Anybody with LED headlight bulbs on a 2015-22 R12xxR?

[JCtx]

Before anything else, I want a bulb with ZERO CANbus issues (no dash lights under any circumstances), and 100% bolt-on, meaning no piercing factory insulation to install a resistor. They'd have to be fully self-contained. The 2 brands I found from RT users (a different application) were PerfLED and Cyclops. Unfortunately, due to the different base on my R bike, which is attached to the connector, both companies told me my bike is incompatible with those bulbs, which require securing the base first, then inserting the bulb (in the middle of the base). Furthermore, the height of those bulbs (1.3"), might be too high on the low/high-beam side, so the only option would be to replace the low beam, which is the one always ON, and the one I want to change the most.

 

Anyway, hopefully the base can be removed from the connector, and it has the cavity in the middle to be able to accept the bulb once base is screwed in place. Looking forward to hear from R bike owners soon, but might be a long wait. Ha ha. Don't want to remove my headlight just to check the connector/base, so will wait for videos of that, or until one of the Philips Diamond Vision bulb craps out. Thank you guys.

[tym4brk]

Hello JCtx! I signed up for this site so I could respond to your query for a LED bulb recommendation. I have a 2020 R1250R Exclusive and I have been on the same quest as you.

 

I'm happy to report that the 2024 version of the AUXITO H7 with fan is error free and works flawlessly. After having the Philips H7 CrystalVision Ultra crap out after only 3k miles, I started experimenting again. I tried two previous versions of the AUXITO in 2022 and gave up because I didn't want to have to mess around with the Philips CANbus adapters. They solved the problem, but were not convenient.

 

Here's a link on Amazon for you. Give them a try! You'll need to adjust the small retaining screws that hold the bulb in a tiny bit as the base is thicker than the halogen bulbs, but it's easy and you can keep the stock clips in place.

 

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0CNLKZSM9

[JCtx]

Thanks a million for doing this; greatly appreciated. Hey, may I ask what exactly did you mean by 'adjusting the small retaining screws a tiny bit'? Did you have to bend the bracket a little??? Just curious, since I don't think you can 'adjust' the tiny screws. Ha ha. Just want to make sure this is fully reversible, since I don't think we would be able to buy those brackets alone. Looking forward to your detailed explanation, and maybe a pic. Thanks again.

[tym4brk]

Absolutely glad to help!

 

 

This image is referenced from this post on the R1200 forum. To remove the factory bulb, the black connector (red and white wires)  is twisted about a quarter turn to the left and then pulled straight out. Those two T20 torx screws (one under the red wire, the other exactly opposite) are what hold in the bulb retainer. Those will need to be unscrewed a quarter to half turn to accommodate the LED replacement bulb's extra thickness.

 

Here's a video that shows how it's put together and exactly what those screws do. Keep in mind, however, replacing the bulbs does not require full removal of the headlight unit or full removal of those screws. You can start watching at 1:04 and stop watching about 20s after that. :-)

 

Another image from that same thread shows how to access the bulbs:

 

 

Once you have new bulbs installed you can snug them down a little. They are there so you can easily swap out the bulb without tools, but are factory adjusted for the thinner base on standard H7 bulbs. You want them just tight enough to prevent the bulb from wiggling around.

 

I have been running AUXITO LED bulbs in two other vehicles for years now and they are outstanding quality. With every new iteration they just keep getting better.

[JCtx]

Thank you for your input. So guess there's no need to modify anything, right? For what I remember when swapping my Philips DiamondVision bulbs, the bases (and 2 screws) had to come out to remove the bulbs. But as long as I can screw the bases back in place without modification, it'd be fine with me. By the way, I just removed the headlight by removing the vertical bolt. Much easier than messing with the tilted headlight with limited space. And by not touching the left horizontal bolt, aim is kept perfectly, so no need to mess with that. I never ride at night, but if I did, I'd probably adjust the headlight to the optimal aim, since I'm sure it's quite low since I always ride solo, and I'm on the light side at 162# (sans gear). Factory aims the headlight to not blind others when motorcycle is fully loaded, so if only ridden solo, it's always way too low. Mine might not be too different, since it has ESA. One of these days I'll ride it at night, and check out how good (or bad) the aim is, and adjust it if needed. Hopefully the new LED bulbs will provide better visibility, like their ad implies. But we'll see:).

 

Will order the bulbs now, thanks to you. I greatly appreciate your help. I didn't want any even intermittent errors, so glad to hear there will be none with these bulbs. Will post report after getting that done. I could always modify the bulb if needed, but seems like the only issue is the thickness of the base, so I might just add washers to properly seat the base, as if I tighten it without washers, I'd probably be too loose, or I'd distort the shape of the brackets. I'll carefully evaluate the issue, and decide what to do once in there. Take care.

[tym4brk]

You really don't need to remove the T20 screws to change the bulb. It twists to the left and pops right out.

 

I had to re-aim with the new bulbs. Easy enough to do. I often use the "are they flashing me?" approach. If yes, lower a little bit, rinse and repeat.

 

I don't ride at night much either. For me the upgrade is mostly about being visible to oncoming vehicles.

[JCtx]

Well, bad news. Just replaced the bulbs, and BOTH threw an error right away. So my bike didn't like them. I didn't start the engine, but the regular or Philips bulbs never threw a warning, so the new LEDs are obviously not generating enough current draw to appease the computer. Guess will have to return them (if I can). Oh well. Also ordered a large 200cc syringe that is absolute crap, so at least I'm returning 2 things. Ha ha.

 

But before returning them, can you please do me a favor? Go and turn the ignition on your bike ON, then pull the high beam switch to the 'flashing' mode (towards the rear), to turn the headlight on. And tell me if your bike throws a code. Mine threw it almost immediately, but leave it on for 10 seconds or so. Also push the high beam switch forward a few seconds, to engage high beam. I got both errors, but both bulbs worked perfectly fine. Turned ignition off and back on, and even though the light was off, it still threw the errors again. That was weird, but guess it remembered. And I could hear the fans on both, which are kind of loud. Ha ha. But as long as they don't crap out over time (which is a big IF), I don't care. If your bike doesn't throw codes, then I'd return them for sure. It wouldn't make sense to throw codes with engine off, and not with engine running, but  just in case, I want you to try, if you don't mind, since I never turn the headlights on with the engine off, except now to try the bulbs. Looking forward to your findings. Thanks man.

 

Oh, and there was zero need to adjust anything. The base is 'springy', so I seated the screws like always, and zero issues. But I noticed more play on the LED bulbs, so I made sure the bulbs were perfectly rotated (at 0-deg vertical) before tightening the screws. And yes, I noticed you can just turn the bases to remove them, but removed the screws anyway to make sure there was no need to modify anything (and it wasn't).

 

EDIT: Never mind. I'm removing them right now, and will return them. Already got the code from Amazon. I'm done trying to fit H7 LED bulbs. Will just buy spare Philips DiamondVision bulbs, and call it a day.

[tym4brk]

Sorry to have missed your post. I use both without any codes thrown.

 

I wonder if software version has anything to do with it? I had my bike at the dealer for one last service before warranty expired last year and they updated my software. This update occurred after my first attempts that threw error codes. It didn't occur to me until now that maybe the software update helped.

 

2020 R1250R (USA Spec) with software version 023_011_060

[JCtx]

I bet that's it, since mine is also 2020. It had the latest software when I bought it Oct 02, 2021, which I don't remember, but do remember it wasn't '-060' (ha ha). Dealer would charge me to update the software, but even if it was free, I wouldn't take it just for that. So unless something happens to the bike that requires taking it to a dealer (I do all the maintenance myself), I'll leave it alone. What I did after this failed attempt to install LED bulbs is put the high-beam bulb on the low beam, which was never used, so I should still have good life out of those bulbs. But will order another pair to have spares. Not a big deal. And the blue bulbs go with the blue on the HP paint scheme. Ha ha. Thank you for responding. At least I know now if I ever get the software updated, I could buy those bulbs again and not have issues. My bike is working perfectly, so rather not mess with the software. Sometimes they affect performance negatively, due to stricter emissions laws (overly lean), so rather leave it alone. Oh, forgot to ask: Did you change the license plate bulb to LED? You need a CANbus one there too, but never found any. If you did, please post a link to which, in case I ever change the H7 ones. I replaced the turn-signal bulbs with the excellent Weiser ones ($170 for the 2 pairs). Take care.

[tym4brk]

I have not replaced the license plate bulb yet. I have a tail tidy to install and thought it would be a good time. I don't know for sure that bulb is monitored, but I have the same bulb in the map lights of my car and will pull one and give it a try to see what happens. I'll report back when I get motivated. When I first got my bike, I disassembled the rear end and started to install this tail tidy and decided it wasn't for me, but since I can't return it, I'll give it another go.

 

I replaced the turn signal bulbs too... I went with the Dynamic Motorrad offering.

 

On the software update... my bike didn't have the sport menu item and once I learned about it, I wanted to have it. My phone was also not staying connected to the bike reliably, so a little research showed a software update would fix that, so I asked and they did it for free at my last visit before the warranty expired. I don't do music or calls while riding, but I do like some of the features of the Connected app. A side effect was a bit smoother upshifts with the quick shifter.

[JCtx]

Thank you for your input. I tried the Evotec tail tidy, and I was highly disappointed at the fit, and the look too, to be honest. I left it on ONE ride, where I went over a little bit of water (crossing the highway), and got crap all over my tail bag, AND the entire back of my jacket (it was a b*tch to clean). I can only imagine the mess if I caught rain. So took it out upon returning home, and sold it for half the price. Oh well. I didn't even try an LED license plate bulb, because I read even older bikes than mine were monitored, and threw a CEL. And couldn't find a CANbus compatible one that small. I remember seeing one somewhere, but I wasn't going to order just that, as it'd be super expensive with the shipping. But  very curious if your bike throws a CEL. Maybe with the latest software it won't, so in your case, I'd definitely give it a try, and see what happens. The only thing I did with the stock tail is cut that ugly reflector hanging below the license plate, and looks much better now. I attached the license plate with 4 of those reflector fasteners, so don't need any more than that.

 

I also replaced the turn-signal bulbs with the super bright Weiser LED boards, which are way brighter than those form-over-function Euro ones, and look great, since they're all black, but you can see the amber LEDs a little (see pic below). But yes, the others look better, BUT are too small for our bike, AND too close for safety too IMO, so I wasn't sold on those. These boards have worked flawlessly for 2 years, and no CANbus issues at all.

 

Finally, the 2nd latest software update, which I have, took care of the connectivity issue, but I stopped using it, because I carry my phone on my tail bag (connected to a USB charger), and I was still having connection issues... but the manual says NOT to put the phone behind the rider, for some reason, so it's not the bike. I tried it in my pocket, and zero issues, so I know the connectivity is fine now. But I don't like anything attached to the front of my bike, so I just connect my Cardo to my phone, and I can listen to music (Spotify), or talk radio (SiriusXM). I might even be able to listen to voice directions if I use Google maps, but haven't tried that yet. My bike had the nav prep, but removed it immediately on day 1. Ha ha. I already had the correct bolts ordered (from non-nav bikes), and also a connector cap, to remove the nav prep like it was never there. Anyway, not sure if the latest software version you have has any further connectivity improvements, but mine is fine. What I'd definitely like is a smoother quick shifter, as mine is not that refined on the 2-3 upshifts. I haven't even tried 1-2, since it might be brutal, if it's worse than the 2-3. Ha ha. But after 3rd, it's acceptable. All downshifts are acceptable (even 2-1), although I was expecting a bit more aggressive rev-matching.