question on led headlights

[the Ferret]

It used to be that a high beam only lasted 1/2 as many hours as a low beam

Is that still true with led lights? I notice when my wife rides with her high beams on (during the day) she is much more visible, so I encourage her to ride with high beams on all the time. I've thought about doing it myself since it makes the bike so much more visible. However, looking at the price of a new led headlight for the NC at $991.60 which doesn't appear to have a replaceable bulb, I'm not so sure that is wise if the high beams have a short run life.

What say ye?

and no, I have zero desire to wire in those little spotlights down on the forks on either of the bikes. It will either be factory high beams or low beams.

 

[Rabbit]

Led lights are done in by excessive heat. I imagine Big Red’s engineers worked that out. Looking at most LED lighting life cycles they’re something like 5000+ hours. And devils advocate which is more expensive a new light or a trip to the emergency room?

 

[lootzyan]

..It used to be that a high beam only lasted 1/2 as many hours as a low beam
Is that still true with led lights? ...

This is the first time in my long life that I hear something like this. Whoever said that the first time must have lied because I don't believe he timed how long he used each light. In addition, the difference in power between high beam and low beam is 5W (60/55W), so where does the theory that the lamp lifespan is halved come from?

When it comes to the lifespan of LED lamps, you can get different numbers: 50,000 hours or even 100,000 hours. The truth is that it is advertising. And in most cases there is no legal regulation to confirm the veracity of these results.
In today's vehicles, LED lamp assemblies, like many other assemblies, are made up of many components produced by different suppliers. The process is so complex that quality assessment is based on opinion rather than direct examination.
In short: the LED lamp will be good until it breaks down.

 

[670cc]

The quality of the design and build will determine the longevity of an LED headlight. Properly done, it will far outlast the motorcycle. If an LED headlight were built to last 50,000 hours, you’d get well over 1 million miles out of it at typical use. Since the overall design can be better controled, I would expect an integrated LED headlight assembly, as on the Honda, to potentially last longer than an individual replacement LED “bulb”.

As to incandescent high beams being short lived, for me it was the opposite. The low beam was used the most, so it failed first. Then I temporarily ran on the high beam until I got the bulb changed. I could see if a headlight was wired to turn both filaments on at high beam, there would be more heat generated, but if it’s one filament or the other, the power difference is negligible.

 

[jeremyr62]

Riding with full beam on all the time during the day is socially irresponsible and unnecessary in my opinion. Car drivers dislike bikes at the best of times and you are just giving them more ammunition. Yes you might be more conspicuous but there are other ways of doing this without annoying other road users,

 

[INTHEWIND]

It used to be that a high beam only lasted 1/2 as many hours as a low beam

Is that still true with led lights? I notice when my wife rides with her high beams on (during the day) she is much more visible, so I encourage her to ride with high beams on all the time. I've thought about doing it myself since it makes the bike so much more visible. However, looking at the price of a new led headlight for the NC at $991.60 which doesn't appear to have a replaceable bulb, I'm not so sure that is wise if the high beams have a short run life.

What say ye?

and no, I have zero desire to wire in those little spotlights down on the forks on either of the bikes. It will either be factory high beams or low beams.

I always run with high beams, be seen be safe.
Dont care about high beam life. Thats what the warranty is for.

 

[INTHEWIND]

Riding with full beam on all the time during the day is socially irresponsible and unnecessary in my opinion. Car drivers dislike bikes at the best of times and you are just giving them more ammunition. Yes you might be more conspicuous but there are other ways of doing this without annoying other road users,

I dont worry about that, at the very least, cage drivers will seeing me.

 

[INTHEWIND]

Riding with full beam on all the time during the day is socially irresponsible and unnecessary in my opinion. Car drivers dislike bikes at the best of times and you are just giving them more ammunition. Yes you might be more conspicuous but there are other ways of doing this without annoying other road users,

Some examples please?

 

[Rabbit]

Da

Some examples please?

Daytime running lights, high viz clothing and white helmet does it for me. Straight pipes may also work depending

 

[FIRE UP]

Yes,
Riding with high beams on during the day is irritating to oncoming drivers. You're not seeing what they're seeing so it doesn't bother you. But to do this all in the blanket name of "safety" is not needed. I doubt there's been any studies on this but I also doubt seriously that there's ANY documented cases where riders with high beams on are any safer than low beam or daytime running light riders. None of here are going to change your mind.

"Some examples please?"
Well, how about some hi-vis clothing, jackets, pants etc. White or some type of hi-viz helmets instead of black junk. Cagers are cagers, you can have all the lights on the planet on your bike but, if they're texting, putting on makeup, slurping coffee, lighting a joint, or combo of all of that, you're not gonna be any safer.
Scott

 

[INTHEWIND]

Yes,
Riding with high beams on during the day is irritating to oncoming drivers.

Gives me a warm and fuzzy feeling.

 

[the Ferret]

interesting responses, had no idea this subject would be so polarizing

Here is my wife on her scooter following me with high beams on (also white helmet, and high viz jacket and gloves)

It's is certainly not blinding to me in my mirror, I mean it's not like a full size pickup with it's headlights on, but with low beams on you can hardly tell the headlights are on when she is following me. I'll have to get a pic and compare.

 

[670cc]

interesting responses, had no idea this subject would be so polarizing

Here is my wife on her scooter following me with high beams on (also white helmet, and high viz jacket and gloves)

It's is certainly not blinding to me in my mirror, I mean it's not like a full size pickup with it's headlights on, but with low beams on you can hardly tell the headlights are on when she is following me. I'll have to get a pic and compare.

You may want to do a night ride to check the adjustment of the headlight aim. I could barely see my wife’s Ryker headlights in my mirror. A later night time check found the headlight aim was adjusted way too low.

 

[Rabbit]

I’ve accidentally left my car high beams on and no one was shy about letting me know. Never had that experience on the bike. I’m not sure it’s nearly so aggravating as suggested. The picture above looks no brighter than many standard car lights.

 

[GLC]

Da

Daytime running lights, high viz clothing and white helmet does it for me. Straight pipes may also work depending

I'm a great believer in Hi Vis jackets and helmets. I never wear anything else and I'm an "all the gear all the time" guy (yes, I'm a European origin guy). I never found white helmets to add much to the visibility factor and so mine is a full on Hi Vis yellow Schuberth C4 pro. That extra 'beacon' stuck on my shoulders may well be the extra few inches of height that saves my bacon one day.

 

[the Ferret]

I'm a great believer in Hi Vis jackets and helmets. I never wear anything else and I'm an "all the gear all the time" guy (yes, I'm a European origin guy). I never found white helmets to add much to the visibility factor and so mine is a full on Hi Vis yellow Schuberth C4 pro. That extra 'beacon' stuck on my shoulders may well be the extra few inches of height that saves my bacon one day.

Well, looking at the pic of my wife following me above, I think the white helmet is actually more visible than the high viz jacket she's wearing, or at least equally so.

 

[GLC]

With the white helmet, I think it very much depends on the background and the direction of the light/sun. Against the blue sky, I grant you it is noticeable, but I've also noticed that against a grey, cloudy sky (we Brits know all about those) white doesn't stand out much at all. I've never come across any bright yellow clouds and hoping I never will. It is surprising how few people seem to make full on Hi Vis helmets, which is how I ended up with the Schuberth during early 2022 when I had no other option due to the supply chain shortages at that time. Now you can find the HJC modular in a black and yellow combo at less than half the price of the Schuberth, but it was not available anywhere when I needed one. I'm sure the most popular color for helmets is black, but I can't for the life of me think why and I would never buy one. I guess I'll have to ask the Brit youtuber Freddie Dobbs, why he rides his black Triumph T120 with black clothing and black helmet. I thought youtubers wanted to get noticed.

 

[dduelin]

With bright LED lighting on my motorcycles I'm the one that knows when they are annoying to other motorists. How? When they flash their high beams at me. This doesn't happen in the day time so I'll stick with my strategy of LED auxiliary lighting to improve visibility to other motorists. If they are distracted and not looking nothing will help but for those that are looking it improves my visibility to them.

There is a study out of New Zealand that found white helmets compared to dark helmets reduced collision risk by 24%. Information was gathered from 1993 to 1996 so hi-viz helmets may have been a rarity at the time as they weren’t specifically mentioned. Anecdotally I believe a hi viz helmet is probably even better than white but the current fluorescent yellow color fades rapidly to a sickly pea green. A bright white helmet is still bright white in 5-7 years. It also retains visibility in low light or night time conditions. The relative height of an approaching motorcyclist’s helmet to a seated automobile driver wouldn’t normally contrast the helmet against a background of sky or clouds.

 

[INTHEWIND]

With bright LED lighting on my motorcycles I'm the one that knows when they are annoying to other motorists. How? When they flash their high beams at me. This doesn't happen in the day time so I'll stick with my strategy of LED auxiliary lighting to improve visibility to other motorists. If they are distracted and not looking nothing will help but for those that are looking it improves my visibility to them.

There is a study out of New Zealand that found white helmets compared to dark helmets reduced collision risk by 24%. Information was gathered from 1993 to 1996 so hi-viz helmets may have been a rarity at the time as they weren’t specifically mentioned. Anecdotally I believe a hi viz helmet is probably even better than white but the current fluorescent yellow color fades rapidly to a sickly pea green. A bright white helmet is still bright white in 5-7 years. It also retains visibility in low light or night time conditions. The relative height of an approaching motorcyclist’s helmet to a seated automobile driver wouldn’t normally contrast the helmet against a background of sky or clouds.

White gets my vote, riders with black helmet, apparel and a black bike are just asking for a collision with a cage. JMHO

 

[670cc]

White gets my vote, riders with black helmet, apparel and a black bike are just asking for a collision with a cage. JMHO

From my own observations, black seems to be the most popular ”color” in riding apparel. This baffles me, but riders are free to make their own choices.