LED spotlights ??

[The Bigfella]

... as per the link in the original post by Sibbo.

Mine look exactly the same as the black ones in that link.... which is why I want to run the ammeter test to check current draw. I'm no LED expert, but for a 27w light, I'd have thought there'd be 9 x 3w LEDs. If it turns out I've got 9w lights, I wouldn't be over-concerned - I'm chasing side-infill for my high-beam at night and presence-awareness during the day - which is why I've bought that dimming switch from the US.

In the meantime.... I've got an 8 hour wait to see how much penetration these things have....

[Major Softie]

Poor Bigfella - waiting 8 hours for penetration.....

[Airbear]

Poor Bigfella - waiting 8 hours for penetration.....

Everything cums to he who waits ...

I'm interested in these lights too. Riding twisties at night is currently pretty uncomfortable, given the number of critters there are out there willing to lay down their lives in the hope of bringing down a motorcyclist. A broad spread of light along with a good 'penetrating' high beam would make all the difference, and if LED technology can fill that gap without a huge drain on the electrical system, then I'll be much happier.

[The Bigfella]

OK, in the interests of science, I just did some daytime penetration tests. From 15 metres away, its somewhat painful to look at. I'm still a tad blinded. Hang on, didn't Mum say I'd only go blind if I....

They generate a fair bit of warmth. I'll do a temperature reading tonight.

[Major Softie]

Now poor Bigfella has gone blind from over-penetration.


So sad....

[The Bigfella]

OK, its dark enough to see how far I'm penetrating.... and its a long way. It's lighting up my back yard and beyond. It's good for possum spotting in the trees two houses down.... so until I get them all wired up and mounted, all I can say is - they look good to me. Very good. I wish I'd had one on my Zinda when riding at night in the mud and slush in Vietnam.

At a guess, and its hard to say because of all the trees around here, they give a good spread out to about 50 metres. Two of them will fill out the high beam nicely. I weighed one at 285 grams - including the mount and wiring tail. They are 55mm diameter and about 65mm long (short and thick does the trick)

I'm convinced that I'm going to need to dim them for daytime running lights.

[The Bigfella]

I'll revise that appraisal. They are great. I took a battery down the back lane and I can pick out a brick incinerator up the lane thats at least 100m away. The super-bright central beam has a good spread - about 10m wide 30m out. There is no cut-off at the top - which means there's issues for a low beam usage.... again - needs to be dimmed.

I'll be interested to see how hot they get. After 5 minutes down the back lane, they were 36 C.

[Airbear]

Sounding good, Big'. I look forward to the next step - road trials with galloping wombats (the size of Volkswagens) on the Bells Line of Road.

[The Bigfella]

My favourite corner is on the Bells Line of Road... a couple of k this side of Bell. A sweeping left hander that goes on forever, with a 75k advisory. I have an image of a big buck roo standing right beside the road that is burnt into my memory cells - he was about a metre off the bitumen as I flashed past on the R90S at more than double the advisory. That was over 30 years ago of course, and I don't dare exceed the advisory sign speeds these days.

[Major Softie]

So, what is the pattern like? Round? Oval? Rectangular?