fatboy 7" headlight upgrade?
 

a friend of mine said i should "upgrade my headlight" to the newer style....anyone know what that means exactly? sorry for sounding "old" here, but i didnt know they were better headlights out there, just thought a 7" harley headlight was a 7" harley headlight:icon_shrug:

On h4 bulb as opposed to a sealed beam.

There is the dual beam and the led headlamps. Had both but gave up on the dual beam within a week and stuck with the led

Might have been the LED..........kind of expensive. When the LED's go there's no bulbs to replace you have to buy the whole thing again.


http://www.harley-davidson.com/gma/g...bmLocale=en_US


:icon_omg:

I love the look and light the led puts off tho. It makes a huge difference being able to see and be seen I think.

Not only no, but H3LL no!

I have the LED and like it but in my opinion it only works if you take the looks of the bike in a modern direction. I think it wouldnt look as good on a vintage or old school looking ride. Just my opinion... they function very well.

I've been thinking about swapping my headlamp out for the LED but can't get past the $525. Anyone know how long they are rated to operate? If I buy one, I want to make sure it is good for many years

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll...=p5197.c0.m619

would this be an upgrade over what i have now?

that led light looks cool, but aint no way i'd pay $500 for a light

I follow your thinking on the price of the LED, however i can share with anyone interested in listening that this is hands down the best 500 bucks i have spent on my bike. I can be seen, no exceptions. At night i can see forever, and during the day street signs light up like a lamp when my light hits them. My wife was even concerned when i told her what i wanted to spend on a headlamp and within hours she was thanking me constantly for doing so, she can't believe the difference.

A buddy i ride with thought i was nuts, lots of money out of my 103 fund, however we made a 60 mile ride one saturday morning as I followed him down the 2 lanes, and he was blown away by how my headlamp illuminated road signs from behind the group. He has one now and feels the cost is totally justified.

I know it's lots of guido, but it helps me be seen day and night, i can see way better at night, and that makes me feel way safer riding. I for one am totally glad i spent the cash on this headlamp.

Pluss one on that

Is it blinding to oncoming drivers?

thanks man, i appreciate your insight and first hand knowledge

what year bike did you put this on? i wander if its a "plug and play" kind of thing on my bike?:icon_denk:

Both the Kuryakin (cheaper but rated best by one reviewer - HD was rated best by the other) and Harley LEDs will fir your bike according to the info I looked at.

I will third the others. Night and Day difference. I had trouble seeing at night before and the LED headlight is phenomenal.

Easy installation, remove trim ring, remove headlight, plug in new headlight, screw down, re-install trim ring. 10 minutes if you take your time and read the instructions twice.

Here are some images I've copied from the Kuryakin and Harley Sites. They show a comparison of stock head lights verse their LED types.

https://plus.google.com/photos/10280...25044107145153

It may cost more, but after looking at these, I'm going with the HD version.

just a question... is the led less visible during daytime driving though?

Its bright all the time

Installation is super easy, mounts like the stock one, and simply plug it in.

As for the blinding during the day, i've had no complaints from people I have followed or shined onto, so i would say it is a very subtle bright, easy on the eyes. This is a very white light so the clarity is unmatched.

I looked and studied the Kury light, and the HD light, i even went as far as to discover the manufacturers of each light and compare on the most basic level. The Kury light is about 2/3 the cost of the HD lamp, however in my opinion it is about 2/3 the light also. When i compared i noticed the HD light shown further down the road, and much wider to the side of the road. I noticed a clearer white image to discern what i see down the road better. And perhaps the most noticeable difference was what I called the "hotspot" issue. Basically with the HD LED it lights up from about 4 feet in front of the bike to as far as you can see totally and evenly, it all looks the same. With the Kury light i noticed "hotspots" at about 20 feet in front of the bike where the LED concentrated and then faded lighting all around it. It was better than stock, however the extra $150-$200 bucks for the HD cured all my ills.

The bike i installed on is a 2010 Fatboy Lo, so naturally i went with the Black LED lamp and this thing hits the spot on that ride.

You can get the 7-inch LED from Hales HD online for $395.

thanks for the info.

I've read good things about Truck-lite LEDs. I think I'm going that route. About the same price as Kury.

I contacted Daniel Stern about upgrading the headlight on my 1998 Fatboy, and he sent me the following:

"The main problem you're up against is the optics in the stock headlamp.They're focused to give a pretty wide spread of light, but there's not enough seeing distance ahead. Put in a Cibie lens-reflector unit ($74.95) and an Osram 70/65w bulb ($22, maybe get a spare), aim the lamp carefully and correctly per http://www.danielsternlighting.com/tech/aim/aim.html , and you'll find you're much better able to see at night."

I followed his advice, ordered through him, and could not be happier with my lighting now. The difference is amazing.

I was looking at those lights but have my concerns. I would think that they are made to go onto a larger vehicle so would take advantage of the additional available power. I am concerned that my bike would not provide enough power to properly power those lights.

They look about the same as what is on the Kuryakyn site and for about the same price. If you look under installs, there is a video comparing the stock to their headlights.

If you purchase and install them, please report back here on how they worked for you.

LEDs take far less power than incadescents

+1 on far less power. On average you can run 17 LED's to a similar incandescent bulbs and draw the same power.

Very similar to Christmas lights, you can string 40 of them together without taxing a 15 amp circuit but with incan... bulbs you can only use 3.

The HD LED's are expensive but they are on my wish list for future mods.

It doesn't have to be MoCo, and certainly not that expensive!

Check these out:

http://www.customdynamics.com/motorc...iving%20Lights

Mimo.

Just do an HID conversion. Ive done them one 3 of my previous bikes and i will do them on my 2012. Alot cheaper and super bright!

http://www.hidsrus.com/harley-davids...dlights-bulbs/

The LED that Kury has is the Truck-lite. Same with Custom Dynamics. They are just re-selling them.

Maybe its just me but I really don't like the look of the Truck Lite LED. I know its cheaper but I got my HD LED 20% off so it was basically $400.I just think the HD looks much better and as much money as we all spend already I don't want something on my bike that I am not crazy about the looks. Besides, since I have a denim black Lo, I was able to get the black headlight.