LED headlight with shell and mounts

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Jim,

Not a complete assembly but this will fit in a standard Norton shell. I have one in my 1978 Gold Wing so it will probably fit into any 7” bucket. Absolutely the best LED light I have ever driven behind that was not factory installed.

Pete
 
Jim,

Not a complete assembly but this will fit in a standard Norton shell. I have one in my 1978 Gold Wing so it will probably fit into any 7” bucket. Absolutely the best LED light I have ever driven behind that was not factory installed.

Pete
Pete
I can't see anything on brightness (lumens) in the tech data - do you know what the output is?
They look very good - and sealed - but do they match Paul Goff's 5000 lumens (Daylighter 2S)?
See 4th item down.
I have one of those and it is fantastic - my only gripe is some clouding of the reflector, so a good LED sealed unit might be good.
Cheers
Rob
 
Pete
I can't see anything on brightness (lumens) in the tech data - do you know what the output is?
They look very good - and sealed - but do they match Paul Goff's 5000 lumens (Daylighter 2S)?
See 4th item down.
I have one of those and it is fantastic - my only gripe is some clouding of the reflector, so a good LED sealed unit might be good.
Cheers
Rob
Rob,
Just went out and checked the box. No Lumens or brightness numbers. I saw this headlight on some YouTube review a while back. I think it is marketed under a few different brands. I messed around with a couple of different LED replacement bulbs and was never happy with the nighttime pattern. I usually don’t drive my Commando at night, but my Wing was the workhorse bike. I would drive it anywhere, anytime so I wanted something real good. I installed this light and it was a whole different thing. Nice bright light, crisp cutoff pattern and excellent high beam. I’m on my second season with it and no complaints. The only downside is I just got a ‘15 FJR it it still has Halogen bulbs and no simple LED replacement. Side by side my Wing’s headlight is still better. Just one man‘s opinion, hope this helps.
Pete
 
I think Jim's looking for a complete headlamp, including the shell.
 
Jim,
The LED device in the headlight setup shown in your first post is fully isolated from the enclosure/shell and chassis if you have a positive ground chassis. Essentially is is not grounded to the chassis. Easy to check with a DVM. I have a similar headlight in chrome on my P11 wired exactly as shown in the instructions, except I have an additional wire for the ring light. My P11 is positive ground. I've got over 300 miles with it installed with no fires or explosions. The brackets that come with $37 LED head lights are garbage. Hopefully, you have brackets you like.

I personally avoid riding at night, so don't really know or care about the light pattern. I know people can see the LED headlight I have during the daylight. Chronic stop sign runners still may decide to pull out in front of you though. Same as it always was. If you are running your lights batteryless with your magneto ignition configuration, the light may be on the dim side under 2500RPM, and of course as you know, could be very dim at idle. If this is for a bike with a battery, it won't be dim until the battery dies.

There is always something better. If the cheap LED enclosure setup like the one you linked to that I have burns out, I'll find an affordable H4 enclosure I can swap polarity neutral LED bulbs in. But like I said, I don't care about riding a motorcycle at night, so a cheap LED H4 bulb would work for me.
 
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I think Jim's looking for a complete headlamp, including the shell.
Yes, I understand that. I have seen a picture of his last headlight somewhere on the forum. I’m not sure he can get what he wants as a unit. Was just suggesting an option and some first hand info. on a particular bulb. If it doesn’t work for Jim might help someone else.
Pete
 
Jim,
The LED device in the headlight setup shown in your first post is fully isolated from the enclosure/shell and chassis if you have a positive ground chassis. Essentially is is not grounded to the chassis. Easy to check with a DVM. I have a similar headlight in chrome on my P11 wired exactly as shown in the instructions, except I have an additional wire for the ring light. My P11 is positive ground. I've got over 300 miles with it installed with no fires or explosions. The brackets that come with $37 LED head lights are garbage. Hopefully, you have brackets you like.

I personally avoid riding at night, so don't really know or care about the light pattern. I know people can see the LED headlight I have during the daylight. Chronic stop sign runners still may decide to pull out in front of you though. Same as it always was. If you are running your lights batteryless with your magneto ignition configuration, the light may be on the dim side under 2500RPM, and of course as you know, could be very dim at idle. If this is for a bike with a battery, it won't be dim until the battery dies.

There is always something better. If the cheap LED enclosure setup like the one you linked to that I have burns out, I'll find an affordable H4 enclosure I can swap polarity neutral LED bulbs in. But like I said, I don't care about riding a motorcycle at night, so a cheap LED H4 bulb would work for me.
Yes the brackets look weak. But the shell is an OK shape and I might give it a shot unless I can find something better - the old and simple Bates style shape is my ideal but I want to stay with LED because the filiments don't blow from vibration at high RPM with a solid frame. I've got negative ground and already have a ground wire and high/low beam switch setup.

What did you use for mounting brackets?

The brackets below look good if I knew where to get them.
LED headlight with shell and mounts
 
Yes the brackets look weak. But the shell is an OK shape and I might give it a shot unless I can find something better - the old and simple Bates style shape is my ideal but I want to stay with LED because the filiments don't blow from vibration at high RPM with a solid frame. I've got negative ground and already have a ground wire and high/low beam switch setup.

What did you use for mounting brackets?

The brackets below look good if I knew where to get them.
Yeah, those are nice brackets. I use a set of short alloy brackets for 35mm forks I got from Steadfast Cycles. I had to add some spacers because they are not offset like those black bracket you show. They are almost too short, since I bought them for a Bates enclosure originally, but they work with the LED setup. He has longer brackets on ebay. Here's a shot of the bike from the front. Aint pretty but it works. You can see a better pic of the short brackets on the Steadfast Cycles site.

LED headlight with shell and mounts
 
Yes the brackets look weak. But the shell is an OK shape and I might give it a shot unless I can find something better - the old and simple Bates style shape is my ideal but I want to stay with LED because the filiments don't blow from vibration at high RPM with a solid frame. I've got negative ground and already have a ground wire and high/low beam switch setup.

What did you use for mounting brackets?

The brackets below look good if I knew where to get them.
These are close.


 
Yes the brackets look weak. But the shell is an OK shape and I might give it a shot unless I can find something better - the old and simple Bates style shape is my ideal but I want to stay with LED because the filiments don't blow from vibration at high RPM with a solid frame. I've got negative ground and already have a ground wire and high/low beam switch setup.

What did you use for mounting brackets?

The brackets below look good if I knew where to get them.
Jim
Not sure about you, but I'm a fan of the simplicity of the tractor mount - Matt put one on mine:
Cheers
Rob
LED headlight with shell and mounts
 
Gortnipper - The brackets in your links look good.

RobSS - I've always use a tractor mount but after 40 years of solid frame vibes and the weakish design I used on my last LED lamp - it finally broke (the tractor mount can flex). It was funny. I had just pulled up to a bar. When I leaned the bike against a wall - the headlight fell off and hung by the wires - perfect timing. It was good for a laugh. But then I had to cut the wires and beat it home as it was getting toward dark.
 
So far everything is bombing out. I need a 5-3/4 to 6" diameter light to fit the classic bates shell. The "projector" light at the top of this post is too dim and butt ugly. I don't see a headlight at CNW. Now I'm looking at the headlights below which may fit the Bates shell (?)

LED headlight with shell and mounts


LED headlight with shell and mounts
 
You should email Matt. He'll get you squared away one way or another.

The LED headlight I'm using is not a beauty contest winner, but during daylight hours it is very visible. On my short 20 mile ride today, 3 cars did not pull out in front of me from side streets even though they had plenty of time to do it. That never would have happened with the Bates and standard sealed beam that was in it. I do not ride at night though, so not a clue how it works at night. My electrical system is probably a little heathier than a batteryless magneto set up. It's 13.9 volts not running after sitting for weeks. There is no drain on the battery when shut down. When idling it is around 14.4 volts. I'm using a LiFePo4 battery the size of a wallet stuffed with 20 100's and a few cards. Been told the battery was gonna go off like an IED and light my arse on fire, but 300 miles later nope. I might be repeating myself. Darn it.
 
At our age I think straight line driving at night is the only way we can see ahead even with the very bright head lamp. We have too many corners to negotiate where I live so I have installed two other Led spots to shine up and out for when cornering. Still not enough though so its back to Grand Dad driving at night for me. The eyes aint what the used to be.
I remember when I was younger working on cars, my boss always told me to put a light on what I was working on when I asked him for advise. Hell what for, I could see easily. When I became the boss, I then Understood what he was getting at.

Dereck
 
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