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Replacing OEM headlights with standard H4 LED bulbs.

R

rickrowland585823

Guest
Guest
After having burned out both low beams, I bought a couple of standard H4 LED replacement light bulbs. ( See them here -> https://a.co/d/0NvEwj9 ) After the quick and simple install which went without a problem, upon testing and aligning them, I find that the low beams are OK but the high beams lack any focus or "direction"... Meaning unlike the original bulbs which cast their lighting in a mostly rectangular manner in the are one would want it, these bulbs are OK in low beam and are seemingly directional in a similar manner, but the high beams lack any kind of focus and are thus casting light in most all forward directions with out a concentration of light in the area one would want it. And thus it does very little to boost the visibility of the lights over what is visible from the low beams. Has anyone had this experience? Should I try the more expensive "pathfinder" lights? Could I have not seated the bulbs such that they use the light reflection mirrors in the light bay to correctly to give a forward focus in the same manner that the OEM lights did? I think these will be fine for low beams, day riding but the expected hi beam lighting from them leaves MUCH to be desired....
Any suggestions, experience or advise is appreciated..
 
I recently bought the exact same LED bulbs that you are complaining about, and I 100% agree. The high beam is worthless.

I purchased these as a replacement to a set of Superbright LED bulbs that I've had on the bike for about 4 years. One of the low beams burned out. The Superbrights were fantastic on both low and high beam. Check out the picture and you'll see a shielded, directional low beam (the front LED) that reflects light in one direction. The low-beam LED is also offset a little compared to the high beam. And, you'll notice that the Superbrights have high and low LEDs on each side of the light bar - 180°, while the Amazon specials have three sets of single LEDs set 120° apart. I think these factors really make a difference with the reflector setup on the C14 light housing.

The reason I switched away from the Superbrights this time was because that really big cooling fin section on the back of the bulb makes installation a little more difficult. And, I kinda thought an LED bulb should last forever? Well... and the bulbs are twice the price of the ones that we're now complaining about. Hmmmm.

On the Superbrights, the bulb mounting bracket actually twists off. You mount just the bracket into the spring clip on the bike, then install the rubber boot, then insert the bulb through the boot and twist it into the bulb bracket. The big cooling fin portion sticks out the back of the rubber boot, which isn't really a big deal. The bulb is directional and you can install it upside down by accident (because of the low-beam reflector). Also, you have to really compress the rubber boot a lot to get the bulb into the bracket so you can twist-lock it into place.

Despite all of this hassle and extra cost, I'm going to switch back to the Superbrights unless someone has found a more convenient form-factor that still gives really good low and high beam performance.
 
Last edited:
Keith S said:
I recently bought the exact same LED bulbs that you are complaining about, and I 100% agree. The high beam is worthless.

I purchased these as a replacement to a set of Superbright LED bulbs that I've had on the bike for about 4 years. One of the low beams burned out. The Superbrights were fantastic on both low and high beam. Check out the picture and you'll see a shielded, directional low beam (the front LED) that reflects light in one direction. The low-beam LED is also offset a little compared to the high beam. And, you'll notice that the Superbrights have high and low LEDs on each side of the light bar - 180°, while the Amazon specials have three sets of single LEDs set 120° apart. I think these factors really make a difference with the reflector setup on the C14 light housing.

The reason I switched away from the Superbrights this time was because that really big cooling fin section on the back of the bulb makes installation a little more difficult. And, I kinda thought an LED bulb should last forever? Well... and the bulbs are twice the price of the ones that we're now complaining about. Hmmmm.

On the Superbrights, the bulb mounting bracket actually twists off. You mount just the bracket into the spring clip on the bike, then install the rubber boot, then insert the bulb through the boot and twist it into the bulb bracket. The big cooling fin portion sticks out the back of the rubber boot, which isn't really a big deal. The bulb is directional and you can install it upside down by accident (because of the low-beam reflector). Also, you have to really compress the rubber boot a lot to get the bulb into the bracket so you can twist-lock it into place.

Despite all of this hassle and extra cost, I'm going to switch back to the Superbrights unless someone has found a more convenient form-factor that still gives really good low and high beam performance.
Click to expand...
Keith,
Thanks for taking the time for such a complete reply. This helps me know that my install was not faulty and what I can expect from these bulbs. Oh well, if I pull these from my bike, I think they will work in my (2012 F250) truck for the tail / brake lights!
 
There have been numerous threads on led headlights bulbs. I know ted (connie rider) has responded on finding some that work really well...
 
rickrowland585823 said:
After having burned out both low beams, I bought a couple of standard H4 LED replacement light bulbs. ( See them here -> https://a.co/d/0NvEwj9 ) After the quick and simple install which went without a problem, upon testing and aligning them, I find that the low beams are OK but the high beams lack any focus or "direction"... Meaning unlike the original bulbs which cast their lighting in a mostly rectangular manner in the are one would want it, these bulbs are OK in low beam and are seemingly directional in a similar manner, but the high beams lack any kind of focus and are thus casting light in most all forward directions with out a concentration of light in the area one would want it. And thus it does very little to boost the visibility of the lights over what is visible from the low beams. Has anyone had this experience? Should I try the more expensive "pathfinder" lights? Could I have not seated the bulbs such that they use the light reflection mirrors in the light bay to correctly to give a forward focus in the same manner that the OEM lights did? I think these will be fine for low beams, day riding but the expected hi beam lighting from them leaves MUCH to be desired....
Any suggestions, experience or advise is appreciated..
Click to expand...
I have the PATHFINDER led bulbs and they work great. It has something to do with "Focal Length" I am told. ???
 
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