I have had both - the 7" TL & the 7" HD. I sold the TL to get the HD. HD has much better effective light output. No comparison between a reflector housing to a projector beam for actual effective lighting. Sure the TL is brighter to look at but it can't put all that light down on the road. For the TL spot lights the inner ring must stay in. My thought was to get a french style outer trim ring that wouldn't have the beveled corner edge that causes the trim ring to fit tight. The HD fit and finish are 1st rate. Looks extremely mean in black on a white Cop bike.

 

The HD version has the best "look" or appearance/styling of all the LED's out there.
I have the Kuryakyn version, headlight and passing lamps. To be honest they look like crap, but they serve the real purpose. They light up the darkness, cover a good distance, cover a wide enough area,and definately make you visible at night time...yet, not so visible in the daylight or sunshine because of their pure "whiteness" and the shade of light given off by the LED's... The plastic lenses of the passing lamps have a yellowish cast to them brand new right out of the box. The headlight lense does not have the same shade to the plastic as the passing lamps, it looks more clear, yet sort of a blackish tint from the inside of the bulbs housing. However, in time I figure the plastic will blur and yellow over time like most plastic housing/shields do from UV rays, heat, and weathering etc. It will take some elbow grease to keep the plastic clear and shiney. It is a snug fit getting the bulbs in the housing, especially the passing lamps with the support bracket... and getting the visor/frenched trim rings to fit tightly and close up the gap where the rings screw toghether...although those POS HD trim rings fit like that with the stock lamps installed...
I have never had any issues with radio interferance as others have reported.
It was kind of a trade-off... the plastic Kury version is considerably lower priced, yet carry a better warranty/guarantee. The HD version from the MoCo look better and are glass. They cost more, but give a much shittier warranty. I am not so sure they give off more light or can be seen or give off better visibility during daylight hours, or at night.
I know the Kuryakyns are bright, and after about a month of use I dont really have any big complaints other than they are ugly.... they do the job they were designed to do...for less than half the price of the HD 3 light setup.
Time will tell how well they hold up. If i get a couple good years of use out of them I'll be ok with that.

 

To clarify a couple of things...

Radio interference was not related to either the TL or JW/HD lights... that was related to the other LED array passing lamps.

The JW/HD passing lamps are not glass - they are polycarbonate (only the headlight is glass)

You should get more than a couple of years... if nothing else, they are warrantied for longer than that. They are rated at 10,000 hours - if you average 40 MPH - that's 400,000 miles - even if off by 50% - still 200,000 miles...

The TL polycarbonate is hardened - which is supposed to make it resistant to yellowing - but, I agree - only time will tell.

The 'yellow' look to the TL passing lamps is not the lens - it is the LED chips inside.

As we indicated in the write-up - much of the decision will be personal preference. While I agree the TL could match better - I think they look better than the JW/HD with their odd projector lenses with the D-lens on either side or the series of 3 D-lens of the passing lamps.

Performance is great with either - so much better than incandescent...

 

I read these blogs and went to the Custom Dynamics Web site, and purchased a Truck-lite 7"
Light for my Ultra Classic, installed it, it worked out just fine, so I was going to Sturgis last week, was driving up the Interstate, when all the sudden, my headlight assembly fell right off the bike driving down the highway, skidded in the medium, facedown.
I thought Crap, so I stopped ran across the highway to get the light, through it in my saddlebag, and headed North, Stopped in a Harley Dealer, in Madison Wi. (Capitol HD)
took the Light out plugged it in, wow it worked, but it was so scratched the lense was frosted looking.
Purchased new screws and found that they were stripped out, ALL 5 of them.
Remember the NEW LED's have the ballast within the headlight which makes them heavier than the stock lights.
So I asked the service guy if he had larger screws, and he was a great help, even loaned me a wrench too!
I put the larger screws in with locktite of course, put the assembly in then the headlight.
Purchased a product called NOVIS, started rubbing the lense, they stuff really works, took the frost look out of the lense, but didn't take all the deep scratches out,
Here is the WARNING, make sure your assembly can handle the heavy LED lights, and don't end up like me.
I called Custom Dynamics and asked them about the heavy lights and warranty, they said they only honor lights that do not work!
Now I have a scratched lense, but it does work!

 

Excellent review. Thank you for all the time & effort you guys put into this. This will definitely help me make a decision on what to do in the future on LED lighting.

 

[quote=bogiediver;8543588]
The 'yellow' look to the TL passing lamps is not the lens - it is the LED chips inside.

quote]


I may have seen this setup yesterday morning. There was a bagger that entered teh freeway at dawn behind me. His lights were definitely VERY noticable. One bright one in center flanked by yellow/amber passing lights. Definitely highly visable. I kept watching/admiring the setup in my rear-view mirror. I can only assume he has what you describe here.

 

Another reply:

Along with the Truck-lite 7"
I purchased the 4" Harley driving lights.
I also purchased the Custom Dynamics 2 " LED billitt now that's a light show
Folks can see me coming for miles.
Some say sound is what is needed for cagers to see us, but I think it's both! sound and lighting

 

Here is my two cents on this topic. I went with the HD LEDs for everything except the front turn signals. My buddies told me when they ride in front of me during the day it is like riding in front of the sun. I guess the HD LEDs provide enough visibility based on those comments.

I had an occasion to use them in NH during Bikeweek this year during a rainy night. I rode from Meredith to Bradford. As you may know they don't believe in street lights. My experience was incredible. I could see the entire road both in front and to the side. At times it was like riding in daylight. The only complaint I received was from one of the guys in front of me. He said the lights were so bright he had to hold his hand in front of his mirror to deflect the glare.

My other friend who rode in back of me said the visibility of the rear lights and brake lights was incredible. Incidentally, when you convert to the rear signal LEDs they become running lights and brake lights in addition to being turn signals.

I'm very pleased with my purchase and thought I'd pass along my real world experience.

 

Good review...Bought the TL before I saw this..all the same I am happy with the TL light. There is a "blank spot" if you will. Would be nice if this was addressed. I think it is more noticeable with a fairing as the major light wash is right at the front wheel so on a bike w/out a fairing, this light will really be the bomb. very noticeable in the daylight and on dark roads....nothing beats it....yet

 

Just installed the TL/Kury headight (Phase 6) plus the TL passing lamps. Easy install and I'm very pleased with the look and fit. I have the HD Visored trip rings which fit very nicely on both the headlight and passing lights.

One question...my garage door opener is no longer functioning on my 2010 SEUC. The garage door opener on the SEUC is activated by flashing once from low to high and back to low. Did I lose the garage door opener functionality by going to an LED Headlight or do I just need to reprogram the garage door opener? I figured I'd ask first because its abit of an ordeal to get up to my garage door opener for reprogramming. Thanks for any insight.