R1200GSA K25 headlight spotlight upgrade options

Jersey_GS

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I'm looking at improving the pish poor lighting on my standard GSA.

I still have the standard fog/spot lights, even with different bulbs the light given out is almost useless I believe they are designed to be seen, rather than to see where you are going.

Anyhoo i'm looking for something that swaps out simply, does not involve cutting into wiring looms (if that's possible) and look similar to the standard Fog/spots or improvement to the headlight.

Basically i want to be able to see where i'm going in the dark. :nenau
 
I do not have a direct comparison / whole answer, but maybe some useful fitting info.

I had an HID setup that had to be removed to enable fitment of upper protection bars, I have gone back to halogen in the dip beam, but fitted a Cyclops LED in the main beam. It is 'plug and play' with everything fitting easily inside the headlight housing, no errors or warnings after fitting, though with the short nights I have not had to use it for an extended period. It is f'ing bright, though having not been out in the dark properly I do not know how that translates to real-world riding.
I reckon there is room for another one in the dip beam as well, but decided to stick with halogen so that there is no question about losing dip beam in high ambient temperatures or blinding oncoming traffic.

I have the main beam linked up with a pair of the cheapo spots available from various places (usually referred to as U5 Cree LED or similar), the main challenge with these is stopping them cycling through different modes, mounting them and waterproofing.
I was lucky and had a set that appear to have the older circuit board, all I had to do is remove the chip annotated U2 using a small screwdriver, no soldering or other ballcocks. They seem to work fine and no errors, they are not as bright as the Cyclops, but since they can be adjusted independently of low beam I am hoping they will fill in the long range illumination that the main headlamp does not achieve.
They come with a clamp for mounting on bars, but it looked a bit aggressive for my liking. I removed the clamps and drilled a hole for a rivnut so that I could mount them on the upper engine bar mounting holes.
I have not got round to sealing them yet, but the construction is basic to say the least and any sort of rain is probably going to result in water inside them pretty quickly. It is not going to be a difficult job to seal them, but I wanted to make sure they worked first hence not having done it yet!
 
Think I'm gonna go with the new SW Motech Hawk Evo LED (new loom and switch however)

They ain't cheap but I'm sure it will be money well spent.

Sent from a U11
 
Thanks guys for the response much appreciated, was hoping for a this is what you need reply but will have a look at above mentioned recommendations. :thumb
 
I went with a pair of cheap yobbo brand "U5/U7" pencil beam LED lamps. There are so low cost to be almost disposable. One version has a halo ring to use as daytime markers. The pencil beams give an excellent backup to main beam but needs a relay to keep the canbus happy.

With any half decent LED bulb in dip beam you don't really need the additional lights. But main beam is still crap as its height compared to dip is not adjustable. You can have a good main beam at the cost of dazzling everyone on dip or have a good dip beam with main beam too low to be effective.

While silly low cost, these lights are solid alloy with thick glass lenses. They do have a daft triple function but its easily defeated (nstructions on You Tube). Mine were on the bike for two years in all weathers with a second set to use when the first corroded away. I have still not used the second set.
 
Thanks Bendy I think i will try Cyclops (as recommended by AlexG) , plus get some LED spots with flat lenses to add to the main beam.

I see the Cyclops have a cooling fan and concerned they may over heat inside the sealed headlamp unit is this an issue??

Had a recent frightening experience in the Pyrenees rode into an unlit tunnel in foggy conditions into total blackout my lights were completely ineffective.

I'm believing the domed BMW fog lamp lenses disperses the light so whenever i have switched them on (at night) the only noticeable difference is peripheral rather than up ahead.
 
The issue with many LED "spots" is they are not spot lights at all. Most give a cone shaped beam so 1/2 of the light is going skyward causing dazzle to others and making fog an nightmare to drive through. Although they were cheap the U5/U7 have a narrow pencil beam that will give good long range but when set close there is minimal scattered light. The lenses are thick domed glass.

The BMW "aux headlamp" lights have a dipped beam pattern needed to support the woeful dipped headlight halogen. Three standard halogens are fine. But while they can be fitted with LED bulbs, the greatly increased light output, gives too much foreground light. On unlit roads, you feel like you are driving into a black hole. Flicking on main beam is no help because it's angled too low and it really can't compete with the three dipped beams.

I went with halo rings as daylight markers and used the spots purely as main beam boosters. LEDs in the headlight solved the light output issues.

I set my LED heat sinks outside the headlight though the "on all the time" dip beam never feels more than slightly warm. I used a washer of tough polythene under the heat sink trapped by cover caps cut off to make retaining rings. The bulb covers/caps can be bought and used to be on eBay so you'll need to do some research at the usual places.

I think fan cooled LEDs will work with the heat sink inside and covered or outside the lamp casing. I say this, because many H4 LEDs have the heat sink in front of the emitters so their waste heat can only go inside the headlight shell.

Thin grommets would be ideal but the caps are a bayonet fitting with no flanges to carry a grommet.
 
The issue with many LED "spots" is they are not spot lights at all. Most give a cone shaped beam so 1/2 of the light is going skyward causing dazzle to others and making fog an nightmare to drive through. Although they were cheap the U5/U7 have a narrow pencil beam that will give good long range but when set close there is minimal scattered light. The lenses are thick domed glass.

The BMW "aux headlamp" lights have a dipped beam pattern needed to support the woeful dipped headlight halogen. Three standard halogens are fine. But while they can be fitted with LED bulbs, the greatly increased light output, gives too much foreground light. On unlit roads, you feel like you are driving into a black hole. Flicking on main beam is no help because it's angled too low and it really can't compete with the three dipped beams.

I went with halo rings as daylight markers and used the spots purely as main beam boosters. LEDs in the headlight solved the light output issues.

I set my LED heat sinks outside the headlight though the "on all the time" dip beam never feels more than slightly warm. I used a washer of tough polythene under the heat sink trapped by cover caps cut off to make retaining rings. The bulb covers/caps can be bought and used to be on eBay so you'll need to do some research at the usual places.

I think fan cooled LEDs will work with the heat sink inside and covered or outside the lamp casing. I say this, because many H4 LEDs have the heat sink in front of the emitters so their waste heat can only go inside the headlight shell.

Thin grommets would be ideal but the caps are a bayonet fitting with no flanges to carry a grommet.

I’ve got a pair of Hella microDE lights that I converted to 35w HID, they have a very defined beam pattern as an addition to dip beam.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 
I’ve got a pair of Hella microDE lights that I converted to 35w HID, they have a very defined beam pattern as an addition to dip beam.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

I’m not dissing every LED in existence. And did say “many” LED spots have a cone beam pattern.
We also don’t have to spend huge sums to get very useful lights.
 
have you tried them yet?
Nope......not yet. I'm a small bit worried about the beam pattern, I want one that can be left on (like the OEM) these seem to be an exact copy.
I'm in no huge hurry at the moment so if you give them a try, let us know how you get on.

Sent from a U11
 
I do not have a direct comparison / whole answer, but maybe some useful fitting info.

I had an HID setup that had to be removed to enable fitment of upper protection bars, I have gone back to halogen in the dip beam, but fitted a Cyclops LED in the main beam. It is 'plug and play' with everything fitting easily inside the headlight housing, no errors or warnings after fitting, though with the short nights I have not had to use it for an extended period. It is f'ing bright, though having not been out in the dark properly I do not know how that translates to real-world riding.
I reckon there is room for another one in the dip beam as well, but decided to stick with halogen so that there is no question about losing dip beam in high ambient temperatures or blinding oncoming traffic.

I have the main beam linked up with a pair of the cheapo spots available from various places (usually referred to as U5 Cree LED or similar), the main challenge with these is stopping them cycling through different modes, mounting them and waterproofing.
I was lucky and had a set that appear to have the older circuit board, all I had to do is remove the chip annotated U2 using a small screwdriver, no soldering or other ballcocks. They seem to work fine and no errors, they are not as bright as the Cyclops, but since they can be adjusted independently of low beam I am hoping they will fill in the long range illumination that the main headlamp does not achieve.
They come with a clamp for mounting on bars, but it looked a bit aggressive for my liking. I removed the clamps and drilled a hole for a rivnut so that I could mount them on the upper engine bar mounting holes.
I have not got round to sealing them yet, but the construction is basic to say the least and any sort of rain is probably going to result in water inside them pretty quickly. It is not going to be a difficult job to seal them, but I wanted to make sure they worked first hence not having done it yet!

Hi Alex, after some research i have ordered exactly what you recommended i have received the cyclops for the full beam (not fitted it yet) and have some spots on order. will leave the dipped halogen in place. :thumb2
 
I have a pair of these though without the LED ring light they are under £20. The flashing mode is crap but you'll find instructions on Youtube for how to easily defeat that. The bracket is silly fussy but the fussy crap can be cut away if it bothers you.

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Motorcyc...hash=item3d34b9fd08:m:m_lQZMGIrFFC1tnzSXO4vVA

They give a POWERFUL long range spot beam so great for supporting main beam. The LED rings give an ideal day "light triangle".

If you use the plain version they can work with dip beam and the narrow beam will not cause dazzle if set low enough. However, a decent quality LED H7 bulb removes the need for additional dip beams. You probably wont want additional dip beam lights as they'll give too much foreground light.
 


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