- Joined
- Apr 22, 2011
- Messages
- 1,151
- Age
- 68
- Location
- Camarillo, Ca
- Bike
- 2006 ST1300A
- 2024 Miles
- 002552
There are LED bulbs that have more power than the F2 LED bulb.
F2 is 33 watts.
F3 is 44 watts.
NB35 is 44 watts.
They both produce 33% more power than the F2. So they are brighter but....
You cannot compare these by which has the highest peak brightness.
The F2 and the F3 have about the same peak brightness in the beam pattern.
In order to increase the power, they used a larger led chip in the F3.
This makes the beam pattern larger and spreads out the light.
You can see in the photos that the F3 chip and beam pattern is slightly wider and taller than the F2.
The F3 spreads out it's extra lumens on the sides of the road and has a slightly taller beam pattern.
Now 33% more light over the F2 is a barely perceivable improvement.
When I swapped in the F3 in place of the F2, at first, I did not think there was any improvement.
It was not until I got out the light meter and made measurements that I found there was a 20% improvement.
I then ran the F3 on the left side and the F2 on the right side of the bike, then I could just notice the slightly broader pattern of the F3.
Look at the size of the patterns in the photo. These and more patterns can be found in a video from Headlight Revolution. Thanks Chris!
I was a little concerned that the F3 ran hotter and had a smaller fan and heatsink.
But after six months, 200 hours, 7000 miles of riding it is holding up, the red plating did not fade.
We will see if it makes it through the heat of summer.
There is also the NB35 which uses two rows of three LEDs in the chip. This makes a taller beam pattern but not wider.
This type of beam is better for off road or rough roads where the rider wants to see more of road closer in.
However close in light does reduce the ability to see far down the road.
I think that the F2 still has the best long distance beam pattern.
The F3 is a good improvement by putting more light on the sides of the road and a little more on the road.
I included a picture of the B6 LED. It has a wide thin beam. It did a great job of really lighting up the sides of the road.
However, it did not have the focus or the power of the F2, so it did not really get us to 300 feet.
It was a science experiment that helped to get us here.
This is where the LED can be so much better than the halogen bulb.
The old halogen system had to super focus all of its light to barley reach 150 feet of road on low beam.
A tiny spot of light is fine if you drive on flat, straight roads.....
The halogen low beam fails to give enough light to travel safely at 70 mph.
This is why the halogen low beam pattern is so poor.
The F2 solved this problem by providing the necessary Photopic lux at 300 feet, The reaction and stopping distance required at 70 MPH.
This is the prime reason to upgrade to LED's. Glare is minimized by design equivalence!
Again, the improvement is slight. Do not let it make a hole in your wallet like It did mine. I do not make any money on this.
This information is here for those who want to upgrade to LEDs and are wondering which is the best. The answer is no.
These are all good, but slightly different. Choose the one that fits what you need for your riding environment.
It is good that we now have more choices.
If you have the F2 then save your money for gas and ride on......
__________
update:
The recent Cougar motors "flagship" bulb is an interesting cross over. It runs at the F2 power level and housing with the bigger F3 chip.
If you are looking for the most current bulb you can look over at Bulbfacts.com. Blaise does a good job of making consistent measured comparisons and you can sort through his data to find a better bulb. If you look in the upper right-hand corner of his data you will find the raw LUMEN number (this is the most important attribute), then look at the power number in watts then look at the low beam LUX. Then carefully look at the shape of the LED emitter and the construction of the bulb.
Again newer LEDs put out more lumens per watt than older ones. So the most power might not be the most Raw Lumens.
Yes. I really like the F3, it is a winner.....
F2 is 33 watts.
F3 is 44 watts.
NB35 is 44 watts.
They both produce 33% more power than the F2. So they are brighter but....
You cannot compare these by which has the highest peak brightness.
The F2 and the F3 have about the same peak brightness in the beam pattern.
In order to increase the power, they used a larger led chip in the F3.
This makes the beam pattern larger and spreads out the light.
You can see in the photos that the F3 chip and beam pattern is slightly wider and taller than the F2.
The F3 spreads out it's extra lumens on the sides of the road and has a slightly taller beam pattern.
Now 33% more light over the F2 is a barely perceivable improvement.
When I swapped in the F3 in place of the F2, at first, I did not think there was any improvement.
It was not until I got out the light meter and made measurements that I found there was a 20% improvement.
I then ran the F3 on the left side and the F2 on the right side of the bike, then I could just notice the slightly broader pattern of the F3.
Look at the size of the patterns in the photo. These and more patterns can be found in a video from Headlight Revolution. Thanks Chris!
I was a little concerned that the F3 ran hotter and had a smaller fan and heatsink.
But after six months, 200 hours, 7000 miles of riding it is holding up, the red plating did not fade.
We will see if it makes it through the heat of summer.
There is also the NB35 which uses two rows of three LEDs in the chip. This makes a taller beam pattern but not wider.
This type of beam is better for off road or rough roads where the rider wants to see more of road closer in.
However close in light does reduce the ability to see far down the road.
I think that the F2 still has the best long distance beam pattern.
The F3 is a good improvement by putting more light on the sides of the road and a little more on the road.
I included a picture of the B6 LED. It has a wide thin beam. It did a great job of really lighting up the sides of the road.
However, it did not have the focus or the power of the F2, so it did not really get us to 300 feet.
It was a science experiment that helped to get us here.
This is where the LED can be so much better than the halogen bulb.
The old halogen system had to super focus all of its light to barley reach 150 feet of road on low beam.
A tiny spot of light is fine if you drive on flat, straight roads.....
The halogen low beam fails to give enough light to travel safely at 70 mph.
This is why the halogen low beam pattern is so poor.
The F2 solved this problem by providing the necessary Photopic lux at 300 feet, The reaction and stopping distance required at 70 MPH.
This is the prime reason to upgrade to LED's. Glare is minimized by design equivalence!
Again, the improvement is slight. Do not let it make a hole in your wallet like It did mine. I do not make any money on this.
This information is here for those who want to upgrade to LEDs and are wondering which is the best. The answer is no.
These are all good, but slightly different. Choose the one that fits what you need for your riding environment.
It is good that we now have more choices.
If you have the F2 then save your money for gas and ride on......
__________
update:
The recent Cougar motors "flagship" bulb is an interesting cross over. It runs at the F2 power level and housing with the bigger F3 chip.
If you are looking for the most current bulb you can look over at Bulbfacts.com. Blaise does a good job of making consistent measured comparisons and you can sort through his data to find a better bulb. If you look in the upper right-hand corner of his data you will find the raw LUMEN number (this is the most important attribute), then look at the power number in watts then look at the low beam LUX. Then carefully look at the shape of the LED emitter and the construction of the bulb.
Again newer LEDs put out more lumens per watt than older ones. So the most power might not be the most Raw Lumens.
Yes. I really like the F3, it is a winner.....
Last edited:
