Driving Lights

Water Warrior 2 · 12-04-2008, 03:42 AM

Looks good but a great way to drain a battery in a hurry. H3 bulbs are far too power hungry for the GZ. A reasonable alternative would be the $16 driving lights at Wally world. Take out the 50 watt MR-16 bulbs and install 20 watt bulbs. Still have the look and you can run them full time for better visibility to oncoming traffic. Not real great for added light on the road at night but you won't blind anyone by leaving them on either. As an added safety benefit you still have some light at night in case your headlight goes south all of a sudden. Flood light or spot light versions are available too.

Easy Rider · 12-04-2008, 09:49 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Water Warrior

Looks good but a great way to drain a battery in a hurry. H3 bulbs are far too power hungry for the GZ.

Ahem.......
"They use an H3 bulb which could be replaced with an LED bulb. "

:poked:

Water Warrior 2 · 12-05-2008, 04:06 AM

Cool. Those LED's would probably do the trick.

Badbob · 12-05-2008, 05:44 AM

Now you have my attention. LED replacements for halogen bulbs. This is very good news.

mrlmd1 · 12-05-2008, 09:36 AM

How bright are the LEDs? They have to light up the road ahead to be of any use for night riding other than just illuminating the front of the bike like a Christmas tree as a more attention-getting device for oncoming traffic. Is there lumen or light output comparison somewhere that I am missing?

Easy Rider · 12-05-2008, 10:14 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by mrlmd1

How bright are the LEDs?

I haven't seen any specs. but I think it's a safe bet that they are nowhere near the H3's.
Any LED array with that kind of output would be relatively large and quite costly.

Water Warrior 2 · 12-05-2008, 08:44 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Easy Rider

Quote:

Originally Posted by mrlmd1

How bright are the LEDs?

I haven't seen any specs. but I think it's a safe bet that they are nowhere near the H3's.
Any LED array with that kind of output would be relatively large and quite costly.

Pretty much my thoughts too. However if they do manage to create LED's that are viable for actually night riding they would have one dramatic advantage. You would never have to replace one.

Badbob · 12-06-2008, 10:28 AM

I have flashlights with 3 watt LEDs that will temporarily blind you if you look at them directly. Some of the LED replacements I looked at were 9 watts. My guess is that they are bright enough to get your attention. I don't see any spec sheets for these.

It would be nice to know how many lumen's or radiant flux these LEDs put out.

I'm going to look for some fixtures I can use.

Easy Rider · 12-06-2008, 11:02 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Badbob

Some of the LED replacements I looked at were 9 watts. My guess is that they are bright enough to get your attention.

I second that guess. Might even be enough to be useful as floods (fog light) but I suspect still not quite up to a real headlight in long distance illumination.
Two of those 9 watters certainly would improve your visibility and would probably be enough for emergency use should the headlight go out.

Keep us posted!

mrlmd1 · 12-07-2008, 09:27 AM

And the GZ electrical output will handle an extra 9 watts output, or will you wait 'till the headlight dies to turn those on?
You have to compare the lumen output with current draw, if any specs like that can be found, to see if the lights are viable for any real use and if they can be handled by the GZ.

12-04-2008, 03:42 AM	#1
Water Warrior 2 Senior Member Join Date: Dec 2006 Location: Squamish B.C Canada Posts: 11,409	Re: Driving Lights Looks good but a great way to drain a battery in a hurry. H3 bulbs are far too power hungry for the GZ. A reasonable alternative would be the $16 driving lights at Wally world. Take out the 50 watt MR-16 bulbs and install 20 watt bulbs. Still have the look and you can run them full time for better visibility to oncoming traffic. Not real great for added light on the road at night but you won't blind anyone by leaving them on either. As an added safety benefit you still have some light at night in case your headlight goes south all of a sudden. Flood light or spot light versions are available too. Login or Register to Remove Ads
	0

12-05-2008, 04:06 AM	#3
Water Warrior 2 Senior Member Join Date: Dec 2006 Location: Squamish B.C Canada Posts: 11,409	Re: Driving Lights Cool. Those LED's would probably do the trick. Login or Register to Remove Ads
	0

12-05-2008, 05:44 AM	#4
Badbob Senior Member Join Date: Aug 2006 Location: Tallahassee FL Posts: 945	Re: Driving Lights Now you have my attention. LED replacements for halogen bulbs. This is very good news. __________________ My GZ250 Blog Facebook Pinterest Google+ Tumblr YouTube Lumber Jocks
	0

12-05-2008, 09:36 AM	#5
mrlmd1 Senior Member Join Date: Jan 2008 Location: Crawfordville, Florida Posts: 2,853	Re: Driving Lights How bright are the LEDs? They have to light up the road ahead to be of any use for night riding other than just illuminating the front of the bike like a Christmas tree as a more attention-getting device for oncoming traffic. Is there lumen or light output comparison somewhere that I am missing? Login or Register to Remove Ads
	0

12-06-2008, 10:28 AM	#8
Badbob Senior Member Join Date: Aug 2006 Location: Tallahassee FL Posts: 945	Re: Driving Lights I have flashlights with 3 watt LEDs that will temporarily blind you if you look at them directly. Some of the LED replacements I looked at were 9 watts. My guess is that they are bright enough to get your attention. I don't see any spec sheets for these. It would be nice to know how many lumen's or radiant flux these LEDs put out. I'm going to look for some fixtures I can use. __________________ My GZ250 Blog Facebook Pinterest Google+ Tumblr YouTube Lumber Jocks
	0

12-07-2008, 09:27 AM	#10
mrlmd1 Senior Member Join Date: Jan 2008 Location: Crawfordville, Florida Posts: 2,853	Re: Driving Lights And the GZ electrical output will handle an extra 9 watts output, or will you wait 'till the headlight dies to turn those on? You have to compare the lumen output with current draw, if any specs like that can be found, to see if the lights are viable for any real use and if they can be handled by the GZ.
	0