Since a lot of posts about LED headlights on Wetheads are rather dated and missing a lot of detail about actual installation and formal testing of results, I thought I would post a detailed report on an install I just did of the Cyclops Adventure Sports high and low beam kit for the R1200RT found in the link below:
I am not affiliated with them in any way. This is just a report of my installation and findings and if it is valuable or informative to you, great. My particular bike is a ’16 R1200RT.
Because this is rather lengthy, I thought I would start with comparative results first so you can see the difference in a controlled environment between OEM halogen lamps, and their LED lamps, and then follow up with how I installed them. That way, if your interest fades, then you don’t have to follow the details. Because of the number of pictures, I will need 5 separate posts to finish this report.
First off, the official BMW DVD RepRom has a method for testing and aiming the low beam headlight, so I set my bike up on its center stand in my garage and paced off the distances, applying painter’s tape to the floor and door, following the simple relative geometry listed below.
The bike was never moved again, leaving it in place for OEM light testing, front end disassembly, installation of the LED headlights, and testing. During testing the bike was dropped off the center stand and positioned on a piece of tape on the floor under the center of the front axle while I sat on the seat and balanced it upright. The ESA was set as a single rider – no luggage and Normal settings.
With the garage lights off, I turned on the OEM low beam and took the following normal and closeup pictures. The long blue painter’s tape was set with the upper edge at the high point of the low beam cutoff point. (Yeah, that’s my tail pipe on the piece of cardboard).
Below is a picture of the low beam under the same conditions with the LED headlight installed.
You can easily see that the color of the H7 LED is very white (5600K). You can also see that the average cutoff left and right is below the OEM halogen line and weaker on the right side, but with a center intensity that is quite a bit above the OEM cutoff at center.
Here is a picture of the OEM low and high beams turned on together.
The two shortest tapes were placed with their bottom edges at the top center of the two intense high beam points. You can see their focus is very centered and mostly round.
Here are the Cyclops low and high beam LED bulbs turned on.
I think the overall pattern is comparable to the OEM low and high beam pattern above, just way more intense.
I am not affiliated with them in any way. This is just a report of my installation and findings and if it is valuable or informative to you, great. My particular bike is a ’16 R1200RT.
Because this is rather lengthy, I thought I would start with comparative results first so you can see the difference in a controlled environment between OEM halogen lamps, and their LED lamps, and then follow up with how I installed them. That way, if your interest fades, then you don’t have to follow the details. Because of the number of pictures, I will need 5 separate posts to finish this report.
First off, the official BMW DVD RepRom has a method for testing and aiming the low beam headlight, so I set my bike up on its center stand in my garage and paced off the distances, applying painter’s tape to the floor and door, following the simple relative geometry listed below.
The bike was never moved again, leaving it in place for OEM light testing, front end disassembly, installation of the LED headlights, and testing. During testing the bike was dropped off the center stand and positioned on a piece of tape on the floor under the center of the front axle while I sat on the seat and balanced it upright. The ESA was set as a single rider – no luggage and Normal settings.
With the garage lights off, I turned on the OEM low beam and took the following normal and closeup pictures. The long blue painter’s tape was set with the upper edge at the high point of the low beam cutoff point. (Yeah, that’s my tail pipe on the piece of cardboard).
Below is a picture of the low beam under the same conditions with the LED headlight installed.
You can easily see that the color of the H7 LED is very white (5600K). You can also see that the average cutoff left and right is below the OEM halogen line and weaker on the right side, but with a center intensity that is quite a bit above the OEM cutoff at center.
Here is a picture of the OEM low and high beams turned on together.
The two shortest tapes were placed with their bottom edges at the top center of the two intense high beam points. You can see their focus is very centered and mostly round.
Here are the Cyclops low and high beam LED bulbs turned on.
I think the overall pattern is comparable to the OEM low and high beam pattern above, just way more intense.