Led Headlight conversion

[Beagle]

Anyone fit this/these,




https://www.sportouring.co.uk/shop/electronics-gadgets/lighting-power-solutions/bulbs/cyclops_led/cyclops-bmw-r1200gs-rt-and-lt-led-headlight-bulb-kit-6400-lumen/

[Old-Git]

No but I'd love to know what the difference is between these and Nighteye bulbs, which I've put in one of my other bikes. These appear to be very bright and have good throw / pattern - but that might be the quality of the reflector. A few years ago I put some LEDs in a Harley and they were bright, but projected less light onto the road than standard bulbs. The pic shows one nighteye fitted - not bad for 20 quid....

[Beagle]

No but I'd love to know what the difference is between these and Nighteye bulbs, which I've put in one of my other bikes. These appear to be very bright and have good throw / pattern - but that might be the quality of the reflector. A few years ago I put some LEDs in a Harley and they were bright, but projected less light onto the road than standard bulbs. The pic shows one nighteye fitted - not bad for 20 quid....

Don't do much night riding so these are to be more visible. I put one in a Harley I had last year and was a big improvement all round. I have LED’s in my VW Tiguan and they are literally brilliant so I’m convinced of LED merits.

[Sprintgull]

Just read an article on bulbs in RiDE magazine.  There were advantages to the premium halogen bulbs, but they also fitted a pair of cheap LED bulbs from eBay.  They were awful.  The explanation was that the reflectors of the bike they used were not designed for LEDs and therefore bounced the light differently. Worth the research to fit a proper kit though.  I was surprised that the new 1250RT does not come with LEDs

[Beagle]

The indicators and tail light are LED on mine but I  am disappointed the headlights are not.
If the LED’s are sold for my model then you would think they would be suitable or am I being naive?

[Tones]

Headlight reflectors are designed for specific bulbs to throw the light where it needs to be. If you fit an LED bulb, as the light is spread over several chips and not a single source, the spread by the reflectors will be terrible. The only way to overcome this is a total conversion complete with reflectors , or, an LED bulb designed as a direct replacement for the halogen bulb. (Same goes for cheap halogens that may be a different shape, I.e. length to the original. However, for general use, I’d love to fit LED as they are unlikely to fail through road vibration, but my canbus is a bit of a nuisance.

[Beagle]

Headlight reflectors are designed for specific bulbs to throw the light where it needs to be. If you fit an LED bulb, as the light is spread over several chips and not a single source, the spread by the reflectors will be terrible. The only way to overcome this is a total conversion complete with reflectors , or, an LED bulb designed as a direct replacement for the halogen bulb. (Same goes for cheap halogens that may be a different shape, I.e. length to the original. However, for general use, I’d love to fit LED as they are unlikely to fail through road vibration, but my canbus is a bit of a nuisance.

These are canbus compatible if you check the link.

[beemerboy9]

The indicators and tail light are LED on mine but I  am disappointed the headlights are not.
If the LED’s are sold for my model then you would think they would be suitable or am I being naive?

I will confess that I have not had a long hard look at LED car headlights recently. Am I right in thinking that LED headlights are normally projector style with thick lenses? I see these lights on sports bikes (Ducati Panigale?) with thin fairings where the lights slot into tiny openings.
The front end of the RT is a different matter. It would be a) a styling head-ache to design good-looking projector lights and b) probably cost several million quid to get a manufacturer to tool up to make such lights. I don't think RTs sell well enough to justify the cost. We don't even get a GS-style TFT screen.


I would like LED lights on my next RT, so has anyone else got ideas on why BMW don't do it.

[Beagle]

According to my link LED’s are an option.


“ [size=24px]Will fit all models of GS and RT that do not have an LED headlamp fitted (an option with BMW)  Kit consists of 2 * Cyclops H7 bulbs. “[/size]

[exportman]

I hate people who fit LED or Xenon bulbs kits to their existing headlight reflectors.  These bulbs are designed to work with projectors not reflectors,  and no matter how they set them up  they will not spread the beam as intended.  Instead they give the illusion of more light by being brighter  but the spread is such that the actual useful illumination is actually much less  and the lights instead dazzle anyone else coming the other way.  I spend a lot of time driving and riding in the dark and these "conversions"  are a pain.    If you have round bowl type headlight  eg  7" HD.  then you can get a proper conversion kit that replaces the reflector with projectors and works well  but for the RT as far as I am aware there is not a conversion kit which included a replacement projector for the existing reflectors.  Don't waste your money on LED bulbs  buy  brighter incandescent bulbs  and maybe  LED auxiliary lights.


And just in case you think that dazzling with bright lights make you safer  studies show that when face with a bright light we tend to move slightly towards it  People tend to drive/ride where they look,  if dazzled  most with try to peer into and past the light instead of looking away at say the near side curb so they move towards it.  Same if you use main/high beam whilst filtering/lane splitting  some will see you and make more room but most will be drawn to look at their door mirror and move towards it.

[Beagle]

I hate people who fit LED or Xenon bulbs kits to their existing headlight reflectors. 


Wow!

[Old-Git]

I'm happy to be hated  ) . The spread and throw of the LEDs on my Fazer look fine to me. I take exportmans point but in this case it seems to work well. I have taken some pics of the beam but can't find them now d'oh. I'll take a 20 quid punt on nighteyes for Elsie, if they don't work it's not too much moolah to lose.

[Beagle]

Seems to please some of these,


https://forums.bmwmoa.org/showthread.php?88927-Cyclops-LED-Bulb-Replacement

[Beagle]

Took the plunge and ordered the Cansmart then its the Innovv C5. Got the winter to install so no rush. Any advice welcome.

[BBT600]

How did you get on with the new lights?  both dip beam bulbs on my 2009 R1200RT have gone and need replacing. I`m looking at the options just now.