How to modify H4 led to reduce glare ST1300

[spiderman302]

Update see #84 !!! New G6 shielded bulb on Amazon.
you no longer need to modify anything

URL: https://www.amazon.com/Headlight-Ev...sr=8-3&keywords=EVITEK h4&tag=viglink20849-20

I replaced my ST1300 left headlight bulb twice so I looked into using Led H4 bulbs. I have tested a bunch of H4 led replacements for the ST. This is the one that in my opinion works best --- if you modify the G3...

Search EBay for

LED Bulb H4 HB2 9003 2015 CREE 40W

Look for the one that looks like the one pictured here with 2 (offset) Leds mounted on each side. The Leds point to the sides not up. The full photo has foil tape that I used as a prototype.

From my evaluations: Those H4 Leds with large emitters do not focus well. They put light everywhere and are fine if used off-road. Those with small emitters focus better and can be tailored to reduce glare.

Those H4 Leds that point UP/DOWN work only in round lens. Do not use in rectangular lenses or in the ST. The ST fairing blocks part of the top of the lens which makes this type not the most efficient choice for the ST1300.

Those H4 Leds that point to the sides will work in both round and rectangular lenses. They are the better choice for the ST. However the low beam emitter must be shielded to prevent the light from getting into the bottom of the lens.

If you look closely at the Halogen H4 bulb you will notice a metal plate under the low beam filament. If you look at my LED light pattern (Left) photo without a lower shield you will see upper wings of light that create glare for oncoming traffic. Putting a shield under the low beam LED blocks the light from getting into the bottom of the reflector (H4) and creates a sharper cut off (Right) photo.



But I also noticed that there was a lot of close in light that created glare for the ST rider. This was coming from the chrome part of the fairing juST above and in front of the lens but behind the clear plaSTic lens cover. This is why I also put a shield over the top of the light. The shield also redirects the "wasted" light back into the reflector and back where you want it.

The shield was made from thin aluminum flashing found in the Home Depot roofing department. But you could simply cut up an empty beer/ soda can with a pair of scissors. The screw is a T6 Torx. To be safe I coated the circuit board with just one coat of clear finger nail polish. Do not get any finger nail polish on the led lens. Let it dry then mount the shield. The mounting hole is offset and different for each side. The bottom shield is at 90 degrees and the top shield is at 45 degrees.

I had to trim out the middle of the rubber boot in order to mount the light. First install just the ring without the bulb. Then install the trimmed rubber boot. Then install the light through the rubber boot into the ring. Turn to lock in place. The fan will be outside of the rubber boot. I tucked the connector and the power module into fairing sides. It is easier to get to the bulb on the ST by reaching under the front of the fairing.

Now these lights claim to be 40 watts because they use four 10 watt Leds. If you measure the power you will only measure 20 watts but 5 watts is used by the fan so you are only getting 15 watts of light low beam and 30 watts on high beam. The low beam uses the front two LEDs and the high beam uses all four LEDs. At this power level the fan is necessary for long life. Avoid the ones without a fan. They will last you more than a million miles or five ST1300’s

These Leds put out a lot more light than halogen lights. However the hot spot of the halogen and the center spot of the led measure about the same lux at 10 feet. But the Led has a much wider bright beam. So all that extra lumens lights up the sides of the road better. I have 10 watt Led fog lights mounted on the forks. They made a big difference when I had halogen headlights. Now that I have converted my headlights to Leds, I barely notice the improvement when I turn on the Led fog lights. In several thousand miles of night driving with these shielded LEDs no one has flashed back at me.

Oh. I also replaced my marker lights with this led from superbrightleds.com -WLED-xHP15-TAC. But before I installed them, I coated it with several coats of clear fingernail polish to help glue the small circuit boards together and protect it from being shaken apart. They match the color of the new Led headlights.

I hope this helps. enjoy.

Read post #12 and #14 for my Final updates....

or you can skip to the thread on the G6 bulb by EVITEK

https://www.st-owners.com/forums/sh...-now-availible-no-glare-no-scatter&highlight=

 

[ST Gui]

Great post! Was there a lot of trial and error or did you get lucky with the size/shape/angle etc. The beam comparison is great. This should compare well with a bike that has factory LED headlights and is a huge improvement over unshielded LEDs.

Your position LEDs https://www.superbrightleds.com/mor...194-led-bulb-15-smd-led-wedge-base-tower/910/ are they the cool white or warm white option? Do the headlight LEDs have a much higher color temperature than the factory halogens?

Thanks for the great write-up and pics.

 

[Honda-st-team]

Thanks for the GREAT !!!! info

 

[spiderman302]

Cool White. Yes they are whiter than the halogens. Yes I did and am still doing experiments with my lighting set up. The bottom shield should be wider but I am limited by the diameter of the mounting hole. What I presented is the easiest Do It Yourself (DIY) modification that makes enough improvement that will keep on coming traffic from being annoyed with these lights. I really like the fact that I can adjuST my headlights while I am riding. So I keep them optimized so I can see the furthest down the road but not bothering opposing traffic. More light is not better unless it is put in the right place.

 

[Pete in PA]

Good job! Also try backing them out of the housing maybe 1 to 4 32nds for better focus. This is all going on at ADV Rider.

I tried the ones that point up and down. Very bad for the ST1300. Good I got my $$ back on them.

Don't think I'll try again till they get this right without having to resort to what you did.

 

[ST Gui]

More light is not better unless it is put in the right place.

Right on the money.

 

[mlheck]

I am following this post as I just bought a pair of LED lights for my ST. I like the bright white, but not the beam pattern. I may send you a PM to gather some more information.

Pete can you post a link to the ADV Rider discussion? I have some old ST1100 H-4 conversion plates that might work here.

 

[spiderman302]

I know about the thread over on ADV rider. I posted this information over there as well. With this LED bulb the focus is fine on the ST1300. Moving the light in or out with a spacer will move the high beam up or down (respectively) relative to the low beam. I am very happy with the results from this combination so I posted it so you can benefit with out all the trials... I am done with my Headlight mods. I am now changing out my fog lights...

 

[hoowasat]

Good info.

 

[ST Gui]

Oh. I also replaced my marker lights with this led from superbrightleds.com -WLED-xHP15-TAC. But before I installed them, I coated it with several coats of clear fingernail polish to help glue the small circuit boards together and protect it from being shaken apart. They match the color of the new Led headlights.

I just ordered those in cool white and a similar bulb in amber. According to somewhere in the description these are 100L and 75L respectively. These seem much brighter than earlier bulbs in the 3-5W range. Some Switch Backs are also on their way.

 

[Pete in PA]

I am following this post as I just bought a pair of LED lights for my ST. I like the bright white, but not the beam pattern. I may send you a PM to gather some more information.

Pete can you post a link to the ADV Rider discussion? I have some old ST1100 H-4 conversion plates that might work here.

http://www.advrider.com/forums/showthread.php?t=948701&page=168

There are pics of a KLR headlight pattern. Big black zone right where you need it. I'm not impressed. I'll stick to bulbs for now.

 

[spiderman302]

The two wide spread spots is a focus issue. I put one in my DRZ400 and the spots were touching so there was no black hole.

My shield modification deals with the lack of cut off. If you want a hard cut off then paint the shield flat black. but if you want to reuse the blocked light then keep the mirror finish of the aluminum. You will then have some light scatter. It is important to keep the reflective shield as close to the low beam led as possible to keep a tight beam. I am adding a drawing of the basic dimensions. I have made a few using aluminum from a soda can. The mounting holes I drill with a 0.087 inch drill. I am hoping that many of you will try this and report your results back here. Most of the light leak is off the back of the bottom of the shield where it runs into the high beam led. But, as is, it provides a significant improvement that makes these Leds very useable with minimal glare to opposing traffic on road. Fold on dotted line and cut the solid lines. You will have to trim to fit.

Please try it and let us know what you think!

 

[mlheck]

Thanks for the diagram. I was going to try and make a scale drawing from the pics. I plan to add these to the LED's I bought sometime this week.

 

[spiderman302]

It appears that the top part of the shield seems to cause the more scatter. I tried a few more iterations to get a cleaner beam. Now I have just the top and bottom parts of the shield painted black and the front part that is vertical is clear aluminum (reflective). This gives me the best beam pattern... Oh I also added a little extra lip to the back edge on the bottom as the photo will show. If you compare the beam pattern to my original post you can see that the little tweaks make a difference. the cut off is very clean now.




have fun with this. the hardest part was just getting the light in and out of the bike. I finally left the light in the holder and had to gingerly work it around the mounting clip. The pain has really been worth the improvements. enjoy and be safe. oPoST1:

 

[spiderman302]

This beam pattern is what you want - the wall is just 8 feet in front of the bike.... This light is the same as the Cyclops 3800 lumen LED.

 

[spiderman302]

Here is a photo of the (top) Low beam and (bottom) High beam at 25 feet in my driveway- do notice the lack of glare off of the driveway (thanks to the top shield).

The center bar is about 100 fc. light 6 inchs above cutoff is 4 fc. The high bean is an awesome 220 fc.

The problem with close in glare is that it causes the eyes to dilate and reduces ones ability to see into the darkness.
You want 98% of the light out on to the horizon. light is logarithmic...

 

[ST Gui]

light is logarithmic...

Yes the ol' inverse square law.

 

[mlheck]

This is much harder than I thought. Use to light of aluminum and it bends when bumped. Use to heavy and it is a pain to bend these small tabs. Gave up for the night and will try again this weekend.

 

[spiderman302]

Aluminum foil might not survive road vibration long term. I cut up a Dr Pepper can. it is about .0035 mills thick. cut off top and bottom. then cut the cylinder to make a sheet. Then use a paper cutter to make strips. Use a small ruler and a straight pin to gently score lines in the foil. I used tweezers to make the bends. Accuracy is not critical because you can easily trim it down later. Make more than you need then you can pick out the best ones at the end. I used Testors 1149 flat black paint or my daughters black finger nail polish. The aluminum flashing was .012 thick.

I am not a vendor and have no connections to any vendor. I am just a user looking for the right product which no one is yet making...
I hope my modifications will help others who are on the same queST..

 

[mlheck]

I tried using an old aluminum grill pan that we had. That didn't work so well. Then I tried some flashing and that didn't work well either. I have several empty beer cans, but no Dr. Pepper, so I'll try one of those.