Jump to content
IGNORED

LED MR16 Bulbs


The Rocketman

Recommended Posts

The Rocketman

I have MotoLights on 3 of my BMWs. I've been very happy over the years with their performance and reliability. Granted, they are more for people to see me, than for me to see people, but sometimes they do both.

 

All these years, I've been using standard 50 watt MR16 Halogen bulbs, mostly from the big-box stores. They usually run about $10.00 for a box of 3; they don't last forever, the beam angle/spread is kind of wide and the light output is adequate. That is, until I discovered the beauty of LEDs.

 

MotoLights sells LED bulbs for these fixtures, and as much as I respect & like Tina over there, $135 for a set of bulbs was somewhat prohibitive. I've read numerous threads here and elsewhere, and there were not too many alternatives that seemed to please everyone. So I researched this to death.....

 

Finally, some great news!

 

I just received and installed Kobi LED MR16-560-50-NFL 6 watt LED (50 watt equivalent) 25 degree Narrow Flood bulbs. The spec sheet shows them as 5000K (super White for sure); 560 Lumens (super Bright for sure); a bulb life of 25,000 hours; and with a 5 year warranty. The Kobi order code is also K7L9. They have a GU5.3 base with an aluminum housing. (I ordered LED-MR16-400-50-NFL but received the 560's instead which I think is just 20 Lumens brighter).

 

For those of you with MotoLights using wide beam spread Halogens, this bulb is a winner. It fits just fine inside the MotoLights housing with all the standard gaskets, glass cover, etc. The 2 bulbs will only draw 12 watts, as opposed to 100 watts with the Halogens, have no filament to break and run absolutely cool, as compared to the hot halogens.

 

Best of all, I picked these up direct from 1000bulbs.com for only $ 9.99 per bulb, plus $ 9.93 shipping. You could save about $5.00 in shipping if you order it through 1000bulb's Amazon site. They offer a 30-day money back guarantee if you don't like them. You just pay return shipping.

 

Pictures below do not do justice. The photos actually show how dull the 50w halogen looks compared to the new LED, but in real life its almost incredible how much brighter and whiter these new bulbs are, and I like the narrow beam spread too.

 

Side-by-Side Front View:

Front%20side-by-side_zps56pmgk4x.jpg

 

Side-by-Side Rear View:

Rear%20side-by-side_zpsrk6maxgq.jpg

 

Far:

front1_zps4xscmynv.jpg

 

Closer:

front2_zpshxbydyhf.jpg

 

Closest:

front3_zpsiqvgdeef.jpg

 

Here's the link to 1000bulbs:

https://www.1000bulbs.com/product/113272/LED-MR1640050NFL.html

 

And their Amazon store to save some $$$ in shipping:

http://www.amazon.com/Electric-7-watt-50-Watt-Indoor-Dimmable/dp/B00IKUDSSI/ref=sr_1_1?m=A1OKQR6K61KBEK&s=hi&ie=UTF8&qid=1440707379&sr=1-1&keywords=k7l9&pebp=1440707382988&perid=18ZFM5AW37K42W81VM0E

 

Once they're installed, you can marvel and smile like me, just don't stare at them. I still can't see after about 20 minutes.

 

Hope this helps some.

 

Over time I'll let you know how these worked out. Can't wait for darkness to get here.....

Larry

Link to comment

Nice. It isn't often that you can improve results and save some cash.

 

 

What bulbs are you using for the parking lights? I'd like something with that color to match the HID low beams. The cheap Ebay LEDs work fine in my cars but are quite erratic on the RT. Sometimes work great, sometimes flicker, sometimes some segments don't light, sometimes the circuit shuts down, etc. Went back to the W5W lamps but they are so yellow they nearly match the turn signals.

Link to comment
The Rocketman

Funny you should ask......

When I first got the bike, I replaced the parking light bulbs with Osram MiniXen 2886X bulbs recommended by another member here. And they also worked fine, until I was "enlightened" by LEDs.

 

Just last week, I replaced those with:

Sylvania Premium White 168/194/2825 LED color: 6000K. About $20.00-$ 25.00 for the pair off Fleabay. Plenty more for sale there, and a major, major improvement. Weird when they first go on, they flicker (like pop) for like a millionth of a second, but work perfectly, don't flicker while they're on, and have no CanBus issues at all.

 

I did find that I had to ever so gently crimp the copper springy grippy thing inside the plastic bulb holder base (whatever the heck they're called) to hold the bulb a little snugger. Used some very tiny needle nose pliers. Probably not necessary, but my OCD won't go away. Try it without crimping first and see how it feels to you. I guess you could also very gently bend out the bulbs 2 wires too if you wanted, but again it may not be necessary at all.

 

If you like pure, bright white light, you'll like these too.

 

Here's just an example of where to get them with photos of the bulb & packaging.

 

http://www.ebay.com/itm/SYLVANIA-168-194-2825-LED-Premium-White-Miniature-Bulb-Pack-of-1-/381239767120?hash=item58c3a93050

Link to comment
  • 2 weeks later...
I have MotoLights on 3 of my BMWs. I've been very happy over the years with their performance and reliability. Granted, they are more for people to see me, than for me to see people, but sometimes they do both.

 

All these years, I've been using standard 50 watt MR16 Halogen bulbs, mostly from the big-box stores. They usually run about $10.00 for a box of 3; they don't last forever, the beam angle/spread is kind of wide and the light output is adequate. That is, until I discovered the beauty of LEDs.

 

MotoLights sells LED bulbs for these fixtures, and as much as I respect & like Tina over there, $135 for a set of bulbs was somewhat prohibitive. I've read numerous threads here

 

 

 

 

and elsewhere, and there were not too many alternatives that seemed to please

 

 

everyone. So I researched this to death.....

 

Finally, some great news!

 

I just received and installed Kobi LED MR16-560-50-NFL 6 watt LED (50 watt equivalent) 25 degree Narrow Flood bulbs. The spec sheet shows them as 5000K (super White for sure); 560 Lumens (super Bright for sure); a bulb life of 25,000 hours; and with a 5 year warranty. The Kobi order code is also K7L9. They have a GU5.3 base with an aluminum housing. (I ordered LED-MR16-400-50-NFL but received the 560's instead which I think is just 20 Lumens brighter).

 

 

 

For those of you with MotoLights using wide beam spread Halogens, this bulb is a winner. It fits just fine inside the MotoLights housing with all the standard gaskets, glass cover, etc. The 2 bulbs will only draw 12 watts, as opposed to 100 watts with the Halogens, have no filament to break and run absolutely cool, as compared to the hot halogens.

 

Best of all, I picked these up direct from 1000bulbs.com for only $ 9.99 per bulb, plus $ 9.93 shipping. You could save about $5.00 in shipping if you order it through 1000bulb's Amazon site. They offer a 30-day money back guarantee if you don't like them. You just pay return shipping.

 

Pictures below do not do justice. The photos actually show how dull the 50w halogen looks compared to the new LED, but in real life its almost incredible how much brighter and whiter these new bulbs are, and I like the narrow beam spread too.

So will these fit a 1100x piaa light? Appears the same

Side-by-Side Front View:

Front%20side-by-side_zps56pmgk4x.jpg

 

Side-by-Side Rear View:

Rear%20side-by-side_zpsrk6maxgq.jpg

 

Far:

front1_zps4xscmynv.jpg

 

Closer:

front2_zpshxbydyhf.jpg

 

Closest:

front3_zpsiqvgdeef.jpg

 

Here's the link to 1000bulbs:

https://www.1000bulbs.com/product/113272/LED-MR1640050NFL.html

 

And their Amazon store to save some $$$ in shipping:

http://www.amazon.com/Electric-7-watt-50-Watt-Indoor-Dimmable/dp/B00IKUDSSI/ref=sr_1_1?m=A1OKQR6K61KBEK&s=hi&ie=UTF8&qid=1440707379&sr=1-1&keywords=k7l9&pebp=1440707382988&perid=18ZFM5AW37K42W81VM0E

 

Once they're installed, you can marvel and smile like me, just don't stare at them. I still can't see after about 20 minutes.

 

Hope this helps some.

 

Over time I'll let you know how these worked out. Can't wait for darkness to get here.....

Larry

Link to comment

My 4 new ones for the MotoLights for my '02 R1200C and '04 Montauk are on the FedEx truck scheduled for delivery today. Packing my '09RT later and heading for Winchester, VA at o'dark-thirty Thursday then to Elkins, WVA for the next 2 days.

Wooo! Hooo!

 

Edit that: Bulbs just arrived.....

Link to comment

Nice work on this guys.

 

Hi watt halogens are very rapidly approaching obsolete for all uses.

The only place I still prefer the halogens is long range driving lights. They provide better depth and color perception when at similar output. I find this useful spotting deer in trees in eastern US but it would be less useful out west or desert racing where max possible output would be more useful.

Link to comment
  • 2 weeks later...

I replaced my Motolight halogens in 2011. I think they were a wide angle 5W OptiLED, ~4000K color. The light is better than the original 35W halogens.

 

I believe at that time, you had to be careful what LED you bought for the Motolights. Many MR16 LEDs had fit problems. The key was to be certain the lense area of the LED did not protrude beyond the bezel and the front to back distance is correct.

 

Since 2011 my Motolights have done fine. I have had one side get some water condensing on the inside and it concerned me that the electronics in the LED may get effected (one weakness of a LED). But I opened the Motolight and allowed to dry over night before. So far, no issues.

Link to comment

The ones I got recently fit just fine front to rear, they don't crush the ceramic base you plug into, and the 2 MotoLight gaskets (one clear one around the bulb housing, and the red O-Ring) fit perfectly. They do not protrude out and fit under the glass lens too. I now have them on all 3 of my BMWs.

Link to comment
Kobi LED MR16-560-50-NFL 6 watt LED (50 watt equivalent) 25 degree Narrow Flood bulbs. The spec sheet shows them as 5000K (super White for sure); 560 Lumens (super Bright for sure); a bulb life of 25,000 hours; and with a 5 year warranty. The Kobi order code is also K7L9. They have a GU5.3 base with an aluminum housing. (I ordered LED-MR16-400-50-NFL but received the 560's instead which I think is just 20 Lumens brighter).

 

One thing to note is that a decent 50W halogen has an output of 800-900 lumens. I think Kobi is stretching it a bit when they say "50W equivalent".

 

But really, what are lumens?? Well, it is the light output. More lumen output will brighten up the road more (as long as the comparison lamp has the same beamwidth). If you really want to brighten far down the road, then you want the lumen output high and perhaps a narrow beam. What I really like about LED lamps is that their "beam candlepower" or what I would call "blinding brightness" is higher than a halogen even though they may have lower lumen output. This gets you noticed right away (which is why I have Motolights).

 

Lastly, 25,000 hour for the LED compared to maybe 2,000 for the halogen is awsome. And the LED lifetime doesn't usually get degraded with vibrations. However, a LED will quickly loose lifetime if it isn't kept cool. But I think the Motolight aluminum housing in contact with the LED does a great job getting the heat out (and 6W is much less heat to begin with).

Link to comment
One thing to note is that a decent 50W halogen has an output of 800-900 lumens. I think Kobi is stretching it a bit when they say "50W equivalent".

 

I just read an interesting article about 50W equiv LED MR16's. Seems halogen MR16's loose a lot of light from the main beam (called spill). LED MR16's typically have much less spill. SO, perhaps the Kobi beam really does contain the equivalent light as a 50W !

Link to comment

Considering the main reasons for this discussion are more conspicuity, seeing further down the road, and overall rider safety, anything brighter, whiter and bigger (within reason) has to be a good thing.

Link to comment
  • 1 month later...

Hi Rocketman, do you have any pictures of the assembly complete and dismantled?

Motolights are not easily available here, so was thinking of fabricating something similar.

Link to comment
The Rocketman

Sorry I don't. There are photos of the complete sets on Ebay or on Motolight's site. Can't imagine where you'd get a dismantled photo.

Link to comment
  • 2 weeks later...
  • 7 months later...

Anyone have an issue with radio interference from these LEDs installed in motolights housings? I was working on a 2002 R1150RT last night with aftermarket LEDs installed in motolights housings and the FM reception turns to static when the lights are turned on. I powered them up one at a time from a separate battery to isolate them and the same issue occurred so it appears to be a RF emissions issue. I'm not sure which LED bulbs they are.

Link to comment

Archived

This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.

×
×
  • Create New...