ST1300 Headlight LED's List

[Jammin'John]

So you have to shine it on a wall or something ? What is that hexagon below the light ?

JJ

 

[Obo]

Well you don't have to, but if you wanted to you could line up your headlight just like you can on a car.

1. measure back a distance from the wall/garage door to your bike and turn on your current headlight. Mark the top of the beam on the wall/door with tape.
2. replace your bulbs with the new LEDs, put the bike the same distance back, turn them on and check to see if they are the same height.

If it's high or low (which it shouldn't be if you only swapped bulbs) you can adjust the height of the beam with the headlight adjustment knob on the dash. Your car doesn't have an electronic adjuster for the headlights (well some do but most don't..) but the bike does.

 

[Sadlsor]

Saving this.

 

[spiderman302]

John:
I have Aux lights but no longer use them since I have been running F2 bulbs.
I commute 40 miles in darkness during the winter months.

 

[Jammin'John]

John:
I have Aux lights but no longer use them since I have been running F2 bulbs.
I commute 40 miles in darkness during the winter months.

Now that's useful news. I've been pricing good aux lights and it's easy to spend 4 or 500 bucks on a pair of good ones. Good to think that they would be not needed much.
I would still like to get something extra in case my main lights crap out. I had that happen a couple times.

JJ

 

[Larry Fine]

Not arguing, just discussing, because I really want to understand. (And, my bike is an 11, not a 13.)

Something must be added to compensate for the removal of the two lower tabs that must be removed to use a 9003 bulb or the bulbs will not stay in place.

Looking at my F2s and the rings, it looks like the top tab would prevent the mounting flange from rotating by itself, and that there's no reason that the other two tab slots must have tabs in them.

Thus, as far as I can tell, the adapter rings are merely spacers, either because the F2 flange is thinner than the OEM bulb flange, or because the element positioning works better with the reflector.

The wire is sometimes suggested as a suitable alternative to using the adapters because a piece of wire is usually easier to come by whereas the adapters must be sourced and purchased.
The intent of either item is to provide something solid for the lower portion of the bulb base to rest against to keep it in place.

The ring is the same diameter, so wouldn't aid in preventing the F2 from falling into the headlight housing. So, that suggests the thickness is needed for firm mounting behind the clamping wire.

Using the adapters will change the focal point of the light beam a slight amount because the bulbs are being moved further back in to the reflector. It changes it so slightly that it is not an issue and is not even noticeable in any tangible way in my experience.

This makes me ask whether the approx. 1/16" set-back is actually intended to improve the beam pattern as compared to what it would be with no set-back. If so, this makes the most sense to me.

Using the wire, the headlight assembly may need to be adjusted downward a little because the tip of the bulb will be orientated downward slightly more than it is supposed to be. This results in the light beam being directed upward a little. This can be easily compensated for using the remote headlight adjuster.

So, if the tilt imposed by a wire spacer needs to be compensated for, then that again makes me think the set-back, not the tilt, is why a spacer of any sort is necessary for F2s and not OEM bulbs.

Using both the adapter and the wire at the same time would result in a light pattern that is shining upward. It would also result in a light pattern that is even more out focus as the bulbs are now not only being moved even further in to the back of the reflector, but are also being pointed downward at the same time.

There is no point using both. Since you already have the adapters you might as well use them. My suggestion would be to install them and go ride.

No, I intend to use only the rings since I have them. I also noticed that my rings have bottom notches that don't correspond to any part of the headlight housing, as far as I can tell. Curious.

Again, this is the kind of thing that I want to understand, and not just follow blindly. Unlike some topics, this all applies to every US-spec 1100, so asking the experienced owners applies here.

Thank all who respond!

 

[spiderman302]

The reason for the 18 ga wire in the bottom slot.
For the low beam, the two leds are not the same as one halogen filament.
The low beam is not at the focus point. The high beam is at the focus point.
Since the leds are on the centerline of the parabola they create two beams and you end up with a dark spot in the center of the low beam.
By slightly down tilting the bulb by placing the 18 ga wire in the bottom slot.
The two parallel beams will converge, the dark spot disappears and the middle of the beam gets brighter. Its more complicated that this but I am trying to keep it simple...... The low beam is operating in a focus ring not at the focus point. The ring is what enables the shield to make the sharp cut off.
In fact in the halogen bulb, the low beam filament in not on the centerline of the parabola....
This problem is more predominate is some reflectors and not others. It is more noticeable in motorcycles with one headlight.
play with it and watch what happens in the very center of the low beam as you tilt the low beam up and down.
My guess is that just using the wire and not the adapter will work best.....
now you know.....

 

[Larry Fine]

Since you already have the adapters you might as well use them. My suggestion would be to install them and go ride.

My guess is that just using the wire and not the adapter will work best.....
now you know.....

Noooooooooooo!

 

[Andrew Shadow]

I will provide what I know from my own experience in response to your questions. If I have made any errors of note, hopefully spiderman302 will correct them as he is much more knowledgeable about lighting than I am.

Looking at my F2s and the rings, it looks like the top tab would prevent the mounting flange from rotating by itself, and that there's no reason that the other two tab slots must have tabs in them.

The purpose of the adapter is not to prevent rotation. It is to prevent the bulb from moving around and to far in to the headlamp reflector. After the two lower tabs are removed from a H4/9003 bulb, the bulb base is smaller than the hole in the headlamp housing and the bulb can penetrate further in to the reflector than it is supposed to. The adapter ring's lower tabs seat against the two lower tab cut-outs in the headlamp housing and provide something solid for the bulb to seat against preventing it from penetrating past where it supposed to seat.

The ring is the same diameter, so wouldn't aid in preventing the F2 from falling into the headlight housing. So, that suggests the thickness is needed for firm mounting behind the clamping wire.

The two lower tabs on the adapter rings replace the two lower tabs that are cut off of the H4/9003 bulbs. The base of the bulb rests against the base of the adapter ring and the tabs on the adapter ring seat in the tab cut-outs preventing the whole assembly from migrating to far in to the reflector. It is the tabs that are the stoppers, not the diameter.

This makes me ask whether the approx. 1/16" set-back is actually intended to improve the beam pattern as compared to what it would be with no set-back. If so, this makes the most sense to me.

The adapter rings are intended to replace the two lower tabs that must be removed from a H4/9003 bulb. They do not correct an already deficient focal point. With an halogen H4/9003 bulb they make it worse if anything by moving the bulb away from where it was designed to seat. The difference being so minor that most people probably would not even notice the difference.

So, if the tilt imposed by a wire spacer needs to be compensated for, then that again makes me think the set-back, not the tilt, is why a spacer of any sort is necessary for F2s and not OEM bulbs.

The OEM bulb and any H4/9003 halogen bulb are the same in design parameters except for the location of the two lower tabs. Any H4/9003 bulb will have the same beam pattern as the OEM bulb if it was possible to seat it in the same place as the OEM bulb. This is not possible because the two lower tabs must be removed. After doing so, another method of providing a solid seating surface for the bottom section of the base is required. This is what the adapter rings were designed for- to provide a firm seating surface for the lower portion of the base by providing replacement lower tabs in the correct locations. They were not designed to correct the beam pattern. If anything they do the opposite, however minute it may be, by moving the bulb farther out of the reflector. The F2 LED's were designed by spiderman302 to be, as close as is possible, a direct replacement for a H4/9003 bulb. As such, it needs to penetrate in to the reflector the same distance as the OEM or H4/9003 bulb would to be properly focused. This is not possible with the ST1100 because you have to replace the two lower tabs that were cut off. To do this you need to add something to support the bulb, not to adjust the beam pattern. LED headlamp bulbs did not even exist when these adapter rings came on to the market so they are certainly not designed to enhance their beam pattern.

The F2 has an additional quirk that halogen bulbs don't have which is the dark spot that spiderman302 explained above. This can be corrected by creating a tilt using a piece of wire in place of the two lower tabs. Because no wire is used at the 12 o'clock position, this supports the lower portion of the base and provides a tilt. There are many ST1100 owners who have installed these bulbs using the adapter rings and have not experienced any issues worth mentioning. Keep in mind that spiderman302 is, if I remember correctly, an electrical engineer who works in the lighting field. I suspect that some of the nuances that he sees from one bulb to another will not be noticed by most people. I know that I have read several things that he has pointed out regarding lighting that I am affected by and never even noticed it until he pointed it out, which is further evidence of him having greater knowledge than I.

No, I intend to use only the rings since I have them. I also noticed that my rings have bottom notches that don't correspond to any part of the headlight housing, as far as I can tell. Curious.

The OEM bulbs and H4/9003 bulbs have the two lower tabs located in different positions. I don't remember the exact difference anymore but just to throw out an example to illustrate the point, the OEM are located at 4 o'clock and 8 o'clock while the H4/9003 are located at 5 o'clock and 7 o'clock. If you have the correct adapter rings, the two lower tabs of these will fit exactly in to the two lower tab cut-outs in the headlamp housing of a North American specification ST1100. If they are the correct adapter rings and do not match, you do not have a North American specification headlamp housing.

The only advice I can offer is if you have concern over the potential dark spot, ask other ST1100 owners who have installed these bulbs using the rings for their comments.
I suspect that overwhelmingly they will say that the advantages of installing these bulbs far outweighs any downside.

 

[ST Gui]

So you folks who have upgraded the headlight. Do you also have auxiliary lighting ?

I do not but would like to add some. IIH the upgraded headlights are more than enough for the limited riding I do and mostly in urban/suburban areas and not a lot on back country roads where long range lighting would be advantages.

But...

...that is just freakin' awsome bad-aß. That reminds me of a Cobra and its rocket pods. I want to do that just for the looks alone. What mounts are you using?

If the headlights are now LED terrific aren't the other lights way overkill ?
Aren't you blinding the cars ?
I was thinking about these but thought they would be WAY too much.

1) Overkill – maybe for some. For me for sure. But running down a long dark stretch of road where there may not be any street lighting AUX lighting could be very handy.

2) You can blind cars with just the factory high beams. But having the proper lights and using them appropriately means not blinding oncoming traffic be it cars trucks bikes or cops. A Knowing what kind of lights you're getting and what you want them for is key.

96.873% of these lights aren't street legal anyway. They're generally in two separate styles driving (spot) and flood (search light). The latter are sometimes billed as fog lights but lack the flat cutoff that keeps the light low. So they're really bad on the street. They can't really be aimed to not blind someone while providing usable illumination. True fog lights provide a wide but flat top beam to light the sides of the road without blinding oncoming traffic.

Those Denali lights you posted are probably pretty pricey kit. You need to know what kind of beam they project and if that's appropriate for your riding. And my preference would always be to have AUX lights wired to an OnOff separately from the bike's factory lighting. They could be including if you like but a separate switch adds a little more control.

For example wire driving lights to the high beams and/or fog lights to the low beams so either set comes on when you select whichever beam. Then the additional switch gives you manual control so they don't come on with a bike beam if you don't want them to.

And you don't want a LOT of white light right in front of the bike as it will ruin your night vision especially when you turn the AUX lights off.

 

[ST Gui]

I also noticed that my rings have bottom notches that don't correspond to any part of the headlight housing, as far as I can tell.

If you looked at some H4 halogen bulbs at the six o'clock position you'd see two small metal tabs. I believe the notch is to accommodate them.

 

[st11ray]

But...

...that is just freakin' awsome bad-aß. That reminds me of a Cobra and its rocket pods. I want to do that just for the looks alone. What mounts are you using?

Those are copies of the old Dick Seng mounts that a guy at a local fabricating shop made for me and a few other members. I have posted his contact info in the thread about under mirror light brackets. I don't know if he will do anymore or even if he is still in business.
These lights are also really good at moving left lane bandits over on the interstate.

 

[Sadlsor]

Those are copies of the old Dick Seng mounts that a guy at a local fabricating shop made for me and a few other members. I have posted his contact info in the thread about under mirror light brackets.

Think I saw that thread recently; IIRC didn't you or someone suggest moving / enlarging one of the mount holes, to enable fairing removal without having to disturb the lights themselves?
Seems the lights had to be "scooched" over a little bit, to the outside, to facilitate body panel fitment.

 

[Larry Fine]

The purpose of the adapter is not to prevent rotation. It is to prevent the bulb from moving around and to far in to the headlamp reflector. After the two lower tabs are removed from a H4/9003 bulb, the bulb base is smaller than the hole in the headlamp housing and the bulb can penetrate further in to the reflector than it is supposed to. The adapter ring's lower tabs seat against the two lower tab cut-outs in the headlamp housing and provide something solid for the bulb to seat against preventing it from penetrating past where it supposed to seat.

The two lower tabs on the adapter rings replace the two lower tabs that are cut off of the H4/9003 bulbs. The base of the bulb rests against the base of the adapter ring and the tabs on the adapter ring seat in the tab cut-outs preventing the whole assembly from migrating to far in to the reflector. It is the tabs that are the stoppers, not the diameter.

I get it now! You're saying that the housing's notches are not as deep as the circular base of the bulb opening. A bulb flange with no tabs at all would seat more deeply into the opening, too far for proper beam focus, and possibly so deep that the flange could be loose under clamping wire.

 

[st11ray]

Think I saw that thread recently; IIRC didn't you or someone suggest moving / enlarging one of the mount holes, to enable fairing removal without having to disturb the lights themselves?
Seems the lights had to be "scooched" over a little bit, to the outside, to facilitate body panel fitment.

Yes, we had the shop move the hole outboard a bit because the old mounts were built for the smaller PIAA 910's and Hella FF50's. These new 5"+ LED's would hit the fairing or sit so close that you had to remove the lights in order to remove the fairing. I had to widen the holes on the light bracket itself in order to get my LED's to fit before I had these new mounts made.

 

[Andrew Shadow]

I get it now! You're saying that the housing's notches are not as deep as the circular base of the bulb opening. A bulb flange with no tabs at all would seat more deeply into the opening, too far for proper beam focus, and possibly so deep that the flange could be loose under clamping wire.

Yes. The lower tabs provide the contact points for the lower portion of the bulb base in order to have a properly orientated and firm seating and clamping position. The adapter rings, or the 18 gauge wire, provide those two lower contact points after the lower tabs on the H4/9003 bulb base have been cut off.

 

[spiderman302]

The beam pattern improvement with the 18 ga wire, you will have to try it both ways to see it, since it is a slight improvement on the ST. The lens design in the reflector of the ST blends the two spots. Headlights on other bikes make it more predominant. So knowing that there is a fix for this anomaly is why I keep including this because many have other bikes

 

[Jammin'John]

The beam pattern improvement with the 18 ga wire, you will have to try it both ways to see it, since it is a slight improvement on the ST. The lens design in the reflector of the ST blends the two spots. Headlights on other bikes make it more predominant. So knowing that there is a fix for this anomaly is why I keep including this because many have other bikes

I don't want to get any more confused. Non of this 18 ga wire stuff applies to my 2016 ST1300PAG,right ?

JJ

 

[spiderman302]

It makes a slight difference. Most will not see the difference. So I would say that you do not need to worry about it.
Moving from a halogen bulb to the F2 will be a big step. You will see twice as far since it puts out 4 times the light.
The ST1300 headlight will put all that the light in all the right places.
So if you add aux lighting you will need to have something in the same magnitude like the 40 watt lights that you referred to.
There are many, lower cost, more compact equivalents to that light.
You do not want too much close in light. You want most of the light on the horizon.
Beam pattern is more important. You will need a mix depending on the area where you live.
I buy aux spots and add wide angle lens to spread the light.
I like the projector fog lights to light up the sides of the road since you can use them in traffic.
You are heading in the right direction....

 

[Obo]

I don't want to get any more confused. Non of this 18 ga wire stuff applies to my 2016 ST1300PAG,right ?

I didn't put the wire in mine and they are fine. Not a PA model but they should be the same anyway.