Philips Ultinon Sport H7 LED Bulb

[jackronner]

This was recommended by an RT owner on a Facebook group. He says they work fine, with no canbus issues, but I'd prefer the opinions to be found here, especially if you know the product or similar ones. Thank you. Here are the questions I asked him [and you guys]:

I tried an LED high beam before and it would only stay on for short periods of time; that was just a bulb replacement, no fins, etc. Those look like heat dissipation fins, and their advertisements show a fan in the base which I guess you found is sufficient. When you say plug and play, I'm trying to visualize how the wire "cage" that clips the base of the OEM bulbs in place would fit over the fins as pictured. Can the bulbs be separated from the fins, so that you can secure the bulbs and then plug-in the fins/base ? I assume that I will not be able to refit the fairing covers, and that the fans will protrude, but I expect this would facilitate cooling.

Ebay had a pop up compatibility warning saying "high beam only". Can they be used for the low beams, too or would that be overly bright or hot, or demand too much amperage for the system? Thanks.

https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/81W ... L1500_.jpg

[exportman]

The linked image suggests they are for fog and power (spot) lights hence the high beam only as they will not generate the correct beam pattern for normal dipped driving lights so will dazzel anyone comming towards them. I suspect the would be brighter but actually give you worse light on the road ahead as they would not be focused towards to road surface

[Stu]

The linked image suggests they are for fog and power (spot) lights hence the high beam only as they will not generate the correct beam pattern for normal dipped driving lights so will dazzel anyone comming towards them. I suspect the would be brighter but actually give you worse light on the road ahead as they would not be focused towards to road surface

As long as they LED is placed in exactly the same position as a regular halogen then there will be no issues with beam patterns

The beam pattern on lights is produced from either the reflector of the lens its self and not the bulb

When these all first came out manufacturers tried to make them smaller than halogen bulbs meaning the LED position was further back in the light housing which changed the beam output. They are now making them the same as halogen bulbs and as such there is no issues at all

H7's are generally the standard for fog lights in cars hence the way they market them

[jackronner]

Thanks for that breakdown. That settles the light brightness and beam pattern questioin. But do you think that the wire clamps will work with that fat base?

[jackronner]

Bought a pair and, as I thought, you can't get the clip over the fat fins but you can unscrew the plastic base plate, insert it in the hole and snap the clips over it. Then you take the fins and screw it back on the plastic base which is essential a collar for the metal unit.

You can fit the whole unit in and refit the back fairing covers, but I may just leave them off for better cooling.

Thought I had a brilliant and original idea to put a rubber hose through the collar to help the awkward installation into the hole, only to find people have been doing it for years with the standard bulbs. A very short-lived moment of glory. I'll see if it works tomorrow.

[jackronner]

Finally managed to get the high beam LED bulb in. Once again, the whole process reminded me of that movie There Will Be Blood. Once I got the plastic collar situated in the hole (this was quite difficult and be sure you stop some paper etc. below it so it doesn't fall into the headlight unit). I used a bit of adhesive tape to hold it in place until I could clip it down. When you insert the ballast, the wire from the base should be placed at around the 2 o'clock position , then turning it clockwise the wire will be at the very bottom or 6 o'clock, directly opposite the tab at the top. This will orient the lighting element vertically, as instructed. I've decided to change all the bulbs to LED.

I tested it last night and it is much brighter than my stock bulb. Although a cool night, they were no canbus or other issues, whereas my previous unballasted LED bulb would stop working after a few minutes. I'll have to see if that's the case on a very hot day.

For the first time, I finally decided to just take the entire headlight assembly off the bike because I would be replacing all three bulbs, and my local blood bank was running out of my blood type! I don't know how adept or clumsy you other guys are, but I think it's worthwhile to pull it to avoid the injury and the aggravation. One thing I discovered when trying to unplug the unit was that, unlike the description in the Haynes manual and unlike my 2005 RT, I couldn't unplug it directly from the back of the unit. I had to trace the wire to a nearby intermediary plug to disconnect it. Also, all three of the tabs on the bulb base plates have to be pointed up, whereas the Haynes manual tells you that the high beam tab should be pointing down. I have a dim recollection that another of my 2009 did have the downward facing tab for the high beam.

Well, if I don't follow up it means that everything is working fine. Thanks for your input and help, everybody.

[Piter_90]

Thanks