As has been discussed in another thread, Fuel Moto is selling LED bulbs for the Harley-Davidson Dual Halogen ( DH) headlight 67700064 with H9 and H11 capsule bulbs on some Rushmore and CVO models, and available as a replacement kit for other, older models.
Some forum members have tried the Fuel Moto LED replacements.

The LEDS have GOBs of light

BUT ( and a big but) the light is not well focused and is a big blob out in front.

Gone is the horizontal spread to the shoulder and the sharp horizontal cut off which allows you to get light down the road without blinding on-coming traffic.

The DH has very good optics in the reflectors and lensing to direct the light- for that to work the light source(s) need to be in the correct place.

My first impression is that gobs of misdirected light from the LEDS is not an improvement over controlled light from the DOT halogen bulbs-

I emailed FM to ask if they have any tips for better results- unfortunately all they can suggest is using the adjusters - which move the blob up and down, right/left it can't sharpen focus.
If I move the blob out of the eyes of other drivers...then the light is too close to me.

I'd draw a parallel to having a camera with twice as many pixels- but all your photos are out-of-focus.

I saw some posts on automotive forums about using spacers to move the led lightsource back...and maybe onto focus...or cutting away the seal to move it forwards...hoping to get the light source into a focused position relative to the reflector and lens.
I didn't want to start hacking on the LEDS or the headlight to try that idea out. The LEDS are keyed to the DH and will only fit in one way.


I am now back to halogen capsules and will use them- a 65W conventional Halogen w tab cut off for the low beam, and a 65W PIAA halogen for the high beam

The FM leds are bright as heck... MUCH brighter than the halogens and at a higher color temperature - but the light doesn't go where I need it.
Other riders may be completely happy with these.

The suggestion I would offer to the seller is that they do not list DOT compliance either way or an "off road " warning- I would have paid attention had the product been listed as such.

Pics:


Pics shot 25' from garage door bike on center stand...my driveway is on a slight angle so light beam is a little higher than "real"- these pics are best for looking at the optics.
Total light from leds is much, much greater- the camera does not accurately show the difference in the amount of light produced. Camera is held just above the left hand grip.

HD DH w/ H9 65w bulb ( in place of 55w H11)



horizontal spread and a sharp cutoff from oncoming drivers, allows light to be aimed down the road.

HD DH w H9 PIAA 70955 65w:



light has a slight bias to light the rt side shoulder


after install, bike in exact same position

FM led low:



this is where I ended up trying to get the light out of oncoming driver's eyes down and to the right...up high is a yellowy "ghost of light blob" which continued to be a problem even on my local 25 MPH streets, I was flashed by a couple of drivers on my test ride.

Light is concentrated center, so on curves, there is no light through the curve- I have an S curve up the end of my street

FM LED hi - same headlight aim as above:



Light is more of a vertical oval, when a horizontal oval would work better, again this shows a yellowy "ghost" off to the sides



Your results may vary, these are my impressions.



mike

 

When you reached out to us earlier this week by email with your concerns we offered a refund which still stands. We understand lighting preference is open to interpretation and I apologize they did not meet your objectives.

 

I am very very close to pulling the trigger on the FM led's, but now I am second guessing. Does anyone who has the Fuel Moto bulbs in their DH light have any opinions?

 

Thanks I appreciate the response I got from FuelMoto.
and in the email referenced above I used a phrase like "this is more a discussion than a complaint".


Real world experiences shared with other riders may help prevent missteps like my own.
Saves everyone time and expense.
The vendor processing, packing, shipping...and the rider installing, fiddling around and evaluating results...and then packing,shipping etc.
All this has a cost.

For the riders who look for those results this can confirm their choice.

Sorry about the typo in the title- users can;t easily correct thread titles.

Mike

 

Have to agree with Guitar. Lots of light but not focused reaching down the road. I have a few s curves and really noticed the lack of light into the curves last night. Not sure what to do now. May put the halogens back on. What piaa bulbs are you using?

 

MK Great write up man!!

FuelMoto once again what a great bunch with great customer service !

 

I have a set of the FM LEDs wrapped under the tree for my 2014 SGS.. After seeing this report I'm not sure it's better than the stock. Decided to go the FM route rather than Evolution 2. Now I'm not sure what to do..

 

I don't believe any LED replacement bulb can work well in a filament reflector. I have one of each type of bulb in front of me as I write. The filament bulb is very short, compared with the LED one. The LED bulb has three rows of LEDs, a total of three times as long as the filament. One row of the LEDs correspond in location to the filament, relative to the reflector, but the other two rows are further forwards, away from the sweet spot of the reflector. Hence IMHO the blobs that Mike shows.

Having discovered that short-coming of them (after a similar experience to Mike), I searched my soul and eventually bought proper LED light units, in my case Trucklite, three of 'em for my Glide.

 

The bulbs I refer to above are H1, the type that fit the oval dresser fog lamps, also my Buell Firebolt headlights. In fact the LED 'replacements' are so long they won't fit in the fog lights.

 

If your headlight is designed to use a halogen bulb,anything else won't work correctlly. It's that simple.......
Click the link below.then,go to tech,then to bulbs,then to HID. That will explain it.
www.danielsternlighting.com