Experimental stages. Putting pair of XMLT50E4CT NEUTRAL WHITE SMD in existing 4" reflector.

Other Types of Lights LED Headlamps
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…. and I’m thinking it might turn out to be more trouble than it’s worth.

If I look hard enough I might come up with a replacement 4” lens assembly with two to three LEDs of comparable output and far better pattern spread.

Thing is I’d prefer to add my own LEDs of brand, level, volts, and color temp.

This is what might come of an initial attempt at mounting the two XML2 LEDs (which just arrived from digikey) in my existing four inch lens drawn exactly to scale…

Pardon this from a ‘newbie’ but this seems to be making zero use of the reflector itself. No?
And obviously I’m going to either end up with two separate bright spots ahead of me or if I cant the LEDs inward then I’ve made even less possible use of the existing lens. Seems like a non starter. The lens was designed for a filament burning near the focal point of its parabola.

What would be ideal would be a 4 inch diameter replacement lens alone with two to three separate parabolas within such as I’ve seen in most larger LED flashlights.

Anyone know a link for such? I’ve looked all over ebay and only found flashlights, not replacement reflectors.

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Someone else noted in this forum that he’d been dismissed from candlepowerforums, apparently for persisting in discussing his attempt to retrofit his own LEDs for motorcycle headlamp use.

I honestly do not know the legal aspects of this. Is a forum really, truly, culpable for any one man’s attempt to strike out on his own and DIY such a thing? Can the forum face litigation?

Of course, we’re all responsible, or ought to be, for addressing and even reporting activity on the web that might obviously endanger others. But what seems the tone at CPFs is an overzealous concern that such lighting experimentation may endanger the lives of others on the roadway and CPFs has taken up the cause to police that content themselves. If they aren’t in fact liable for engaging in such discussion, then this is just plain creepy.

Myself, not knowing better, entered into the forum with my first post wishing to discuss improving the lighting on my Puch moped. After the initiatory hand slap for any newcomer to dare propose anything so dangerous, I assured them that none of the Puchs that I own are registered/licensed for the road.

Still met with a utter intolerant silence despite a few more questions in the manner.

So, as the other gentleman stated in a thread here, “I’m very happy to have found you”.

Now the question.

This “LED Glass Diffuser/Collator”, at 100mm, would replace the existing 4” glass lens of my headlamp with very little modification.

Presently the glass diffuser on the 4 inch diameter (nominally 100mm) headlight is a standard type designed for an incandescent filament placed near the focal point of the parabolic reflector; nearer or farther depending on desired beamwidth.

So what can be expected of replacing this glass collimator with the LED designed one linked to above? Or are these diffusers designed exclusively for use with flat (non encapsulated) led arrays such as this….?

http://www.superbrightleds.com/moreinfo/high-powered/vollong-10w-high-power-planar-cob-led/979/2386/

Thanks for any encouragement.

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Im having trouble understanding exactly what you are trying to do here……Headlight? For road use? Want cutoff to avoid glare? want a beam like original but brighter? Want a big round circle of light?

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I did mention that I aimed for “better pattern spread”. What I have currently provides very little useful angle width to safely distinguish views to the sides. Less the fault of the ‘pattern’ itself and more the consequence of so little light output to spread around. Sorry. That might have suggested that I wanted to change it. But that “goal” implied improving it.

Strictly off road, unlicensed for road, use. Presently the 12v 20w halogen run directly off of the magneto is dim orange at idle and almost useful at full rpm. A six volt bulb is unreliable since these systems are renowned for burning bulbs. Headlight, taillight, instrument lights all share the coil and are additive. When one burns out, the other two carry more. If two burn out, subsequent bulbs quickly follow.

Unless it truly is just industry hype. If considerable numbers of utube videos, a web full of anecdotal praise for LEDs ability to provide greater useful output per watt (limited watts in my case), in increasingly improving patterns emulating halogens and HIDs, particularly in my situation where I have limited output from the lighting coil… if that’s an unrealistic goal for me then I’ll drop the idea.

The “big round circle of light” seems a bit facetious. I have discovered, soon after posting the same at another forum, that the lens I describe would in fact scatter into pretty much a big round circle of light. I did not know that. I was quickly set straight. The presumption that I would not want that is pretty clear I think.

Why not rather begin with the assumption that I want something as close to the original beam but brighter? As another gentleman did in explaining it to me directly?

A 2.9v XMLBWT-00-0000-000LT50E4CT-ND
LED NEUTRAL WHITE XLAMP, if my comparatively anemic generator output is optimally rectified and boosted/regulated, is capable of providing far more useful light output, close to the original pattern depth and spread if I utilize an off-the-shelf bicycle headlight, than an incandescent or halogen. Correct? No?

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Im going to be frank here. I dont see ANY other replies in here and I was covering all bases of YOUR desires…… Slapping leds in a reflector will also yield a round beam, or using the existing reflector will not focus very well.You posted the lense and thats why I added the circle description which obviously led you to a rethink. First bit of help there.

Now thats out of the way, do you actually intend to use this on road? I cant help you much if you insist on “pulling wool” on me…
Beam pattern is very important for you and others and DIY headlights arent the best idea. There are pricey LED units out there(including 4in) which are properly focused with cutoffs to avoid blinding glare and are legal in the US (dot approved). Though likely not useable with 6v….Possibly mod them? Not fun on a $500 headlight…

If you insist that it will be used off road, use a legit LED reflector and retrofit that into the existing bucket. You could also use a lense such as this which turns the beam rectangular via flutes on the flat side of the lense……

I have a lense of that concept here and can takes some shots if you would like, comparing output of a bare LED, aspheric lense, and that fluted lense. You can also look up some Foglights which may suit your needs. Hella DE to be specific, they have the same kind of fluted lense on em!

One other option is to find a Plug and play light bar of small size, I have seen them in 4in rounds.

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Is that 100mm glass diffuser an example of Aspheric? I’ve seen the spread of flashlight beams described as rotationally symmetrical, casting as much light up as down (and, obviously to the sides).

I’m guessing that my halogen headlight bulb and chromed plastic reflector by themselves have likewise symmetrical output, and it’s the OEM glass lens’ embossed pattern that provides optimal forward and sideways visibility.

In one or another wiki I read that there are two primary reasons for this rectangular or downward oriented spread. Most obviously oncoming drivers must be considered. But for off road use (as well as road use) a round pattern (rotationally symmetrical) limits a riders’ forward depth of vision by desensitizing the retinas with unnecessary light reflected from unimportant objects above him. The side to side scatter is a useful and necessary trade off for navigation.

If I wanted to emulate my present beam, without wasting light scattered into the treetops……

My present 4” embossed glass lens may not be as optimally suited as the fluted design, but what if I were to mount this

http://dx.com/p/3-cree-reflector-orange-peel-aluminium-18mm-x-50mm-11921
at the base of my present reflector bucket and, with the OEM patterned glass lens in place, move the LED reflector in or out while observing the pattern against my white garage door?

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I did some work like this some time ago, purely experimental, to find out how well the large die high powered LEDs would work as a whole. The only use I could think of for them was in a security flood light (don’t need since I’m in an apartment) or for automotive use. So for the fun of it I mounted them in the fog light housings of my car. It’s more challenging to retrofit them for a particular purpose than to just play and point them around the yard (with a really long cord).

I have a somewhat lengthy post up on bimmerfest with beam shots and information, but would caution anyone looking to actually do this that it’s highly dangerous to other traffic. I never actually use these lights and have replaced them back with the stock incandescent housings. I wasn’t too worried about posting the information up on a BMW forum since just about everyone would need to reference BLF or CPF for information where they’d find cautionary notes like this or shunning at CPF.

If you’re interested I can post some beamshots of the lights installed in my car to further illustrate how completely unsuitable they are for any on road use.

link

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Thanks for that.
And I do not misapprehend the danger of experimenting with this stuff on the road. It’d be about as foolhardy as running a compressor off of your serpentine belt and installing four freight train horns on the hood, and just as big a target for police. In fact, I expect bicycle lights are a bit overdue for some regulation. Some of the brightest are irritating to the point of distraction when coming at you.

I’ve got a couple of other road bikes in the garage, an ’84 R65 BMW and a 125cc Yamaha Zuma. I have zero interest in putting either of these clapped out 50cc Puchs on the road. I have plenty of acres out back for puttsing around. But I got the bug to play with some of these new lights available especially since you can monkey with them so cheaply right now. It’s too bad I don’t have at least 100cc to work with in a trail bike that isn’t going on 35 years old. At this output it’s become quite a challenge. I should just drop it at this point, but who knows why we refuse to put some things down?

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Nice choice on the 84 R65, I have a 75 R90 too. Just be careful strapping the LED array to the moped because it doesn’t have a regulated output. As the voltage drops, the driver may try to pull additional current and cause problems with the generator. You may need to boost the output or install a battery to supply a minimum level of power at low RPM.

It’s not a completely home built solution, but I use these lights mounted to the cylinder heads of my motorcycle. I realize they’re not DOT approved but neither are the vast majority of lights used as marker or fill lights on motorcycles. I agree that regulations should be enforced for lights that are blinding to others, but I’ve had more issues with cycling lights (FAST STROBE!!!) than I have with motorcycle lights. Don’t get me started on HIDs in reflector housings though.
If the above link doesn’t work, search ebay for “27w led work light”. They should be about $60 for a pair. Mine are nice and heavily finned for heat sinking, have decent TIR optics, and have a built in driver for a 12v supply. When pointed slightly downwards they are very kind to oncoming traffic and offer a great fill in front of the bike and almost 90 degrees to the sides of the road (DEER).
That might be a better option than your reflector based design for cost, aiming, and durability.

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! http://i802.photobucket.com/albums/yy303/svejkovat/SDC11518.jpg!

I like everything about this bike but its irritatingly low 32/9 final drive ratio. I can leave a stop sign in second gear pretty easily, but would not want to have to replace the clutch sooner than I need to. In first gear I have to hit second within the first 25 feet. I drove a friend’s K bike around last month and I could pretty much stay in first gear around town. I’m commonly in third on the same roads. 32/9, I suppose, was meant to accommodate a relatively small engine by road bike standards, two-up with full luggage. Or for off roading. Either situation I’m in less than 1 percent of the time. I’m looking at options to put a taller ring/pinion back there.

Sorry for the OT.