LED H3 build for K1200LT

The biggest challange I see is the depth of the hole the H3 goes in with 2 adapters. I played with several types of H3 LED bulbs trying to find a workable solution. Most I tried, the emitter paddle was simply too large to fit through the opening in the reflector as it is a small hole with a strange shape to accommodate the alignment tabs on the metal holder for the bulb. The Low Beam was much easier. I settled on what I call the pencil type bulb that doesn't have a wide paddle holding the LED elements. The next hurdle was the heat sink. I didn't want a fan that could fail so I went with the braided copper strap heat sink type. I found 2 types like that, one with a 43.6 mm long base holding the heat sink and one with a 40.4 mm base. The 43mm was too long as it stuck out the back farther than the clip and it would not stay in. The 40.4 base was a tad too short to be held securely but I fixed that with a tie wrap around the clip and the heat sink straps and that worked very well. I was also able to fit the ballast inside the rear cover so it is better protected. I found a 4800 Lumen bulb that fit the bill. This is for the pre-05 with the integrated HB inside the main fixture and not for the HB mounted below as a separate fixture. I don't know if this would work for the newer fixture. I discarded the plastic piece and used aluminum duct tape to secure the front holder to the bulb, one layer will still fit easily in the hole. Make sure that the bulb goes all the way up and has its notches in the proper tabs before securing it with the tape or the emitters will be out of position with the reflector. One bulb I found required a small amount to be cut off the metal holder to get it all the way up into position. Your experience may vary depending on what you find if you go this route. Here are some pictures of the bulbs I have been working with so you can see what they look like if you go looking for similar. It normally doesn't do any good to tell you what bulb I bought as they are usually short runs and when gone, that bulb is never seen again so you have to find a current offering. The silver base is too long and the ones I saw like that usually had a groove cut in them. The black base is the one I used. I don't have any pictures of the installed bulb.






This one was too long




make sure it fits all the way in.