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Fast Eddie · Oct 12, 2019

maylar said:
Unfortunately, that's not true. Anything with solder joints is subject to vibration failure. I'm in the process of returning a tail lamp to superbrightleds because it flickers when my engine is running. It's fine with no vibration.

Bummer !

Deets55 · Oct 12, 2019

I was running a 65/100 off-road H-4 bulb in a Stanley lens. I love those Stanley lens on the early Japanese bikes, good sharp break off on low beam and long bright light where you need it on high beam. Problem is the bulb was a pig when is came to power consumption. Early Wings have an issue with inadequate alternator output, so when I started adding to the load I had a charging issue at idle and low speed. I installed a bulb that physically resembled Paul’s bulb I think it might be 4K. It’s bright as could be but it doesn’t have the same sharpness as that H-4.
I rode to work this morning and started out in the dark so I paid attention to the light. To me the LED, as bright as it is, does not light up the road as well as the H-4 in that Stanley lens. So I guess it comes down to experimenting with different bulb/ lens
Pete

Fast Eddie · Oct 12, 2019

Goffs are expensive and motorcycle specific. I wouldn’t denigrate them on the basis that another vendors ‘look like’ his...

Deets55 · Oct 12, 2019

Nigel,
I doubt he makes his own bulbs. He buys from a vendor, I’m willing to bet it’s the same bulb. Somewhere I have a photo of my bulb. Guess Baz won’t know for sure till he tries it out.
Pete

lcrken · Oct 12, 2019

Just a reminder that the low beam pattern is different between headlamps for right-side driving (US, etc.) and for left side driving (UK, etc.). If you use the wrong one, you will be blinding oncoming traffic instead of illuminating the driving side shoulder.

Ken

Fast Eddie · Oct 12, 2019

Deets55 said:
Nigel,
I doubt he makes his own bulbs. He buys from a vendor

I doubt anyone would argue with that!

My point is more that he puts effort into sourcing really good stuff and must be very selective with his vendors.

There is an awful lot of crap out there, more than ever I’d say, especially emanating from our Chinese friends. There is also more availability of some really good kit though too. But sorting the wheat from the chaff is tricky, especially for a layperson like me!

Add to that the issue of mass counterfitting that we have these days and there must be dozens of similar looking products out there, but their performance is very much unknown.

In this case, yours may or may not be the same, I don’t know. But it’s a minefield out there and if folk just buy something that looks similar off of eBay, they are really taking pot luck!

Personally, that’s why I prefer to pay a couple of £ more and use trusted retailers.

maylar · Oct 12, 2019

lcrken said:
Just a reminder that the low beam pattern is different between headlamps for right-side driving (US, etc.) and for left side driving (UK, etc.). If you use the wrong one, you will be blinding oncoming traffic instead of illuminating the driving side shoulder.

Ken

Is it the bulb or the lens that's most responsible for that? I just ordered one of Goffy's H4's and he's in the UK so... hope it works OK in the States.

Fast Eddie · Oct 12, 2019

maylar said:
Is it the bulb or the lens that's most responsible for that? I just ordered one of Goffy's H4's and he's in the UK so... hope it works OK in the States.

It’s the lens so you should be fine.

Did you go for the 5k one? I’ve got a couple of those coming and am keen to try them out.

Deets55 · Oct 12, 2019

Nigel,
I don’t think it’s about the Benjamin’s in this case. The focus of the bulb is determined by the location of the light source in relationship to the curve of the reflecting surface on the back of the lens and the lens surface. This has been the pitfall of the LED substitution from the onset. Some combinations work better than others. Some don’t work at all.
My initial point was maybe a complete unit specially designed to work together might be a better choice than a hit or miss deal. One thing for sure, every LED headlight I have seen coming at me has always been eye catcher and a great defensive strategy.
I know Dereck from down under installed a NightHawk (I believe that’s what it was) and swears by it. Not sure if we resolved anything here but it was interesting
Pete

maylar · Oct 12, 2019

Fast Eddie said:
It’s the lens so you should be fine.

Did you go for the 5k one? I’ve got a couple of those coming and am keen to try them out.

Yeah, the 5K. I use a Wipac lenz with pilot lamp I bought from a Mini parts supplier. It's worked great with halogen bulbs. I'm keen to try it too.

baz · Oct 12, 2019

maylar said:
Is it the bulb or the lens that's most responsible for that? I just ordered one of Goffy's H4's and he's in the UK so... hope it works OK in the States.

It's the lens

concours · Oct 12, 2019

maylar said:
Unfortunately, that's not true. Anything with solder joints is subject to vibration failure. I'm in the process of returning a tail lamp to superbrightleds because it flickers when my engine is running. It's fine with no vibration.

I bought the 3 entire vehicles worth (MKIV VW’s) of “superbrightleds” and they failed miserably. Went off like flashcubes...
They’ll never get a penny more from me.

Deets55 · Oct 13, 2019

Just as a follow up.
Both bulbs are unbranded and except for the quoted operating temps both have identical specs as far as I can see.
Bulb on far left is Paul’s

concours · Oct 14, 2019

“Add to that the issue of mass counterfitting that we have these days and there must be dozens of similar looking products out there, but their performance is very much unknown”

This.

Deets55 · Oct 14, 2019

concours said:
“Add to that the issue of mass counterfitting that we have these days and there must be dozens of similar looking products out there, but their performance is very much unknown”

This.

If both this bulbs have no manufactures name, which one is the “real” thing?
Besides that the issues I am addressing is the focal point of the bulb. The light source of each of this bulbs and the H-4 is in the exact same location in relationship to the reflecting surface. Most bulbs do not project the light in the forward direction. They depend on the parabolic design of the reflector. Since I used the same lens the beam should be identical on all of the bulbs. Thereby the light “pattern” not the brightness should be the same between all the bulbs. This is the weak point of LED substitution in a H-4 lens assembly. It has been discussed here before. There have been a lot of improvement since I bought my first LED headlight bulb, and maybe some combinations of lens/bulbs work very good. I know in my case I tried 3 different lens and two different bulbs with the same results. The H-4 bulb in a H-4 lens always gave the best beam pattern. But I run the LED’s because of power consumption and sheer brightness for daylight driving. This is from personal experience and some experimenting. Others may have different results, if so please add to this conversation.
Pete

Fast Eddie · Oct 14, 2019

Deets55 said:
If both this bulbs have no manufactures name, which one is the “real” thing?

That’s the whole point / issue with regards to counterfeit goods. And having a manufacturer’s name on makes no difference.

Which is why, although it is no guarantee, buying from a trusted supplier is safer. At least you put the odds a little bit more in your favour.

baz · Oct 14, 2019

All of the above is the reason for the original question IE what are people actually using
I wanted a recommendation from somebody for an actual product
But having said that this post has thrown up some interesting stuff
Well to me it has anyway
Cheers

Deets55 · Oct 14, 2019

Fast Eddie said:
That’s the whole point / issue with regards to counterfeit goods. And having a manufacturer’s name on makes no difference.

Which is why, although it is no guarantee, buying from a trusted supplier is safer. At least you put the odds a little bit more in your favour.

Nigel,

I understand what you are saying, and I wish I had one of Paul’s bulbs here to test. But the point I’m trying to make is the focal point (no pun intended). As far as I understand an LED itself is not a “focused” bulb. It depends (like most bulbs) on the reflector. They work in combination together. I measured my bulbs (H-4 and LED) and compared them to Paul’s. They are identical. I am confident that the LED’s in question will react the same.
I am not criticizing Paul’s product, I am just interested in the science behind it. Experimenting with light and sound waves was always one of my favorite experiments in high school Physics.
Ok got to finish my coffee and cut some firewood today. Winters coming soon.
Pete

Deets55 · Oct 14, 2019

baz said:
All of the above is the reason for the original question IE what are people actually using
I wanted a recommendation from somebody for an actual product
But having said that this post has thrown up some interesting stuff
Well to me it has anyway
Cheers

Baz,
I would have liked to have seen more input on this myself. I starting to look for a better night time bulb myself. Maybe I’ll take Jim Comstock’s advice and try a HID system.
Pete

Fast Eddie · Oct 15, 2019

Baz, highly recommended by a modern Triumph riding mate, not tried them myself:

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