Modern Buddy

While ordering the LED dead lights, I came across this product.

https://www.superbrightleds.com/moreinf ... 3929/8565/

I would love to go this route but have three questions.

1. Has anyone tried these yet?

2. Is there room for the heat sink?

3. I think I have read that the power to the headlight is AC current. Was I drunk while reading this forum or is that true? If it is AC current then I will assume this won't work.

I would ask another: Is the light pattern similar to stock, or does the light just get thrown all over?

There's some headlight info here: topic29979.html

And this is an earlier posting of mine where I installed a 2-element LED headlight: viewtopic.php?t=28981&highlight=

I eventually replaced that one with an 5-element LED unit because it provides a much better light pattern:

http://www.banggood.com/Motorcycle-LED- ... 35011.html

This one has five elements, or put another way, five LED segments that cover almost 360 degrees in circumference around the unit. Highly recommended.

Most, if not all LED conversions will accept both DC or AC power. They internally convert AC to DC if supplied with AC power.

The attached photo somewhat shows the low-beam light pattern being thrown out. I know it doesn't really show the range, but the important thing to note is how even the light pattern is. The light is pointing a little high in the picture because the back end of my scooter is up against a curb that is lower than the middle of the street causing the headlight to point up a bit.

Since I ride a Blur, I don't know if it will fit a Buddy. Installing it in the Blur was a pain only because access to the back of the headlight bucket in a Blur is tight.

The reason some people don't like LED headlights is because they've only seen (or heard about) the conversions using only 2 elements. A typical headlight reflector/bucket is designed around incandescent/halogen bulbs which distributes light 360 degrees around itself, so when you install an LED with only 2 elements, the light pattern thrown out of the reflector is all wrong. With a multi-element LED unit, like the one I'm using, the light pattern is pretty much like an incandescent.

There are four reasons I went with LED:
1) Amount of light produced vs power used. Mine makes at least, if not more Lumens than a premium halogen bulb while using less than half the power (wattage).
2) Very little heat generated compared to a halogen producing comparable light output.
3) Cost. At $20, my LED conversion is half the cost of a premium halogen bulb.
4) Longevity. An LED will last at least five times longer than an incandescent bulb. Plus, there's no fragile filament to get shaken around.

So in my opinion, get an multi-element LED headlight conversion, you won't be disappointed. But, don't get it from superbrightleds because they're too expensive. Go to either eBay or Banggood for much better prices.

Great, now I want to try this thing on a buddy.

Probably not. If you go to my other thread, I have comparison views of regular bulb vs. this LED bulb. Results are not that great. I have not yet driven it at night to see if I'm putting the regular bulb back in yet.

My other thread.

topic30270.html?sid=b851d15ff8b085dbce71462859ecbb5a

Though the light pattern for some of these LED and HID conversions is not ideal, they're good enough...well...for me, anyway. The biggest benefit in my eyes is being seen by other drivers. It's hard to miss the brightness of a 6000K, 3000+ lumen headlight, even in the daytime. Plus, they draw much less current, produce much less heat, last much longer, and cost much less than any halogen producing equivalent light output.

So yesterday I put the wife's buddy back together. The cover would not fit with the LED bulb so out with LED and in with the old. I will eventually go with the PIAA bulb when the current ones burn out.