Anyone have any opinions or suggestions on LED headlights? I have a 2002 Vulcan 1500 classic. Want to try to fit an LED headlight in for more light. Don't really want HID, because I don't want to do any extra wiring.
A buddy of mine switched all of the lights on his Harley Ultra Classic to LED - lights him up nicely, and lights up the road nicely - plus cut his electrical consumption in half . . . Of course it cost him around $2K to do the whole bike . . .
He did a lot more than just swap out bulbs - He replaced ALL lights with LED light assemblys - All DOT approved lighting - I have ridden in the dark with him The headlights and spots light things up very nicely - This link is for the Harley Head/lights & spots (Add $100 to each for the Harley name), but Kury makes them that I am looking at for my Voyager head and spot lights . . .
doing a hid kit is totally different then getting a full led headlight. i believe the 2k spent on parts and labor. leds last longer and also give off more light than hids. run on extremely low power.
but the best thing a normal person can do is upgrade their stock bulb to something with more wattage or get a xenon. the next step after that is to get hids. then the real deal is leds
His is stamped Harley Davidson & looks like the one I linked . . . I'll check it out - He also changed out all the running/turn lamps, tail & brake lamps and all the lights on the tour pak . . .
Sounds like he has the JW/Speaker LED headlamp made for Harley's, if you buy the LED from Kuryakyn, it will be the Truck-Lite and you have a choice between the Phase 6 or 7, have a look at these links.
Well, I replaced my driving lights with the Sun Spot Motorcycle Driving Light. They are not cheap, but a very easy and VERY bright replacement. Then I ordered the Trucklight/Kuryakyn Phase 6 LED Headlight.
The issue with the headlight is you need some type of adapter to change the headlight on a 2002 Vulcan 1500 Classic. I ordered the Adjure Adapter ring. It is supposed to be universal with Vulcan. Ran into a little issue with it, but I think I have a solution. Then I will pop it in and know for sure if better or not.
I do have to say the replacement Sun Spot LED driving lights are super bright. I have used them at night, last week, and they really lit up the road. Especially road signs. They were nice and bright. Very easy to install, but not cheap.
For something easy to install is the Xenon bulb just easier?
I'm looking for a brighter longer distance on the headlamp, will it draw the same power (I know the LED is less)
forget LED headlights, they don't put out enough lumens to be of any use at night, daytime visibility by on-coming traffic is ok but night time is bad, just use H4 bulbs
I realize this thread is about six months old but using the search function, I came across this thread. I'm looking at putting an LED headlight on my '99 Vulcan 1500 Classic and am considering a truck lite headlight. I'll put a link below to the one I'm looking at but I wanted to get the opinions of those on this forum about this modification. I appreciate any help.
Here is the link for the passing lights
The first link is for the chrome ones and the second link is for the black ones(I am thinking of changing them to match the headlight)
The install went fairly easy but the only glitch was the mount for the headlight adjustment on one side, There is no mount for it on the light, I looked it over and used nylon zip ties to secure the adjuster to the light, worked out perfect just took a few minutes to figure out the zip tie setup. Overall the entire process took about 1 hour from start to finish.
That's great, I appreciate your help. I really like how it looks and very well may end up going with this option. So the only hang up was an issue with the headlight adjustment on the adapter ring which was solved by a zip tie? What about the wiring? I assume it's probably not a plug and play option with the factory headlight wiring.
I'll update here on this thread with what I end up doing so others who search can see it too. But I have a feeling this is the option I'll be taking. Thanks again.
I did place an order for the headlight and adapter ring that Steve posted about, I'm just waiting on it to show up. Once it shows up I'll post about the install but hopefully Steve comes back in to talk about it as I'm sure I'll have questions about it also.
Mark or measure your 2 adjusters for depth before you remove them. it helps when putting it all back together to be really close.
Go here and you can see and read the install instructions, really easy to do http://ep.yimg.com/ty/cdn/yhst-38432223971026/UniversaIHLA.pdf
It does work out real well, Then I purchased a road king light bar and cut down the side rails and installed the LED driving lights and visors, ran it to a relay and separate switch and all is great.
I will keep an eye out on the thread to follow along and advise if I can.
Thanks for the reply/info. I'm trying to install JW Speaker 8709 Evo 2's - and I bought that adjure ring adapter. I'll take a look at the link and see if it'll work on the JW's
It goes around the outer edge and then the the tabs bend over the light to secure and then you put the back bracket onto the light and the 2 tabs screw to the back bracket and the light is secured.
Follow the instructions in the link above and you will see it all come together.
It goes around the outer edge and then the the tabs bend over the light to secure and then you put the back bracket onto the light and the 2 tabs screw to the back backet and the light is secured.
Correct small lip and it is hard to see but the 2 holes for the screws and bent so as you have to work them around the light so the screws line up to the original mounting bracket It is not hard.
so, the only problem I had was that there was no piece of metal for the second spring adjuster to go into. So, it's just sorta "loose". I use quotation marks for that because the for screws that hold the adapter ring to the adjuster bracket hold it in pretty tight. The beam looks pretty good, but I may have to adjust it - first night ride will be tonight.
I used a few nylon ties around the adjusting screw to the bracket and pulled it tight, It holds solid and I can adjust it if needed.
I pulled mine out and took a few pics of how I did it.
look close and you will see the nylon ties, if you can blow it up you will see some writing in red.
[URL=http://s411.photobucket.com/user/sforge/media/DSCN1580_1.jpg.html][IMG]http://i411.photobucket.com/albums/pp199/sforge/DSCN1580_1.jpg[/URL]
I used a few nylon ties around the adjusting screw to the bracket and pulled it tight, It holds solid and I can adjust it if needed.
I cannot promise but if I get chance to pull mine out tomorrow sometime I will take a few pics and post them so you can see what I am talking about.
Yeah a picture would help. I tried using a zip tie to the nears piece of metal, but it was actually the hole that is used to screw in the whole assembly to the bike...
The only thing I'm noticing is that it's shaking quite a bit at idle - is that normal? Or will attaching the other adjuster spring going to remedy that? Going on my first night ride tonight, will take pictures and report back.
attaching the other adjuster spring assembly should remedy the shaking, mine is in solid and does not shake.
This is an older thread, you may not receive a response, and could be reviving an old thread. Please consider creating a new thread.
Related Threads
?
?
?
?
?
Kawasaki Vulcan Forum
712.7K posts
67.8K members
Since 2008
A forum community dedicated to Kawasaki Vulcan motorcycle owners and enthusiasts. Come join the discussion about performance, modifications, Vulcan 1500, Vulcan 2000, Vulcan 500, Vulcan 1600, Vulcan 900 and all other Vulcan motorcycles.