I have installed the led bulb Dave sent me and took it for a 10 minute ride last night. It is substantially brighter than my halogen bulb but the is not even. The lighting is almost like various separate bands of light alternating between very bright and not so bright. But still much better than the halogen bulb. In that 10 minute ride I did not encounter much traffic so do not yet know if people will be flashing their lights at me. I'll let you know when I find out.

Tocsik:

Thanks for being the Guinea pig on this!

It would be really nice if this worked, as the light is the easiest LED bulb to install.  It does not have any space issues in the headlight bucket, as the back of the bulb is identical to the original bulb - which also allows the rubber weather seal to be used.  It also doesn't require the additional wiring or little "box" in the wiring that other LED's have, or the fan or braided heat sink wires on the back of the bulb that need extra room in the bucket.

I did notice that the one I returned seemed to be causing the fogging less and less quickly as time went on....whatever was causing the fogging must have been getting used up.

Ok...So I finally had a break in the evening rain to install the LED and go outside with both the halogen and LED to get some comparative pics. I did not have time to go for a ride as it was late and the roads were still damp, but here are three sets of pics against the garage door and two different points down my driveway.

They are labeled, but note that the Halogen is on the left and the LED is on the right.

Last image is just a comparison of the stock halogen bulb and the LED unit.

Tocsik wrote on 05/19/17 at 08:15:25:


I do hope the cleaning of the Native H4 works and resolves the fogging issue - there are plenty of good reviews of the bulb.....and it is the easiest one to install, it is affordable, and it does provide a definite improvement over the stock bulb).


I tried the ADVMonster H4 R3 LED for a very, very short ride Saturday night, as just as I pulled out the driveway it started to sprinkle, and by the time I go 1/4 miles the wind and lightning arrived, I quickly turned around and made it home before the hard rain hit.....I only had about 30 seconds to spare!

The H4 R3 seems to be a very good LED bulb - it is very bright and has a very nice light pattern from what I could tell in that short ride.  The only downside is that it requires a pretty good clearance inside the light bucket as the bulb sticks out pretty far behind the reflector, and the braided heat sink wires take up some room.  I am not sure it will fit in the stock Savage light housing.

I will get a chance to ride it after dark tonight for a better review....I am using it in a 7" Candlepower reflector.

I am still looking for an LED that can be used to upgrade the stock headlight into something useful.

Last night I tried the ADVmonster H4 R3, and it is the brightest and best LED bulb I have found yet - but it has the braided heat sink wires out the back of the bulb and the control box, and a bulky connector for the light plug - I believe it is too big to fit into the Savage headlight bucket (but it may be a good LED to use in the Harley 7" bucket).
http://stores.advmonster.com/h4-r3-led-headlight/

This is the bulb that Tocsik and I tried, and it works fine but caused the inside of the glass to get smokey and required cleaning.  ADVMonster claims that the soldering flux got on the bulb, and that cleaning the LED with alcohol will resolve the problem.  They have sold a lot of these bulbs and claim the smokey lens is not a universal problem.
http://stores.advmonster.com/native-h4/

(I can only find the following lights in pairs on Amazon).

I found that the compact bulb that Tocsik is using (and I tried) can be purchased cheaper as the LASFIT brand.  Hopefully cleaning the bulb will solve the problem of smoking up the glass.
https://www.amazon.com/LASFIT-Headlight-Philips-Driver-Warranty/dp/B01BBWQWFM...

The WERISE V5 looks promising......somebody needs to try this one!
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B06XW3BM26/ref=sr_1_55?s=automotive&ie=UTF8&qid=149...

This LASFIT looks like another good option, it has the fan outside the light - but the driver is built inside and it doesn't need the extra box on the outside wiring.
https://www.amazon.com/LASFIT-Headlight-Kits-COB-Adjustable-6000K-Dual/dp/B01...

(If anyone wants to buy a pair of the above lights and give them a try, I will buy the 2nd one from you).

Eegore wrote on 05/24/17 at 09:29:43:


I don't know for sure.  If they don't work well, then 1 is too many.  If they work really well, then I likely will put them in my bike(s), and also offer it as a bulb option when I get the light kits completed.

Well I just watched a 30 min video on YouTube while I was eating lunch at my desk...and I got some bad news.  The reason that the performance of LED bulbs is so bad - is that the lens and reflector is designed and optimized to work with the very specific location of the 2 filaments (high/low) in bulb.  The LED bulbs have not been very good at replicating those filaments....and that is especially true of the $ 30 Chinese copycat stuff.  We may still be able to find an affordable $ 30 bulb the Savage that will provide a worthwhile upgrade - but the cutting edge stuff that can replicate the original bulb is pricey.  One such light is currently $239 a pair.  Go to the H4 (9003) model and you can see how the small LED's are arranged to match the location of the filament in a traditional bulb (without this...that is why we get the uneven and unfocused light pattern).

https://gtrlighting.com/headlights/gen-3/

Last night I installed this LASFIT bulb into the Ninja to give it a try.......it is pretty good for a cheaper light.  It has a good light pattern, pretty easy installation, the light can be rotated to make sure you get the best orientation for your reflector, and there is no box on the cable.  The rubber seal worked OK on the Candlepower reflector, and I believe it will work good on the Savage reflector as well.  And you can get a pair of them for less than $40 (share the cost with a forum friend and they are $20 each).  The only negative I have to say about it - is the fit of the plastic housing into the H4 adapter plate seems a bit cheap.....but I guess it works.

I am waiting on another set of bulbs to try out.

This is what the bulb looks like taken apart and ready to install.  (Don't pay any attention to the Hella rubber seal in the photo - that fits a different reflector).