LED H7 Headlight Bulbs - Good solution for R12XXR (LC)

9239 Views 111 Replies 18 Participants Last post by Ontrip, 1 mo ago

Ontrip

Discussion Starter · 5 mo ago (Edited)

Edited Thread title and first post

@ Fireman has installed these LED bulbs and has documented the results of his installation and road testing of the light pattern with very encouraging results. Please see his posts in the thread.

These bulbs have an integrated fan and are the same size of the H7 and do not require any modification of the housing or cap and do not trigger any Canbus faults once installed.

The “Grumpy Goat” installed these on his 2016 RS with tempting results and inspired this thread.

Here is his YouTube :

Bulb set:

www.amazon.com

Amazon.com: AUXITO 2023 Upgraded H7 LED Bulbs, 350% Brighter, 6500K White, 1:1 Mini Size, No Adapter Required, Non-Polarity, All-in-One H7ll Fog Light Bulb Conversion Kit, Plug and Play, Pack of 2 : Automotive

Buy AUXITO 2023 Upgraded H7 LED Bulbs, 350% Brighter, 6500K White, 1:1 Mini Size, No Adapter Required, Non-Polarity, All-in-One H7ll Fog Light Bulb Conversion Kit, Plug and Play, Pack of 2: Headlight Bulbs - Amazon.com ✓ FREE DELIVERY possible on eligible purchases

www.amazon.com

Reactions: 3

41 - 60 of 112 Posts

Chad66

· #41 · 4 mo ago

what happens if you toggle the high/low switch? is there a fix? why would someone do that?

Panzermann

· #42 · 4 mo ago

Chad66 said:
what happens if you toggle the high/low switch? is there a fix? why would someone do that?

I have a relay connected to the high beam lead that activates my garage door, so I can open/close the door by flashing high beam.
I expect the warning disappears once the bike is started, so it’s a non-issue compared to the benefits of the bulbs.

Reactions: 3

Chad66

· #43 · 4 mo ago

Panzermann said:
I have a relay connected to the high beam lead that activates my garage door, so I can open/close the door by flashing high beam.
I expect the warning disappears once the bike is started, so it’s a non-issue compared to the benefits of the bulbs.

that sounds cool.

Reactions: 1

fireman

· #44 · 4 mo ago

Chad66 said:
what happens if you toggle the high/low switch? is there a fix? why would someone do that?

battery voltage is not sufficient to clear CANBUS check. Alternator outputs higher voltage, and that allows to clear the fault. Essentially it is a non-issue.

Reactions: 2

toddhollander

· #45 · 4 mo ago

I bit the bullet and ordered the Auxito bulbs from Amazon.

Reactions: 1

Panzermann

· #46 · 4 mo ago

Chad66 said:
that sounds cool.

I thought it better than the horn switch version - much longer life (for the rider).

Reactions: 3

rxc

· #47 · 4 mo ago (Edited)

3

For the sake of sharing my experience and thoughts, and as always apology if old news and please correct where I am mistaken/my assumptions/conclusions are incorrect:

Heat wise:
As many here, I have also found it puzzling that the heat emitted from LED could be an issue, because it implies LED emits more heat than halogen emits (and halogen emits a lot of heat),
And indeed - as I have held the bulbs (holding their circular-base with my fingers) during some LED-vs-halogen crude-tests (see below) I could confirm the halogen emits much more heat as its base got much more warm to the touch;
So my conclusion (apology for being late with that) is that the LED-fan is purely for the sake of the LED-chips,
I.e. even though LED emits less than 50% of the heat halogen emits, the LED chips are more sensitive to heat and thus need the fan when LED output is high to avoid self-cook themselves

Tire Font Multimedia Display device Motor vehicle

Fanned-LED:
By the time I have turned to order the LED-bulbs pointed out by @fireman the fanned-LED version was gone,
And since Fanless-LED implies less output I have looked around and found the following, for half the price and an Amazon choice and along w/ an eye-catching review that convinced me to give them a try:
CAR ROVER H7 LED Headlight Bulb, 1:1 Mini Size with Fan, No Adapter Required, 6500K Bright White Quick Installation Conversion Kit, Pack of 2:

Font Screenshot Parallel Number Document

And if you scroll down to the reviews:

Rectangle Font Circle Number Paper product

Crude-testing:
After installing the bulbs (which behave the same as the ones from @fireman in terms of CANBUS warning)
I have noticed they looked quite weak compared to my aux.lights (Kairiyard LED Pod Lights, 3inch Round Motorcycle Fog Lights),
So I have connected them + halogen each in turn to my DC-charger (which I have prev used to test draw of aux.-lights if you recall)
And used a crude light-meter in a crude way to get some idea still:

light meter: my phone + Lux Light Meter Pro app (app is free)
method: held phone ~5" away from light bulb (ensuring it faces the LED-chips/halogen-filament directly), light bulb connected to DC-charger
results:
- halogen-bulb: input/draw 4Amp, 48watt; output: ~6.7k to 7k LUX
- LED-bulb: input/draw 0.5Amp, 6watt to 7watt (w/ fan); output: 10k to 10.5k LUX
  - a note about the LED-bulb input/draw is that it seems incredibly and surprisingly low + makes me wonder how come the CANBUS does not complain (once engine is running) about a drop from 48w to 7w ? however I have gotten this reading consistently + several times + on both LED bulbs + I trust that DC-charger to report accurately + the LED-bulb has about a 1/3 of the chips each of my aux.lights pods has, so the 7w draw would fit assuming chips are all about the same, but then could someone explain why the CANBUS does not complain once the engine is running ?

So my conclusions are:

the LED-bulb looks far weaker than the aux.lights because:
- when I stand in front of the motorcycle the chips of the aux.lights face me directly, whereas the chips of the LED-bulb are not, as they face left/right, and via-reflector-light is not as powerful as direct-light
- the aux.lights draw is ~22w for each pod if memory serves (as opposed to claimed 30w, and if you think 'what is the big deal if you have 8 watts less' the answer is see what the LED-bulb does w/ only 6watts), whereas the LED-bulb draws 6w, and far less input = far less output
after a short test drive I know I keep the LED-bulbs: the beam is far brighter and stronger than the yellow-light-puddle the halogen emits and is - without any doubts - better/an improvement

See less See more

Reactions: 4

fireman

· #48 · 4 mo ago

rxc said:
Heat wise:
As many here, I have also found it puzzling that the heat emitted from LED could be an issue, because it implies LED emits more heat than halogen emits (and halogen emits a lot of heat),
And indeed - as I have held the bulbs during some LED-vs-halogen crude-tests (see below) I could confirm the halogen emits much more heat;

H7 halogen bulb doesn't transfer as much heat into the metal base of the bulb as an H7 LED does, at least the bulb I've looked at. Metal base of the LED H7 bulb acts as a heat-sink of sorts. Even though a halogen bulb filament is much hotter than the LED chips, it is all concentrated in the front. Purely resistive tungsten filament is somewhat isolated from the metal base.

rxc said:
but then could someone explain why the CANBUS does not complain once the engine is running ?

I believe it depends on the voltage that your DC charger outputs. The higher the voltage, the higher the Watts. Watts=Amps x Volts. Motorcycle alternator outputs around 14.4 Volts. I believe for the purposes of this exercise, Amp of the LED bulb is constant, then when voltage increases, the Wattage increases as well.

daniel.poirier

· #49 · 4 mo ago

Oh, now we have two contenders: the Auxito bulbs identified by Fireman, and the Car Rover bulbs suggested as a lower-cost alternative by Rxc. It would be so cool to see a side-by-side comparison, but that's probably wishful thinking.

A question for those of you who have done the conversion: how many bulbs are needed in total? Do you use the same led bulb for low-beam and hi-beam, or do you need different bulbs? If it matters, my bike is a 2017 R1200R. (note, I'm new to this bike, have never changed the bulbs yet, hence the blatant ignorance)

Panzermann

· #50 · 4 mo ago

daniel.poirier said:
A question for those of you who have done the conversion: how many bulbs are needed in total? Do you use the same led bulb for low-beam and hi-beam, or do you need different bulbs? If it matters, my bike is a 2017 R1200R. (note, I'm new to this bike, have never changed the bulbs yet, hence the blatant ignorance)

H7 is a single filament bulb so you’ll need an equivalent LED version for each of low and high beams, Daniel.

daniel.poirier

· #51 · 4 mo ago

Panzermann said:
H7 is a single filament bulb so you’ll need an equivalent LED version for each of low and high beams, Daniel.

Great, thanks! So a set of two bulbs would do it (one for low- and one for high-beam), correct? (or are there more than one low- or high-beam bulbs in an R1200R?)

Reactions: 1

rxc

· #52 · 4 mo ago (Edited)

daniel.poirier said:
Great, thanks! So a set of two bulbs would do it (one for low- and one for high-beam), correct? (or are there more than one low- or high-beam bulbs in an R1200R?)

A set of two bulbs would do, and for the R12XXR the high-beam and low-beam bulbs are the same.
Also, both the bulbs I hav purchased and the bulbs @fireman purchased come as a pair (i.e. you get 2 of them).

On a side note, I have had a 20min ride tonight in darker-night conditions (highway) than during my test-drive (neighborhood) AND IT IS INCREDIBLE

And as far as I could tell (keep in mind I also have 2 aux.-pods running along w/ the head-light at the same time, and yet - as the yellow-puddle of the halogen was still fresh in my mind, I had no doubts that) any comparison of halogen to this LED was a waste of time,
And I have kept marveling at the beautiful + powerful + clear + white wide triangle shape highlighting the way in front of the motorcycle

Brilliant Brilliant Finding are these fanned-mini-H7-LEDs @fireman !
Another round to us all and more cheers to @fireman I say:
TO FIREMAN ! TO FIREMAN ! TO FIREMAN !

Tableware Drinkware Beer Liquid Barware

See less See more

Reactions: 3

rxc

· #53 · 4 mo ago (Edited)

On another side note: during my 1st ~25min day-time ride today and later on during my 2nd ~20min night-time ride back home I got the 'check low beam' warning: it popped up several times, sometimes disappearing on its own after 1 or 2 seconds, sometimes remaining and i had to dismiss it, and I am not sure if there is something wrong w/ that particular LED-bulb (or perhaps it is triggered when the LED-fan is off which means 1w less is drawn ?), but honestly I do not care and willing to live with it in return for the beautiful beautiful beam it emanates.

fireman

· #54 · 4 mo ago

rxc said:
On another side note: during my 1st ~25min day-time ride today and later on during my 2nd ~20min night-time ride back home I got the 'check low beam' warning: it popped up several times, sometimes disappearing on its own after 1 or 2 seconds, sometimes remaining and i had to dismiss it, and I am not sure if there is something wrong w/ that particular LED-bulb (or perhaps it is triggered when the LED-fan is off which means 1w less is drawn ?), but honestly I do not care and willing to live with it in return for the beautiful beautiful beam I get in return.

@rxc In case if you grow tired of the CANBUS errors, Auxito bulbs are still available on Amazon: Amazon.com: AUXITO 2023 Upgraded H7 LED Bulbs, 350% Brighter, 6500K White, 1:1 Mini Size, No Adapter Required, Non-Polarity, All-in-One H7ll Fog Light Bulb Conversion Kit, Plug and Play, Pack of 2 : Automotive

P.S. This company should really start paying R1200Rforum a commission by now

Reactions: 2

daniel.poirier

· #55 · 4 mo ago

fireman said:
@rxc In case if you grow tired of the CANBUS errors, Auxito bulbs are still available on Amazon: Amazon.com: AUXITO 2023 Upgraded H7 LED Bulbs, 350% Brighter, 6500K White, 1:1 Mini Size, No Adapter Required, Non-Polarity, All-in-One H7ll Fog Light Bulb Conversion Kit, Plug and Play, Pack of 2 : Automotive

P.S. This company should really start paying R1200Rforum a commission by now

So is this a pretty solid confirmation that the Auxito bulbs do not cause any canbus errors?

fireman

· #56 · 4 mo ago

daniel.poirier said:
So is this a pretty solid confirmation that the Auxito bulbs do not cause any canbus errors?

No error when engine running. If I for some reason decide to turn-on low or high beam before I start the engine, I do get a fault. It clears as soon as I start the engine. I really never turn on low/high beam manually before starting the engine, and haven't had any issues since I've installed the Auxito bulbs several weeks ago. My 2020 R1250R doesn't switch on Low beam until engine is running, unless I override it.

TLDR: 2023 version Auxito H7 with fan bulbs work well.

Reactions: 2

rxc

· #57 · 4 mo ago (Edited)

fireman said:
@rxc In case if you grow tired of the CANBUS errors, Auxito bulbs are still available on Amazon...

@fireman thank you for the tip,
However - sharing my thoughts further - prior to the low-beam LED-bulb upgrade I have planned to relocate my aux.lights from the aux-connector (where they are permanently-on once power is up and no means to toggle/turn them off) to the head-light low-beam (as per @tima's tip/guidance), since I much prefer them power up the latter way (and planned to use a relay for power so as to not overload the low-beam circuit);
And now, w/ the LED-bulb upgrade, I plan to follow @tima's advice further still, by relocating the aux.-lights to the low-beam circuit w/out a relay, which will increase the draw and pacify the CANBUS (totaling ~51w if memory serves which is not much above the halogen draw of 48w),
With the end result being the (not bothering me to begin with) 'check low beam' warning issue being resolved.

Reactions: 3

gerrrm

· #58 · 4 mo ago

2

Hola!!, saludos a todos. gracias al foro he adquirido las lámparas AUXITO 2023 H7 y son espectaculares, no Canbus ni con el contacto ni arrancada , perfecta, solo tengo la duda sobre el calor que genera, mi recorrido suele durar 1 hora o más, si Fireman que ha comprobado todos los parámetros confía en que durará se lo agradecería, saludos y gracias

Tire Wheel White Automotive tire Automotive lighting

Tire Building Wheel Automotive tire Vehicle

See less See more

Reactions: 3

fireman

· #59 · 4 mo ago

gerrrm said:
Hola!!, saludos a todos. gracias al foro he adquirido las lámparas AUXITO 2023 H7 y son espectaculares, no Canbus ni con el contacto ni arrancada , perfecta, solo tengo la duda sobre el calor que genera, mi recorrido suele durar 1 hora o más, si Fireman que ha comprobado todos los parámetros confía en que durará se lo agradecería, saludos y gracias View attachment 118507 View attachment 118508

I don't know if Auxito bulbs will last, but I'm hopeful.

rxc

· #60 · 4 mo ago

fireman said:
Received Auxito Bulbs with fans. ...
... It runs hot, and it became uncomfortable to hold-onto around the retainer ring after about a minute. IMHO it runs hotter than OEM 55 W bulb. ...
Battery voltage: 12.7 V DC
Auxito H7 w/ Fan Current: 1.46 A (fluctuates a bit around 1.32 A before fan spins-up, and went as high as 1.49 A for a few seconds)
Power Draw at 12.7 V DC: 18.5 Watts
Power Draw at 14.5 V DC: 21.17 Watts (calculated, not measured).

Power Draw when engine running, and alternator outputting around 14.5 V DC should be around 21 Watts*. I suspect it might not be enough to full CANBUS system, however I'm willing to give it a try anyway. I think Fanless version of this bulb has half the number of LED chips, so the power draw will be significantly lower, unless there is an extra resistor builtin.
...

@fireman just sharing my thought/guess that perhaps/likely yours also have resistors built it to avoid the CANBUS warning:
Given (1) mine and yours both have same amount of chips, and (2) assuming also roughly same LUX output,
The presence of resistors in yours will explain both the much higher draw compared to mine, and the fact yours become much hotter than mine.

Reactions: 1

41 - 60 of 112 Posts