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2003 Nighthawk LED Headlight Conversion
- Thread starter DJK
- Start date
Tailchaser
CB750 Member
I just put a H4 Led bulb in the original headlight:
https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/12494707...DxtzFqTD+55VlhMbtHpOD2kLe4YS|tkp:BFBM1sC7icdj
Very bright
https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/12494707...DxtzFqTD+55VlhMbtHpOD2kLe4YS|tkp:BFBM1sC7icdj
Very bright
How is the beam pattern on that bulb? I've heard some less-than-stellar reviews of those LED bulb conversions. Bright, yes, but a lot of complaints about the beam patterns.
Tailchaser
CB750 Member
It's good enough to ride at a reasonable pace on dark country roads.
slmjim n Z1BEBE
CB750 Member
Beam pattern on a vertical surface @ 20 ~ 25 ft. is what counts. Many H4 replacement LED's that are claimed to produce ten-eighteen-hundred-bazillion Chinese lumens are very poorly focused when installed in a headlight reflector/lens system designed for H4 incandescent filaments, which are essentially a point source. The resulting glare blinds oncoming drivers, and throw down the road suffers because focus is so poor.
The Riders at the <st-owners.com> forum do some serious miles after dark on ST-1100's and ST-1300's. They've been looking for & fiddling with H4 LED replacement bulbs for years.
Still looking, still fiddling.
The LED F2 Plus and F3 configurations are the current favorite, but they're still fiddly about getting the emitters oriented correctly (rotation & depth) for good focus & beam pattern. Some have a feature that allows the emitters to be rotated within the base for adjusting beam pattern. A few need to be shimmed for correct depth. All are fan cooled. None are DOT compliant.
The St-1100's and ST-1300's are dual-headlight bikes with the housings (reflector & lens) built into the fairing. Like all H4 halogen headlight assemblies, they were designed for the filament to be precisely sized & located within the reflector / lens geometry, so bulb design is critical. On bikes like 750 Nighthawks that use standard 7" headlights, a good solution would be to replace the entire headlight lens / reflector assembly with a drop in LED headlight assembly that will be focused correctly from the get-go.
Good Ridin'
slmjim & Z1BEBE
The Riders at the <st-owners.com> forum do some serious miles after dark on ST-1100's and ST-1300's. They've been looking for & fiddling with H4 LED replacement bulbs for years.
Still looking, still fiddling.
The LED F2 Plus and F3 configurations are the current favorite, but they're still fiddly about getting the emitters oriented correctly (rotation & depth) for good focus & beam pattern. Some have a feature that allows the emitters to be rotated within the base for adjusting beam pattern. A few need to be shimmed for correct depth. All are fan cooled. None are DOT compliant.
The St-1100's and ST-1300's are dual-headlight bikes with the housings (reflector & lens) built into the fairing. Like all H4 halogen headlight assemblies, they were designed for the filament to be precisely sized & located within the reflector / lens geometry, so bulb design is critical. On bikes like 750 Nighthawks that use standard 7" headlights, a good solution would be to replace the entire headlight lens / reflector assembly with a drop in LED headlight assembly that will be focused correctly from the get-go.
Good Ridin'
slmjim & Z1BEBE
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