LED Headlights?

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Hi Guys.
Does anyone know of a good pair of LED Highlights for ST1100 (2001). that require no messing about just a straight plug in.
Cheers Mike
 

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Cave Canem
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These Auxito H4s might be worth considering if you want a straightforward plug-in without adapting rubber boot, etc. The fan sits inside the headlight lens.


auxito.jpg

I have Auxitos (H7s) on my VFR1200X and they're fine. Novsight are decent too. Avoid the cheapest (fanless) designs.

For greater performance, look at bulbs with the large external heatsink/fan that are the F3 design.
 

Obo

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There's a thread here about LED bulbs.... read thru the entire thread for the latest model. I think they will also fit the 1100's.


Perhaps @spiderman302 can chime in as the resident expert.
 

Uncle Phil

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I followed @spiderman302 's advice and have LED headlights in all 4 of my ST1100s.
They work great and are a big improvement over even the higher wattage old ones.
I found removing the headlight assembly to do the install was a lot easier than trying to do it in place on an ABSII model.
I had to bend the wire 'fastener' a bit to get it to work with the fan shroud and not cant the bulb.
 

Flexit

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These Auxito H4s might be worth considering if you want a straightforward plug-in without adapting rubber boot, etc. The fan sits inside the headlight lens.
I have Auxitos (H7s) on my VFR1200X and they're fine. Novsight are decent too. Avoid the cheapest (fanless) designs.
For greater performance, look at bulbs with the large external heatsink/fan that are the F3 design.
Yep, I'll second that. Use these in both my 1100s.

1698753986368.png
 
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I put the LED headlights in my 1994 ST1100. They are WAY brighter, when you are looking at the lense, as other drivers would. High beam is WAY brighter too and really lights up the road, but how often do you get to ride with highbeams on for more than 30 seconds?. Unfortunately, the lense on the ST was not designed for LED light pattern. So on low beam, the light is not focused down the road, but really lights up the sides of the roads, which is great, as you can really see the road signs which look like they are made of neon, but you may not see that black angus cow standing in the middle of the road. I replaced them with high dollar halogen lights (yes there are different grades so get the ultimate silver or what ever they are called) and get much better actual light on the pavement when riding at night, which I hate to do, but occasionally I have to. If you do not ride at night the LEDs might be the way to go as they are MUCH brighter to the drivers coming at you who may see you better. But if you ride at night, they aren't as good as the Halogens. Either way, you'll need to put in an adapter ring or carve out for the headlight ears as the automobile bulbs have different ear placements than the Honda MC bulbs. This was my experience anyway FWIW.
 

Andrew Shadow

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Unfortunately, the lense on the ST was not designed for LED light pattern. So on low beam, the light is not focused down the road, but really lights up the sides of the roads, which is great, as you can really see the road signs which look like they are made of neon, but you may not see that black angus cow standing in the middle of the road.
This experience would seem to indicate that the LED bulbs that you tried were not of the proper design to be used as retrofit bulbs in a headlamp housing designed for a halogen bulb. LED bulbs that are designed as retrofit bulbs emulate the location of the filaments of a halogen bulb and outperform halogen in every respect.
Either way, you'll need to put in an adapter ring or carve out for the headlight ears as the automobile bulbs have different ear placements than the Honda MC bulbs.
He is in the UK. The European ST1100 headlamps use standard automobile H4/9003 bulbs and do not require the adapter rings. I suspect that the UK models are the same but don't know for sure.
 

Flexit

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He is in the UK. The European ST1100 headlamps use standard automobile H4/9003 bulbs and do not require the adapter rings. I suspect that the UK models are the same but don't know for sure.
Yep, UK models have the same. :ukflag1:
 
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the lense on the ST was not designed for LED light pattern. So on low beam, the light is not focused down the road
Again, this is still a huge misunderstanding!

In the H4 system the low beam is NOT at the focus point!
The H4 low beam, with any bulb, will not reach as far as dedicated focused separated hi/low beams (9005/9006).

The high beam is in the focus plane and the low beam filament is in front of the focus plane.
Just look at the bulb and you will see this.
The H4 low beam creates a tiny ring of light which the shield cuts off half of the ring to make the sharp cutoff. this is the magic of the h4 system.
the led actually works better in that ring than a halogen filament.
The vertical fluting on the mirror spreads the light horizontally anyways to make a broad beam.
If you need more down the road light then you should install passing lights that can be used at the same time as the low beam.
The F2 plus (cougar motor flagship version) blows the door off any halogen bulb, so much, that adding passing lights only helps a little.......
 

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Cave Canem
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They're marked as F2 Plus which is what LED expert Spidey has recommended. They won't be as simple a plug-and-play as the Auxitos because you'll have to adapt the rubber boots at the back of the headlight (Uncle Phil wisely advises headlight removal for this). But if you're doing a lot of night riding, I think they will outperform the Auxitos. For DRLs to add daytime conspicuity, you could do worse than these, which a lot of folks here refer to as "ZMoons". https://www.aliexpress.com/item/1005005927687832.html

S49ca1cbc4c0943a3b38ffe0698d8330eG.jpg
 

Andrew Shadow

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still a lot of confusion. i do night riding 5 days a week. thinking is it worth using DRL’s as an option. thanks for all your comments. found these anyone used them?

I would not even consider these. The LED emitters are not properly located and there is no shield to control the beam.
 

Andrew Shadow

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has anyone used these
Are you looking for H4/9003 replacement bulbs? Your avatar doesn't indicate what type motorcycle you have.

If so, I wouldn't buy these either. Even though the ad states F2, they do not appear to be the design that we recognize as F2, and they don't appear to be correctly designed to be a H4/9003 replacement bulb.

The proper H4/9003 design requires two LED emitters on each side of the bulb, one for the low beam and one for the high beam. The emitters need to be on different horizontal and vertical planes, which is why two are needed per side, to emulate the location of the filaments of a halogen bulb to work properly in a headlamp housing that was designed for halogen bulbs. These are not made this way.

Go have a look at the photos here to get an idea.

Something like the below;
F2.jpg
 

Mellow

Joe
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They're marked as F2 Plus which is what LED expert Spidey has recommended. They won't be as simple a plug-and-play as the Auxitos because you'll have to adapt the rubber boots at the back of the headlight (Uncle Phil wisely advises headlight removal for this). But if you're doing a lot of night riding, I think they will outperform the Auxitos. For DRLs to add daytime conspicuity, you could do worse than these, which a lot of folks here refer to as "ZMoons". https://www.aliexpress.com/item/1005005927687832.html

S49ca1cbc4c0943a3b38ffe0698d8330eG.jpg
Why have just one per pod when you can have 3!

 

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Cave Canem
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Joe, they'd look great mounted on the wind deflectors over the mirrors like the lights I used to have on my ST1100! (Pic from Scotland from around 2006, I think Uncle Phil took it)

003a.jpg
 
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