replacement bulbs for the rear turn signals (the only non LED bulb on my 21 RTL). The Auxito bulbs come with built in load resistors and no large heat sinks. Easy to install and they don't "hyperflash". I too rode Harleys for many years until neuropathy weekend my left leg. Couldnt' shift or balance the Harley so I bought a 19 Spyder RTL. Took the 19 in for an oil change but came home with a new 21!

 

[Little Blue]

Leds

...I agree with you. You have a winner with the LED's. Like you, I don't do much night ryding anymore.
The eyes are saying that this is a Safety Issue. So for now, I am enjoying the daytime experience.

Stay Healthy. ....:thumbup:

 

[Captainmal]

Captainmal - good to see you here (I'm also on the Ram Ecodiesel forum). My suggestion is to run with high beams on in daytime. It makes you much more visible. One more LED suggestion - look at Auxito brand. I bought replacement bulbs for the rear turn signals (the only non LED bulb on my 21 RTL). The Auxito bulbs come with built in load resistors and no large heat sinks. Easy to install and they don't "hyperflash". I too rode Harleys for many years until neuropathy weekend my left leg. Couldnt' shift or balance the Harley so I bought a 19 Spyder RTL. Took the 19 in for an oil change but came home with a new 21!

Appreciate both responses so far. Loved my Ecodiesel until all the HEQQ started. The Cummins has been perfectly reliable. Towing with it today.

The Ryker is a solution to my left hand tendon paralysis from Rheumatoid Arthritis. Cannot pull in a clutch lever reliably and have lost some of my leg strength. Add on the occasional bouts of dizziness and an automatic three-wheeler makes sense to stay in stay in the wind. Chose the Ryker over the Spyder for a few reasons. Maybe the biggest is that my toy hauler, which I load with a bike or bikes to go away for a month each Summer, is a smaller one. The Spyder measurements of over 9 ft. long would put it way up past my refrigerator in the kitchen part of the toy hauler. Couple that with the 1/2 ton mass and the mystique of it being an "old man's" ride puts a stopper on that. Add on the extra expense and a reputation I found of unreliability with expensive repairs and I balked at considering it.

Never been a fan of radios, heated anything, plush surroundings, massive computer control ( bad with Ryker also), and moderate to sedate power. Motorcycles have always been an uncomfortable but exciting experience for me. From my start with Harley in 1956 to the present, I like the "roughness" of a cycle. Even like the vibration of my current BSA that I have had since 1970. The Ryker checks a lot of those boxes.

A ride with the wife yesterday through rural, inland Florida roads had her yelling at me for fast cornering, fast take-offs and not liking my lessons in leaning into a corner. I just seem to be growing in ways to have fun on the Ryker. Have heavily modified it with the three-piece luggage, Ultimate seat, larger windshield for her and probably ordering an F4 custom one also for her issues in the wind. Floorboards I have suck so just last night I ordered some Can Am floorboards that mount flat instead of tipping up and interfering with the brake access.

Enough. No need for more brake and rear lighting. I have a "million" rear LED lights on the bike and luggage. Behind it is a visual experience like some kind of light show. The headlights are now hopefully reliable LED's and I just may see if other brands are worth it if even brighter. Those fender lights are rather noticeable LED's for frontal viewing.

Don't have a direct rear view of the lights but this older picture of when I just put the luggage on gives you an idea of the amount of lighting on the rear of the bike. Braking lights all of it up.



This is a 2022 Sport model. I have a rather stout and adjustable rear shock with dampening control knob. Wife and I both on with some weight ( case of beer and more) in the luggage has never shown us any suspension issues over nasty bumps. I tested, believe me. This suspension has the weight handled in spades.

Hoping my experience with the bulbs I selected will help others. On Ebay there are some offered with the same design that may be even brighter and cheaper. For Ryker and maybe Spyder owners, check it out. Thanks for the comments. Your comments show you care.

 

[DickB]

Halogen bulbs have two filaments offset, so that high beam is not only brighter, but also changes the position of the filament in the motorcycle's reflector and therefore the beam pattern. This is part of DOT requirements. LED replacements should do the same.

In my opinion, there are better LED replacements out there for not much more money.

 

[ulflyer]

Looks good. I recently changed both H4's in my F3T and it was a bear taking off half a doz panels to get to headlight unit. Had I realized before starting, I would have got the LED's.

Question: why do a lot of them have internal fans? Never understood this.

 

[EdMat]

Question: why do a lot of them have internal fans? Never understood this.

Its not so much the bulbs need cooling, rather the electronics that drive them.

 

[Captainmal]

I have two other LED bulbs that I tried to use. The left housing has a pack of wires in the way and those bulbs have a large projection behind the socket that is some form of fan arrangement. To get them in you have to remove the headlight assembly, install the bulb and then replace everything, pushing the wires out of the way as much as possible. Only there is another glitch.

The ones I bought look the same as other H4 bulbs but have a thicker plastic prong base. That does fit the holder but is so thick it will not allow the locking ring to lock. My solution was tho grind that plastic lock ring thinner so it would lock. Made a mess but did get it to lock in. outside the housing. Just was not worth the hassle to try and do the other one and then take all the housings out. Cannot imagine a bulb change like that out on the road.

As for the heat issue, removing a halogen bulb takes some waiting time. They are stupid hot in operation. After testing and doing that picture of one LED and one halogen, I shut down and took the halogen side bulb out. OUCH!

Had to get pliers to pull off the wire socket. That bulb was hot as was the lens. After running the LED's for a bit without putting the side cover on I touched things. Maybe a minor temperature change from cold.

If you go for a "better" LED bulb, be sure you only get one with a metal pronged base that is as thin as the halogen H4's.

 

[Captainmal]

DickB may have the right idea about bulb quality.

Finally did a night ride test. Low beam shows decent lighting to the sides and right in front of the bike. The past that there is a darker shadow. Still have the road visible but not enough to my liking. You can outdrive the low beams easily.

On high beams everything looks fairly bright. The deader spot in the middle is fine. Yet, there is so much upper spread that using them at night would be bad for oncoming traffic. To me they will be super for daylight use and road recognition. You can use them at night but surely, there are better for low beam.

 

[DickB]

Technically, switching from halogen to LED is not DOT compliant. You see a lot of headlamps and bulbs advertised as "DOT approved", but that is a misnomer. DOT is not an approval agency and does not give approval to anything. DOT issues regulations to which manufacturers must certify compliance. Can Am certifies their headlamps as DOT compliant, having tested for brightness, pattern, and other things, using halogen bulbs. Using other than OEM bulbs may or may not be compliant with DOT specs, regardless of whether or not the bulbs are "DOT approved".

 

[pidjones]

Let me just make the suggestion that you carry a spare with you if running cheap LEDs. Lifetime is not so good, in my experience on my GL1000. The first one that I tried lasted maybe 24 total hours. A bit better replacement now in use is still holding up (this bike sees little use).

 

[baxter]

I switched out the oem bulbs on my 2022 F3L with Lamonster's and much better. Both headlamps and fog lamps to be precise.

 

[Captainmal]

I switched out the oem bulbs on my 2022 F3L with Lamonster's and much better. Both headlamps and fog lamps to be precise.

Are they ones with those big fans on the back and a thick plastic base?

I bought a set like that and could not get them to fit. The lock ring would not lock and they would need a headlight removal at least to get the left side in past those wires. Gave up and got ones without the fan base and a thin metal base. That was my major criteria for selection.