ST1100 Led Headlight Question which one should I go with?

[sgelsot]

Been reading up on Led upgrade (thanks Spiderman302 ), was going to pull the trigger on the

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B082MDGVDC/ref=ox_sc_act_image_3?smid=AMOWCOKZZEKCP&psc=1

the one I believe recommended but then I saw this and not sure it will fit by the look of the size(looks taller/longer) and if it would be any better than the Cougars

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07XP2XJMS/ref=ox_sc_act_title_1?smid=A20DLZVH04R37U&psc=1

Have the H4 adapter's ordered, for 1999 St1100

 

[GGely]

The distance from the forward side of the support plate to the led chips is the critical bit, since that dimension defines how well it’s aligned to the standard bulb specification.

The distance behind the plate to the back of the bulb assembly may be important if it conflicts with anything behind the headlight assembly. It’s been quite a long time since I did mine but if I recall correctly, there is lots of room there.

I’m pretty sure my buddy bought the Cougar set for his Concours 1000 and they worked well.

 

[Uncle Phil]

I've got the older G6 in three of mine and just put the newer F2 model in one when the older one failed.
I get a lot more light on the side from the newer version which I really like.
Either one will be a major improvement over the stock bulbs.
I found it was easier to pull out the headlight assembly and do the install on the bench as I had to slightly bend the latching wires so that they would not press against the fan shroud.
With ABSII models it is very difficult to come in from the top since the TCS/ABS module is bolted onto the back of the speedo/tach.

 

[Obo]

I'm no Spiderman and I didn't stay at a Holiday Inn Express last night but I'd go with the first link (the Cougars)

My rational is they look very much like the F2's with the thin center heat sync.
I'm not sure how the bubbles on the Hikari's chips would work.

 

[spiderman302]

sorry I have been a bit busy on other things. the Cougars are better.
Stay away from the Hikari VisionPlus the leds are too big.
It will put too much light on the road close to you, which reduces your far vision.
the light source (led) needs to be like the filament in the H4 - long and thin.
A big square is not the right geometry and the offset is in the wrong direction for the high beam.
There are a lot of good clones of the F2 bulb so there are a lot of choices today.

 

[sgelsot]

Thanks to everyone, going with the Cougars. I cant thank you guys enough, not only for you reply but for all the other ones that that have helped me out(and many others I'm sure)
A shout out to John, Larry and UpNorth (countless other members) that make owning a ST a joy to work on, which isn't all that often thankfully. And super duper shout out to UnclePhil.

 

[SMSW]

Thanks to everyone, going with the Cougars.

I know its too late, but I posted this in the thread linked below. Unfortunately, there seems to be so much to know about all this stuff for us lay people that you (read I, since I cannot speak for anyone else) have to read multiple threads all the way thru taking notes in order to sift out what is important to you.

"I wanted to order a full set of LED lamps for my Highlander, and was utterly confused by Amazon, which does not give you all of the specs (one of my pet peeves of Amazon). After consulting with @spiderman302, this is what I learned.

The lumens posted by Amazon are sometimes suspect. Like the watts published years ago for Hi Fi Stereo amps, more are better so the copy writer guys play fast and loose with the numbers. He told me to go mostly by wattage. Some of the recommended lamps (by Spidey) on Amazon were very pricey, up in the $75 and north of there range. He also suggested a website of a guy who compares LED headlamps (I think this was given early in this thread). Prices for some of those took my breath away, well over $100 for a pair of headlight lamps. Additionally, the F2 and F3 designations appear to be a configuration used by Evitek, in China (remember Cindy?). This designation does not appear in Amazon descriptions and my guess it's a proprietary design or proprietary nomenclature by Evitek. F2/F3 is not an industry standard, but if you have an educated eye you can look at the pictures of the various lamps early in this thread and compare what you have just purchased and figure out yourself what you have. I find this buy first and figure out later unsatisfying, so I emailed Cindy: Cindy Zhou, cindy@evitekhid.com. They are only running the F3 design now (she told me this a few months ago). A pair of F3 H4's cost me $33 + $10 shipping + $2 Paypal fee two days ago. Shipping a few months ago was amazingly fast. If this thread is still active in a week or two, I'll post when I receive my latest purchase of H4's. Bottom line, if you have been without LED headlights this long, waiting another week or two is no big deal, unless you prefer Amazon's instant gratification.

Its in this thread: https://www.st-owners.com/forums/threads/headlight-led-f2-vs-f3-vs-nb35.177144/page-4

 

[Obo]

@SMSW I think there's currently a lot of "buyer beware" in LED bulbs in general. It appears even Evitek sells models that differ from the F2 many of us have. They may work fine in some applications, just not ours. I'm not knocking Evitek at all as at least they took Spidey's advice and made some improvements, just saying in general it's still a bit of a wild West out there with it's share of snake oil salespeople.