Curvy alternative bulbs

[gadget]

Hi all, I'm looking to upgrade my curvy 'S' headlight bulbs, specifically to LED. Has anyone done the same and had good results from the LED conversion?
If so ... what make/type have you used?
From my understanding ... LED/SMD tend to run considerably cooler and at much lower wattage so would prefer the (non fan)poking out the back type so they fit as normal.
Anyone have recommendations?
I have had Osram nightbreakers etc and don't really want those type again.
Cheers all.

[SV650rules]

You will have to make sure enough room between reflector and housing for the small heatsink on these LED bulbs... I had to move wiring out of the way on my AL7 single headlight. I seem to recall that Bibio fitted some of the early tech fan cooled LED H4 to his bike, the non-fan heatsink on these latest bulbs is smaller than the older fan cooled ones. If you click on the lowest picture on the website it shows a dimensioned picture of the bulb heatsink and the two ways it can be mounted. I tried all the +150% etc filament bulbs and these LED ones are chalk and cheese compared to them.

LED bulbs make heat at the back of the bulb rather than front, and electronics cannot stand high temperatures so will never be same size as a normal bulb. These do not have fans but have a heatsink and a separate constant current driver module per bulb ( LED works on current not voltage, which is why bulbs will run from 9 to 32 volts DC ) You plug the 3 pin plug on cable from module into normal 3 pin socket of the bike loom, and then a special 4 core lead to rear of bulb. Have had one in my AL7 single headlight for over 3 years now, and also in both our cars, price shown is without VAT so makes then £70 a pair, beam pattern is great and will pass MOT as they have high quality Phillips Z-ES LED chips in the bulbs that exactly replicate the size, shape and position in reflector of a filament. Light output is very good, and same as daylight colour temperature, show up very well in daylight. Reducing load on electrical system is a mixed blessing on a bike, as the less load the more current shunt regulator has to dump as heat via the heatsink, which is why I went for electrex RR851 series regulator fitted to my bike, the lower load just means less draw from stator. I have noticed with electrex series regulator that it sits about 14.6volts for a couple of miles after starting, but as the battery gets recharged it drops back to 14.4volts - voltage is rock steady at all revs - and the heatsink runs cool at about 40 deg C or lower ( and the stator will run cooler as the series regulator only take the current the bike needs from stator, where a shunt regulator fully loads the stator all the time and dump the excess into heatsink).

I managed to find a PDF ( attached ) with some photos of the dip and main beam pattern from the classiccarled H4 on our garage door - they are awesome. The have a screw-on heatsink that can be mounted two ways, ( locked with a grub screw - although the grubscrew not really necessary as heatsink is going nowhere, and the grubscrew can damage thread on bulb if overtightened - I have not used grubscrew on any of my heatsinks, just use the grubscrew that locks the bulb in its mounting to stop it rotating from the numbered beam setting ), and the design means that the rubber sealing moulding off filament bulb can be fitted to the LED bulb ( if the seal is not fitted you risk condensation in headlight ).

https://www.classiccarleds.co.uk/col...nversion-9-32v

[gadget]

Thanks for all the helpful info, they seem to have a really good write up. Quite pricey though but I suppose if they do the job it's all good. Hopefully I shouldnt have any further reg rec problems now as my new MTIO mosfet rec is working brilliantly, went for an hours ride with literally zero heat transfer from the heatsink and a nice steady 14.6v and 14.4v with lights on. With regard to the rec having to work harder due to less current draw I could then fit my heated grips and Drl's and not have to worry too much about current consumption and charging issues. I'm still looking for other variations of the led type bulbs as I was hoping they would fit as a normal bulb... plug n play. Also considering HID too assuming I can get a dedicated kit for my 's'.

[SV650rules]

HID not suitable for a reflector designed for filament bulbs due to HID being a single point light source, beam shape is terrible and sprays light everywhere. The boy racers had to take out HID as would not pass MOT, but for the other 364 days of the year went around dazzling other drivers.... I have absolutely no regrets about getting those bulbs, probably never have to buy another bulb and they can be transferred between bikes and cars, as they are plug and play.

HID bulbs work at extremely high voltage and can cause horrendous interference.

[SV650rules]

This is an amusing ( pretty long ) video about the importance of LED size, shape and position in a filament lens to get a good. legal and effective beam.

look about 24 minute mark for a clue to LED light sources - He mentions Philips ZE-S LED chips, specially made for headlights and the same chip that is fitted to classiccarleds H4 bulbs
which have 8 LED for dipped and 8 LED for main beam.

https://youtu.be/DeaDrH0gXZk

here is another video showing difference between HID and LED

https://youtu.be/ygPiFvCth3U

IMHO the HID beam patterns were nowhere near as good as the LED ( except the OPT-7 fluxbeam LED which was pants ).

That is why retrofit HID in a filament reflector got all aftermarket bulbs a bad name, spraying light everywhere.