HOW-TO: Cree LED Retrofit without removing headlight housing.

Warlord - thanks again for posting this great how-to guide. You were right on your comment on my thread about the H11 LED bulbs I bought, they didn't fit because the base was both too wide and too long to fit underneath the OEM fairing stay that also mounts the headlight.

Do you know how much room was left between the fairing stay and the widest part of the heat sink on the bulbs in this thread? I am looking at another H11 LED bulb kit that according to their specs is about 4 mm wider than your kit on the heat sink. Perhaps more critically, it appears to be 11.5 mm longer (at the widest part) than your kit. See the dimensions below, do you think this will fit?

I really want this to fit as this seems like the brightest LED bulb (using the Cree MTG2 chip at 3200 claimed lumen output) I can find and it has an optic that limits the beam pattern to 115-degrees (instead of 180) for even better beam control with the OEM optics.

Here is a dimension drawing:


Super Power 3200 LM CREE MTG2 6500K White LED Bulb Headlight High Beam H8 H11 X2 | eBay


Here is one I saw what appears to be your kit:



2X 6000K White H8 H11 H16 1800 Lumen 25W Fog Driving Fog CREE Chip LED Bulbs | eBay

On the kit I picked up the only part that extended past the faring stay was the fan which doesn't touch the stay when in place. It's possible you may have to grind the faring stay to fit the led kit if it is much bigger than the one I used.

Like I said before it's not likely that there would be a visible difference in output between our two kits. Also the LEDS while different share the exact same output rating so where does the higher output claim come from? Perhaps one is claiming per bulb and the other is per kit...

warlord said:

On the kit I picked up the only part that extended past the faring stay was the fan which doesn't touch the stay when in place. It's possible you may have to grind the faring stay to fit the led kit if it is much bigger than the one I used.

Like I said before it's not likely that there would be a visible difference in output between our two kits. Also the LEDS while different share the exact same output rating so where does the higher output claim come from? Perhaps one is claiming per bulb and the other is per kit...

Click to expand...

Thanks for the reply. Cree makes different LED chipsets and they are always improving output, something like Moore's law since they're semiconductor-based. Pretty soon LED output will outpace HIDs so these are the way to go. I found another kit that has 3 sides of LEDs for a claimed 4500 lumen output each. Could be feasible based on 3 LEDs in each bulb. I got dimensions from them and it looks like it could be a really close fit. I think I'll try them since they have 30 day return and a US-based shipper. I'll report back.





http://www.ebay.com/itm/121382813729?var=420323407159

I went with these, $75 shipped from Amazon. 50 watt, 5000k, 1800 lumens. They were square, so harder to work them into the space, but they are extremely bright and white. I used double-sided rubber tape to stick the ballast to the CF faring ducts.

Amazon.com: Newsun High Power 50w OEM Xenon White 5000k H11 Led Headlight for Car Cree Cxa1512 Chips H11 Led Headlamp Bulbs 1800lm Super Bright: Automotive

Trauma said:

I went with these, $75 shipped from Amazon. 50 watt, 5000k, 1800 lumens. They were square, so harder to work them into the space, but they are extremely bright and white. I used double-sided rubber tape to stick the ballast to the CF faring ducts.

Amazon.com: Newsun High Power 50w OEM Xenon White 5000k H11 Led Headlight for Car Cree Cxa1512 Chips H11 Led Headlamp Bulbs 1800lm Super Bright: Automotive

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got a nightshot?

Phl said:

got a nightshot?

Click to expand...

I'll put one up tonight - it hurts to look at it directly lol - and definitely whiter than those Sylvania bulbs I had (4200K supposedly).

I've got an update on the 3-sided LED, 45W, 4500 Lumen, 5500K (each bulb claimed) LED conversion bulbs I ordered in post #23 above. Here they are again:





I just installed them today and they just fit. The OEM magnesium fairing stay just has no room as Warlord originally reported in the OP. The back of the bulb housing is pressing up against the bottom of the fairing stay behind the bulb and was just able to be rotated to lock in place. I made the cut modification as Warlord instructed in the OP as well to get these to fit.

If you are looking at ANY of these LED conversion bulbs, you need to pay attention to these critical dimensions. If the diamter of the base of the bulb is any larger than the one shown below, it WILL NOT FIT with the OEM fairing stay. I recommend corresponding with the manufacturer and ask them to give dimensions. I did and this is what I got from this particular kit (their caliper is in centimeters):





Below is the back of the right bulb, showing it underneath the bottom of the fairing stay locked in place. Yes, that is an inelegant mounting position for the LED control module but I wasn't spending hours to tuck it away and the fork tubes clear it cleanly when going to full lock. It is held in place with 2 pieces of 3M Dual-Lock fastener for quick removal should the need arise:



Below is a picture from the front of the bike showing the LED bulb on the right vs. the Sylvania Silverstar H11 bulb I had replaced the OEM one with:



Below is a beam pattern comparison on the inside of my garage door from about 3-4 feet with the H11 Halogen Silverstar on the right and the LED conversion bulb on the left (both low-beam). As you can see, the H11 Silverstar bulb has a very sharp cut-off whereas the H11 LED conversion bulb is much wider without the sharp cut-off that minimizes glare to oncoming traffic:



Below is a beam pattern comparison on a CVS Pharmacy wall where I was returning a RedBox movie after the install. The distance is around 8-10 feet and you can see how much higher up the beam pattern of the LED conversion bulb goes than the H11 halogen low-beam, meaning that there is some glare at oncoming traffic:



This shot below shows the beam pattern of the OEM H11 Halogen bulbs in the high-beams (stock, never changed), the camera is at the same position as the previous shot:



On the way home I took some neighborhood back roads that have no street light illumination at all, and it was noticeable how much wider the LED conversion bulb pattern was with more spill light off to the sides. This clearly helped give more illumination to the roads and areas off to the shoulder. While the beam pattern of this particular LED conversion bulb is far from optimal (I would prefer the same sharp cutoff as the H11 halogen bulbs) I believe it does give better illumination performance. It certainly seems to be about 300% brighter, and I didn't think the throw was going to be as far but I think the overall brightness overcomes the deficient beam pattern to a large degree. This comes at the price of annoying oncoming drivers with the higher beam pattern on low-beam, but I don't think it's as bad as an HID conversion kit.

I may try another LED conversion kit to see if the beam pattern is improved over this style, but it may be hard finding one with superior brightness that has the same dimensions to fit with the OEM fairing stay.

Overall I like them and prefer this to the $500+ option of converting my base headlight assembly to the S/Tri/R LED assembly and installation (which also adds something like 6 pounds of weight). Total installation time, aside from the cutting useless, unseen plastic that Warlord outlines so well, was about 15 minutes start-to-finish.

Pros:
Very simple plug-and-play
Very, very bright
Will last lifetime of bike (if bulb manufacturer life expectancy is to be believed)
Improved illumination both forward and to the sides
Relatively Cheap at $90 shipped for both bulbs

Cons:
Requires some minor cutting of useless/unseen plastic parts to fit size of bulb/heat sink/fan housing
Beam pattern is not efficient, not the same cut-off to avoid glare to oncoming traffic

4500LM 5500K 39W High Power 3 Sides Epistar LED Headlight Lamp H4 H7 H11 HB3 HB4 | eBay

Well it looks like the bulb fits great. I would agree with the fact that the additional light spillage tends to be functional when riding at night especially when compared to the narrow and streaky stock halogen beams. Even cars that come with LEDs stock like the wife's Nissan Leaf have a bit of glare and the cutoff line on that is razor sharp...

I would say that the beam pattern would be improved by using smaller leds that are carefully placed in the focal point of the reflector housing. I have seen that there are some new Cree XML-2 based that might fit the bill nicely. In fact I picked up an H4-b one for my wife's Honda Grom so I'll have a chance to mess around with it and see what I think of that emitter in a headlight.

Thanks for the help guys. I just did this on my 13 EVO and the output is 2X better than my old 55W HID system. I just have to modify the bulb covers and relocate the small ballast. I used the bulbs JeffD listed and they work great. My high beam now actually works!

LED Picture?

Warlord, what happened to the pictures?

warlord said:

Parts:
H11 Cree LED headlight kit


Tools:
LED headlamp (to see in the dark crevices of the bike fairing)
Razor blade, single edge
3M mounting tape (optional)

For this install I used an 1800 Lumen 25W per bulb kit. I also ordered a 2200 Lumen 28W per bulb kit which is still due to arrive. I have doubts that the 2200 Lumen kit will fit without removing the headlight housing but we'll see. These kits are about $60 and up on ebay.

The 1800 Lumen kit:


Step 1: Remove the stock bulbs and top rubber cover:

No real picture of this but I wanted to show that on the OEM plug the tabs to un-clip the bulb are black and on the sides. Once you un-clip the bulb you can then easily twist and remove it.



Step 2: Making room to install the LED bulb:

There's a little black rubberized plastic "half-hoop" which can be seen in the picture below. It needs to be cut off in order for the bulb have clearance and fit into the housing.

The "half-hoop"


CAREFULLY cut off this half-hoop with the razor.


The parts removed:


The resulting increase in room (you can also see I moved the plug to the top, important as the final position of the plug will be to the side of the LED bulb when complete):


Step 3: LED Bulb install

This is a very tight fit to get the bulb into position. The remaining piece that is in the way is aluminum and in order to install the new bulb you have to angle it correctly and install it. BE CAREFUL! IF YOU BREAK ANYTHING, I TAKE NO RESPONSIBILITY!

The bulb angled and tab points lined up from the back

From the lens side


Pushed into place and twisted to lock:

The cooling fan rubs on the aluminum frame a little bit making it very tricky to twist it into place but it can be done without grinding away any of the aluminum. Notice the position of the plug connector next to the bulb assembly.


Step 4: Connect the bulbs and position the LED driver

The driver (looks like a HID ballast) fits nicely into the cavity shown in the picture. Stick a little 3M tape on the back and place it in this location and it won't go anywhere. I may look for a good flat location for mounting the next time I have the fairings off but for the time being this is quite suitable.


Install time:
40 minutes
Difficulty:
Moderate as it is tricky to cut the plastic and position the bulbs. I know that many will find the install frustrating.


LEDs in reflector housing:


Running light LEDs:


OEM halogen (4300k, 1350 lumen approx.) on the left, Cree (5000K, 1800 lumen) on the right. Compare to stock running light LEDs:


Both Cree LEDs installed:


Cree lit in housing (-4):

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Warlord, what happened to your original pictures on this thread?

again pictures will not open?

anyone do this to their 2015-16 R?