Vee LED Headlight Upgrade

[mjburnett68]

Guess which side has the upgraded lamp fitted!

£12 ebay. Very impressed. Quality alloy casting with a fan to keep the unit cool.

Will keep all posted on longevity.

Expect to get flashed a bit?

[mr_diver]

I've had the same ones fitted to the Varadero, Gsx14 and my XJ600n since October.

The xj600n is a daily commuter and the LED is going strong. The other two bikes don't get used much to tell about longevity.

On the naked bikes the beam is fine.
On the twin headlight Vara the light gets scattered a bit and I do get flashed a fair bit.
It's not dazzling, just has an aura typical with LED lights. But it just passed an MOT with them.

Night time vision is much improved.

[chris1200]

I suspect the night time vision for anyone approaching you is not "Much improved". I am on the side of the AA on this one.

[Sasquatch]

Passed MOT or not, bike is not road legal. Bike was approved for use on the road with halogen headlight and any change to that renders it a track toy. Unless its a swap from same model of bike with factory fitted HID/LED/LASER/CANDLE/FLAME THROWER headlights.
 Old Bill has better things to do than enforce this, sadly, as most mods like that is outright dangerous at night.
You are giving any f***er that flattens you at night getaway ticket, and insurance company a way out of any claim against oncoming traffic at night.

[pichulec]

It is better to use for example Osram Nigtbreaker Laser +130% halogen bulbs than this, at least you would not blind oncoming traffic. I use them and I'm quite happy, they way brighter than oem bulbs and I'm not dazzling anyone.

[hookie]

Philips, Osram and GE all make a range of upgraded (up to an extra 130% brighter) bulbs that are far better than the OEM fitment. Fitted some of the GE Megalight Ultra +130 bulbs a while ago and am very impressed. Cost about £12 the pair.

[pegemc]

Actually you may find that if the beam seems high-ish you can twist them and it lowers the beam angle. Have these in mine and I’ve had no issues.

[timangus]

Fitted the same bulbs to my Glee from Amazon. Did manage to put them in upside down the first time and main beam was the wrong way round. Corrected and checked on a MOT beam tester and it sailed through. Much improved over the warm yellow glow that was there before.

[hotbulb]

I not, personally, a great fan of LED or HID headlamps... as others have said they do seem to cause severe dazzle... and I include those fitted as standard by some manufacturers. On the other hand, I think the "it must be ce-approved and so marked" dogma is unnecessary in most situations.
Be that as it may, though, it's my understanding that, from May (20th?) this year, when the new MOT regs come into force, headlights must be as original.... so retrofitted LEDs or HID burners in place of the original Halogen (or for those old enough to remember) tungsten bulbs will be an automatic major fault - in effect a failure - and the vehicle cannot be used on the road until rectified (on pain of death a large fine)

[tallpaul]

Interesting point there with the "as original". In theory does that mean if you fit a halogen bulb to a vehicle that was originally a tungsten (yes I know the location plate is different!) that too would fail? I could understand stopping mods to the light unit by physically altering the reflector housing to make an alternative fit, but if the led or HID is a direct fit then I would have thought that was OK. I presumed (daft thing to do) but the rule change was to stop people fitting HID full light assemblies to non HID vehicles.  Time will tell and I'm sure it will be down to interpretation (or his sister, misinterpretation...).

[hotbulb]

"As original" is my wording, I've not seen the actual regulations! But yes, replacing a tungsten bulb with a halogen (near) equivalent would be an interesting quandary...there are a number of firms making/selling halogen versions of older bulbs, including for 6 volt applications. I'd think, apropos of HIDs, that replacing the entire unit with a "proper" higher spec manufacturer' part would be less of a dazzle hazard than an electronic cheapo HID burner in an old halogen shell ...... But who knows what goes on in the legislators' heads !