LED Headlight set up for GP1

[Red Herring]

Hi All,

My GP1 is a great bike... and I have very few complaints... in fact the only one is that the headlight sucks. It has the 35/35 watt bulb, and is really nothing more than a safety feature.

I have fiddled with bulbs... modified the cap the take a H4 55 watt... which really threw the light, but it drew too much current and messed with my other lights in a short time. So... the H4 won't fly... darn. Same with an H1 I had lying round... too much draw.

In trying to come up with genious solutions... (which usually means Im gonna screw something up---stay tuned)...I have ordered up a set of skookum LED bulbs. They are comprised of 32 LED's, 24 radial firing (sideways at a 90 degree angle) and 8 at 45 degree angles. I cannot wait till it gets here... I will have to modify the housing again, but should be easy as these are replacements for 1756 bulbs (Tail light base) and I am hoping they will throw more than enough light, and be LOW consumers of precious amps. I will post some pics if it all works out. Maybe some of you are in the same boat?

I have also put a couple of rear facing blue LED's to fire when the brake light comes on... really eye catching. Gonna install a couple as forward facing running lights too. Save the headlight draw for when its needed.

Steve

[crxlurp]

hey let me know how this works. i have been wanting to do this also.

[florida derbi rocket]

Yea..I'm also wondering about better lighting for my Atlantis...Stock is way too dim...keep us posted...

[russya]

I have a HID kit on my Gp1, pricey but it solves the problem. You just need to wire it in and find a place to mount the balast. Just a thought for those of you who want as much light as possible, cost no object

[Red Herring]

So,

I have installed my LED's and holy crap its bright. They are less focused than I would like, but its no problem seeing, or being seen!! Best yet, there is very little draw on the system, so all the mechanical energy can go to driving the wheel, not powering the generator!

I wondered about the HID, but dont know how much draw they take, Sounds good if its working for you!

I got the bulbs from here www.v-leds.com and put one 32 led radial firing in the headlight case, and also mounted one 24led forward firing in each side vent. I hooked up a seperate circuit and switch and now run the lights off my cell phone plug wiring. I found than when the high beam is turned on on the factory switch, it dimms the tail light, and did not like this. Plus, I wanted the ability to turn off the lights completly.

So far so good. I have yet to discover if they will bother oncoming traffic at night, but no worries so far during day light trips!

[florida derbi rocket]

Hey Matt (crxlurp) ...what Kind of Aftermarket bulbs did you use when you blacked out your Derbi Atlantis headlight casing?

[russya]

The hid setup takes 35watts

[crxlurp]

i used some fog lights from autozone. bad idea!! they drained my battery so bad. i could only ride for about 1 hour at night until all my lights would stop working. but they were bright as hell. im gonna check out the LED solution. that sounds like they might work out. i actually tried this once before. i bought bulk leds and created my own setup. they were bright, but i couldnt get them to focus on the road. but these might be a little more focused.

[Red Herring]

Post night riding---The LED are not as bright as i had hoped. They have a really blue white light. They are better than the stock, but not too much better. I would try the HID next. So long as it doesn't draw more than 35W it should work really well ::handleba

[crxlurp]

i just ordered some white led's. they have 18 Leds in each light. i figure that they will be pretty bright. but im not really gonna count on it. i just figured that i would try them. if they arent, then i will find a new use for them.
http://www.led2go.com/12_bulb.jpg
http://i13.ebayimg.com/01/i/02/b5/62/f0_1.JPG

[crxlurp]

the only problem is i dont have $300 bucks to throw down for an HID setup.

[russya]

Well it's around $200 but you're right, it's not cheap.

[mrklaw]

Russya, have you had any problems with heat? Does the HID bulb generate much more heat than a regular bulb?

[russya]

Nope, no problems with heat. They usually don't run as hot as high output bulbs do, at least in my experience.

[anothermbdusted]

led's in general are better they react faster to the imput given to them such as in brake lights and turn signals and as for headlights or any for that matter they are brighter and longer lasting also...they dont use as much energy as a conventional bulb at all and they are considerly cooler to run(heat wise)....if you ever wonder why they are much better then look at the semi's going down the road alot of newer trailers and trucks for that matter have them cause they act faster to the driver imputs and thus allowing the driver behind them to see whats going on faster and over all they are safer to use.you can also see leds better during the day then you can regular ones thus giving you a better chance of some one not running into the back of you...high end cars also use them cause their safety....the problem is that not all companies use them cause they are more expensive then the conventional bulb thats is out there thats why the design of the lens they cover are getting more cuts and angles in them to act as a mirror to provide better brightness for the driver... my .02