Datsun Roadster Forum-311s.org

Will,
They make bike LED headlights that work.
One of my office mates was given a light that works killer. He said it retails for more than $400.....LOL.....
I can get you the name if you want.

BTW, I have run H4 Hella headlights for years......very good quality.

fj20spl311 wrote:Will,
They make bike LED headlights that work.
One of my office mats was given a light that works killer. He said it retails for more than $400.....LOL.....
I can get you the name if you want.

BTW, I have run H4 Hella headlights for years......very good quality.

As far as optics and power, I have a $6 flashlight, single LED, that can shine up 45 ft and light up rafters in a warehouse with the regular lights in the building on. Granted, not a precision beam, just a round circle of light but would work GREAT as a bike headlight.
It's a knock off of this one
.

SLOroadster wrote:

fj20spl311 wrote:From what I can can find halogen headlamps produce ~ 20 lumens per watt and high out halogens up to 30 lumens per watt.

The LED lights are 1300 lumens which is the same as 65 watt halogens. The real advantage would be in life. HO halogens bulbs have a life time in the low hundreds of hours. The LED would be 10 thousands hours.

I don't think it pays for a roadster, the use is too low.

I have yet to see a set of LEDs that projects the light as well as a normal halogen light. I've got a couple LED flashlights that are great if you want to illuminate something 3 inches in front of you, but if its a couple feet away they are useless. I've got a rather expensive set of LED bicycle lights that are bright as all get out, but they are useless to actually try and ride with because they can't project the light far enough ahead of you. I end up out running the available light and it gets really hard to see where I'm going at 25 mph. I don't even want to try to drive like that. Until they can figure out how to produce a lens and reflector that will project the light down the road as far as a good set of normal H1/h4s (read Cibie or Hella or one of those) I'd stay clear of LEDs for cars. They are great for being seen, but really poor for seeing with them.

Will

The lights you mention don't project very well but I know from my own experience that the LED lights from Truck-Lite that are DOT approved are far and above an H4 Halogen as far as beam projection and quality of light. My stock VROD headlight was nearly useless at night. I switched it out for the previous generation LED light and I can see much much further down the road as well as more of the edge of the road. The lines on the road and signs really jump out at you know due to the light temperature of the LEDs. I can also say it was far better than putting HID bulbs in the stock headlight lens.

Here are a couple of comparisons with the new LED lights.

fj20spl311 wrote:Will,
They make bike LED headlights that work.
One of my office mats was given a light that works killer. He said it retails for more than $400.....LOL.....
I can get you the name if you want.

BTW, I have run H4 Hella headlights for years......very good quality.

Mine were more than $400. They run forever, but they are only good as a stupidly expensive flashlight that runs forever. I should have bought a single beam HID for another $100, I know for a fact that sucker works. It turned night into day, and made riding technical singletrack at midnight like riding it in the day. Oh well. Until I have a chance to use a LED light that works well, I'm sticking with either HID or Halogen lights for the bike, and Halogens for the cars.

The absolute best set of lights I have ever used was the set of Marchal E-code driving lights that my Alfa had. The bulbs dated back to the early '70s. They will blow my Hella E-codes on the roadster out of the water, as well as the Bosch e-codes on the M3. I'd love to try them with a set of modern bulbs, but I don't have a car they will fit in anymore. Like a lighthouse, beam projection is all about the lens and reflector design. If one or the other sucks, the projection will suffer.

As far as light comparison pictures, unless you know the specs on the lights being compared, (who makes them ect) its easy to make a misleading demonstration. Seriously, if you take a cheapo 7" round DOT headlight and compare it to a top of the line LED or even a properly designed e-code halogen, the better light will look far better than it really is. The light temperature is also a double edged sword. A yellow light doesn't project as well, but has less glare (especially in fog) and as you get up toward a more blue colored light you end up creating more glare than anything else. I have this with the high beams on the M3, they are 8000K and are hard to use since they induce so much glare. My low beams at 6000K are far better but don't have the spot beam focus since they are designed as low beam wide angle lights. The 8000K bulbs will go away as soon as I find a better set of 65 watt H1s.

Will

I think this discussion is somewhat a moot point.

I can not argue against them as I have argued in the past that the best "safety" equipment money can buy is CHEAP.

No matter what, replace those old headlamps! A new windshield is also a good idea.

fj20spl311 wrote:I think this discussion is somewhat a moot point.

I can not argue against them as I have argued in the past that the best "safety" equipment money can buy is CHEAP.

No matter what, replace those old headlamps! A new windshield is also a good idea.

I agree. Now, to find someone who will install the new windshield I've got sitting in a box at home. None of the places around here will touch it.

Will

Call some restoration shops. They will know who does it.

I did mine....several times with the old windshield and also my new one.

If you go slow, use lube and start at the bottom, it pretty easy.....even easier if you leave off the chrome.

fj20spl311 wrote:I did mine....several times with the old windshield and also my new one.

If you go slow, use lube and start at the bottom, it pretty easy.....even easier if you leave off the chrome.

I got one in, w/o chrome and using a new gasket. I ripped it in the lower corner. It wasn't fun, but not difficult. I believe some of the vendors have installers they recommend, but probably in L.A.