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Best $65 you can spend on an R11...Cyclops L.E.D. headlight...

krash

New member
Love my R1100R, but I'm a bit apprehensive to ride at night as the lighting on these bikes isn't the greatest, especially on rural new england roads...lots of critters hang in the shadows, waiting to make their move crossing roads...not a lot of fun dodging wild turkeys at speed, especially when you can't see em' till the last second...lol

I've been looking at HID's and upgraded traditional bulbs. Either too much current draw (especially at start up) or excessive heat issues or both.
I'd seen L.E.D. headlights on Audi's and was impressed with the quality, brightness and overall color of the light.
Great thing about L.E.D. bulbs is that they draw far less current than a traditional halogen and far less than an HID and run much cooler...

After doing a bunch of research and getting input from other BMW riders, I took the plunge and purchased this;

http://www.cyclopsadventuresports.com/3800-Lumen-H4-LED-Headlight-bulb-_p_83.html

Bottom line, high quality kit, great tech support. Lots of cheap stuff on Amazon that looks similar...
Took longer to remove the front head light than to install the bulb. Direct, drop in retrofit. The bulb and rectifier fit neatly in the factory headlight bucket and plugs right into the factory plug.
Put it all back together and fired up the bike...

HOLY CRAP!!! The headlight is SO bright and the quality of the light and beam cut off is awesome! The light is very *white* and natural...low and high beam are amazing. I've noticed that I can see road signs far further away and the peripheral lighting is great, I can see in the shadows much better...it's almost as bright as an HID.

An added benefit is that motorist can see me better during the day...great product. Fast shipping, ordered on a Friday afternoon, had the kit by Monday.
If you have questions, regarding fitment or anything else...ask for Bobby, very knowledgeable and super helpful.
 
I bought their headlight bulbs to replace my high and low beams on my F800GT. Like you said, the product is high quality and their customer support is great. I did have to do a little adjusting on the beam height, but not much.

I recommend you keep a spare H7 bulb with you. The bulb is supposed to last forever, but if it didn't, you could just unplug the LED bulb and put the halogen bulb back in.

Chris
 
I bought their headlight bulbs to replace my high and low beams on my F800GT. Like you said, the product is high quality and their customer support is great. I did have to do a little adjusting on the beam height, but not much.

I recommend you keep a spare H7 bulb with you. The bulb is supposed to last forever, but if it didn't, you could just unplug the LED bulb and put the halogen bulb back in.

Chris

What adjustment did you need to make to the low beam? I read something about a spacer? There was one included, didn't use it
 
I think I moved it up a little. Not much though.

I didn't use the garage door measurement method. I have a one-car width driveway leading to my place. I noticed where the headlights on my Subaru lit up, and just tried to duplicate that. I'm not getting anyone flashing their lights at me, and while the lights seem bright if I walk towards the bike, they aren't any different than when I see cars with LED lights.

Your evaluation on the bulbs is spot on. I did some comparison on Amazon and had looked at the LED bulbs from Cycle Gear. These seem like the next generation of bulb. The fan is more compact than I felt the others were from pictures online. Having a lighting solution that would fit inside the headlight receptacle was important to me. I ride in Seattle and didn't want water getting inside.

I've had the HID bulbs on other bikes and the light focal point just wasn't right. I got more light out of the HID bulbs than the halogen bulbs, but that light was sprayed out everywhere...the trees above, the signs above the road on the other side of the freeway, etc. These Cyclops LED bulbs have a nice cutoff that really mimics the halogen bulbs so the light goes where it is supposed to go.

Like you wrote, the best $65 you can spend.

Chris
 
I think I moved it up a little. Not much though.

I didn't use the garage door measurement method. I have a one-car width driveway leading to my place. I noticed where the headlights on my Subaru lit up, and just tried to duplicate that. I'm not getting anyone flashing their lights at me, and while the lights seem bright if I walk towards the bike, they aren't any different than when I see cars with LED lights.

Your evaluation on the bulbs is spot on. I did some comparison on Amazon and had looked at the LED bulbs from Cycle Gear. These seem like the next generation of bulb. The fan is more compact than I felt the others were from pictures online. Having a lighting solution that would fit inside the headlight receptacle was important to me. I ride in Seattle and didn't want water getting inside.

I've had the HID bulbs on other bikes and the light focal point just wasn't right. I got more light out of the HID bulbs than the halogen bulbs, but that light was sprayed out everywhere...the trees above, the signs above the road on the other side of the freeway, etc. These Cyclops LED bulbs have a nice cutoff that really mimics the halogen bulbs so the light goes where it is supposed to go.

Like you wrote, the best $65 you can spend.

Chris
I put one in my 99 RT last year and it was SO Bright compared to stock that even when aimed properly oncoming cars would flash during the day. I kept looking for radar traps, thinking they were just warning me, but figured out it was the light so now I run with the load adj lever flipped to the "passenger and loaded" position and its ok . When I ride solo at night, I just flick the lever. High beam is not much different and usually not necessary. Well worth the $$.
 
LED headlight bulb

I was pretty excited about the Cyclops after reading about it here; I read many of the reviews online about it - they were pretty mixed. It seems the fan housing and alignment of the beam were problems for many people.

Then I received an email from another led company (superbrightleds). I had previously bought a set of LED driving lights from them for a bike that I sold before ever installing them (still have them in the box, uninstalled). Just for grins, I looked at their H4 replacement bulb. They seem to have simplified the spacer and installation, and solved some of the beam "cutoff" issues. Also, the bulb is fanless, they have employed a flat braided, kind of folded wire web that acts as a heat rejector. This braided wire thing can be adjusted to fit in a variety of spaces, evidently minimizing any boot cutting or other modification measures that reviewers had taken to fit the Cyclops to their bikes. And, it's half the price of the Cyclops.

I have not tried, nor actually seen, either product, but the superbrightleds product is in my future, I think.

So, this is not an endorsement, per se; I'm just trying to do my own "due diligence" before switching to LEDs.
 
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