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Himalayan lighting

DZR

Well travelled
Location
France Billere
I would like to install additional lights (Led) to keep the main lighting to the road and not to the sky when the motorcycle is loaded. I would install the additionnal lights onto the crash bars (Givi type). I am interesting by tuto explaining how easility connect to the lighting network and include a dedicated switch for the extra LED lights.
Second, I would like to replace the original headlight bulb with an LED thus to safe battery. Any recommended type/provider for this LED bulb?

Any advise or feedback for these 2 topics much appreciated and thanks in advance.

DZR
 

Andy131

Well travelled
Location
Manchester UK
I wouldn't change to LED just to save power, the Himalayan alternator is 221W at 1,500rpm (tickover), more than enough for the existing lights and charging the battery.
I would change it for a Phillips Cityvision, supposed to have a longer beam and 40% more white light than standard - fitted one to mine and it made a noticeable difference to standard.
If you are going to fit LED lights onto the crash bars, why not wire them directly into the headlight, they will be on all the time, but the load will be tiny, and anything that makes you more visible to motorists can only help with survival.
 

JulianK

Well travelled
Location
Germany
I have the Cyclops H4 Ultra LED installed. They are much brighter than normal H4 and noticeable brighter than the OSRAM Night Breaker but don't expect the sun to rise back up when you turn your bike on. They seem to be very high quality with very good heat dissipation (life time) but come at a premium price of about 100€. You can choose for high beam whether to have only high beam on or high and low beam together at 50% power each. I like that because there is no longer a dark spot right in front of me when high beam is on.

However if I would have to make my choice again I might just install something like OSRAM Night Breakers or Phillips Cityvision and put on some cheep LED bar.
 

tom_d

Well travelled
Location
US
I have switched my bulb out for an LED, the brightness is much better. If I had to do it over again, I would put more research into making sure the bulb correctly mimics the light patterns of a standard halogen bulb.
There are so many ways to accomplish what you are asking, I'll put this here in case you might consider wiring the aux lights to be on all of the time or just when the high beam is on. I really like the simplified approach this person takes with all of their mods, definitely worth a look around if you haven't seen their site.
Here is the best source of info which is close to a tutorial, closed captioning works so if you want to auto-translate that is available. Though I would do things differently than this, the detailed info can be easily adapted to provide the behavior you might prefer. Good luck!
 

Pirate

Well travelled
Location
Aldershot, UK

DZR

Well travelled
Location
France Billere
Hi Pirate,

Thanks for your advice and well noticed. I will not go for LED, too much expansive but will provide higher quality Halogen.

DZR from Bearn
 

JulianK

Well travelled
Location
Germany
H4 (60/55 W @ 12 V, 1650/1000 lm ±15% @ 13.2 V) ~ Wikipedia

850lm=1000lm*85%

I agree with Pirate, in my car they look like 50% more light than normal.

1000lm*150% =1500lm
850lm*200% = 1700lm
close!
 
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DZR

Well travelled
Location
France Billere
Long time ago, a wise said: << let there be light and there was light >>. At that time LED was not yet existing, so the old guy I am, will go for a somewhat vintage lighting with halogen: Osram Nightbreaker or Philips City Vision H4.

Guys, thanks for your time and feedback.

DZR from France
 

petespace1

Well travelled
Location
Aus
Philips sells motorcycle specific H4 bulbs (aka globes) in Oz, with 30% 40 % and 100% more brightness (whiteness?) called vision Moto, extreme vision Moto city vision Moto etc. all ranging in price from $17 to $40 Australian dollars.
Plus a blue vision Moto xenon ($26) and an Led H4 for bikes.
The blue vision I believe is not road legal - all the others have road approval.
May be similar in other parts of the world too?
 

JulianK

Well travelled
Location
Germany
Apparently the halogen technology still got something to offer. I just spotted Osram Nightbreakers and Philips Racing Vision with up to 200% more light (850lm*300%=2550lm) for 20€.
@petespace1 do you have a link to those Philips LED H4 for bikes?
 
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Ajr650

Well travelled
Location
N. Ireland
Just did my 1st bit of night riding on the way home from work. About 20 miles, mostly B roads, and that headlight definitely ain't good!! Going to try a slight adjustment but a new bulb will be going in tomorrow.
And on another note... The tripper is very bright. It says in the manual about switching it to night mode, via the app I think, but I can't figure out how to 🤔
 

JulianK

Well travelled
Location
Germany
Thanks!
Not legal in my region :/


H4 (60/55 W @ 12 V, 1650/1000 lm ±15% @ 13.2 V) ~ Wikipedia

850lm=1000lm*85%

I agree with Pirate, in my car they look like 50% more light than normal.

1000lm*150% =1500lm
850lm*200% = 1700lm
close!
This formula and research of mine is incoherent with Philips's way to calculate brightness.
I did not find any details on Philips webpage but here. Sorry it is German but you only need to look at the lumen and XXX%

Hmm, maybe lumen does not describe quantity of light...


Edit:
Nope!
According to German Wikipedia Lumen (lm) is the quantity of visible light emitted by a light source. It depends on light power (Watt (W)) and a K factor. "K" exists to make Lumen depend on human eye sensitivity and depends on wave length.
Thus Lumen is a good way to tell how bright a lamp is!

But where do these "Up to 150% more light" statements come from? Is it how much brighter these lamps feel?
Maybe it is just a useless marketing pitch and lm is the real deal...
 
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petespace1

Well travelled
Location
Aus
Just on headlights. My other bike ( and some previous ones) have only had the little marker (parking) light on pre start and headlight only comes on after starting.

Has any one done any mods either by way of a small delay timer relay or a manual switch ?
Any experience of anyone here doing this or suggestions ?
 

JulianK

Well travelled
Location
Germany
Quality battery would be my go to. If not a switch that is always on and only opens when pressed, so you can't accidentally ride with the lights off.
It might be difficult to find a quality delay circuit device that will withstand the rough moto environment.
 

Roy Gavin

Well travelled
Usually a fancy " load control" relay which feeds either the starter or the main light feed , but not both at the same time.
I have a SSB V Spec battery which gives 280 cranking amps at around 20C , so even with a 5 amp headlight on there is still 275 amps left to start the bike, which should be enough.
Around $100- from MXS
 
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