Sealed LED light on a 2014?

[Houtman_imp]

This is a question for Jim 21680 , this morning I was trying to install the H4 R3 you mentioned in your post.
Did you find that there was enough room in the head light bucket or did you have to "force " it all in .
It seems too tight to get all the parts into the bucket , I tried it on a 2014 DLX. Thanks for your help !

[Houtman_imp]

Early this year I fitted a Honda chrome headlight shell on my 2014 CB 1100 ( it was made for the CB 1100 ) It is a little more shallow than the black shell and therefor the LED H4 R3 does not fit !
I might try it on my 2013 ( also with chrome bucket) but I have not much hope that it will fit in that one either.
People with chrome buckets be aware !

[Jim21680_imp]

Houtman, sorry....I never realized the chrome bucket was a smaller size than the black one. Why would Honda do that??!!

On my 13, it's somewhat of a tight fit (to get the LED driver in), but it did work for me. I lined the driver along the bottom of the bucket, if I remember correctly.

If you're out of options, I wonder how well the black bucket would handle being chrome-plated. (or painted silver, etc)

[Houtman_imp]

It is no big deal , I will try it on my 2013 and if it does not fit I will use it on my wife's CRV when a bulbs goes out. It might just be a tiny bit smaller but just enough to make it not fit.

[DBM_imp]

I just swapped my stock H4 bulb for a Sylvania Silverstar Ultra 9003. Big improvement in the headlight performance. $20.00 at your local auto parts store.

[max]

DONE!

The R3 led unit is installed in the cb1100, it was a bit of a fiddle to get it in there and to make a long story short it ended up with the copper braid sticking out of the slot in the back of the bucket and the regulator stuck outside the other opening.
this also aids in cooling the led equipment because it does develop some heat, the rubber dust cover was not re-installed.

Current consumption was measured at 1.5 ampere at 14 volts as opposed to 5 amperes for the standard H4 halogen light, the low beam uses a measured 18 watts and the combined low/high uses 22 watts, the regulator maintains the output at these levels regardless of the supply voltage, a bit less than the specs but i have no complaints compared to the light output.

For those interested the bike draws 5.8 amps with the engine off after the pump has primed using the H4 halogen and 3.17 amps with the led for the whole bike measured at the negative battery lead to the starter motor with a dc clampmeter.
That is nearly half the current consumption.

The beam is very nice and substantially brighter, it also has some minor blotching that can be seen in the lower part of the low beam but is not noticeable when riding.

So my thanks go to jim for presenting this option and the positive long term feedback of it.

Here is my version of a youtube comparison during the evening, the video is on the dark side, it is better in real life but it does give a comparative view of the upgrade, it is done with two different bikes, the hornet 919 and the cb1100, the hornet has an identical headlight to the cb1100 and the flickering that can sometimes be seen is the effect of some of the led streetlights because of the frame rate of the camera, there are no artifacts from the R3 led unit.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Kgo7Mp2T...e=youtu.be

[Houtman_imp]

I gave up installing the LED light as I did not want anything sticking outside the headlight bucket incase rain would cause a problem.
It was a shame as I do like the LED light output. As mentioned before it seems that the chrome bucket is even a little more shallow than the standard black ones.

[GoldOxide_imp]

Nuttin' wrong with the ol' school bulb. Fitting for the bike. It still looks great.

[max]

Houtman did you know that these R3 led's are p68 rated?
they work under water; 3:05; https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JxPhNMwlLP8

[Houtman_imp]

Max , thanks for that video : is the driver also waterproof incase that is somewhat outside the shell ?
I might try again on my 2013 and see what it will look like with some parts outside the bucket.