New soon-to-be ST rider in Brissy.

[Biggles]

You can also buy H4 LEDs with a little fan on the back that are very bright but a bit diffuse.  The Narva 120s and 150s are good but only last about 20,000 km before they burn out.
The Battlaxes are OEM.  Adequate and affordable.

[DaleAP]

You can also buy H4 LEDs with a little fan on the back that are very bright but a bit diffuse.  The Narva 120s and 150s are good but only last about 20,000 km before they burn out.
The Battlaxes are OEM.  Adequate and affordable.

Very interesting! I had been going mad trying to work out why there is a fan noise behind the dash. Maybe it has those globes. I'll have to pull them out and look. 

[Biggles]

Very interesting! I had been going mad trying to work out why there is a fan noise behind the dash. Maybe it has those globes. I'll have to pull them out and look. 

You would expect white light if they're LEDs.
Don't forget the radiator fan- it's pretty loud.

[DaleAP]

You would expect white light if they're LEDs.
Don't forget the radiator fan- it's pretty loud.

Definitely not the radiator, and it comes on as soon as I turn the ignition on.

[ruSTynutz]

You can also buy H4 LEDs with a little fan on the back that are very bright but a bit diffuse. 

Fitting H4 LEDs will also mean your bike will no longer be roadworthy! 
Which is why I went for the Halogen H4s, as tempting as fitting LEDs were...

[Williamson]

... Fitting H4 LEDs will also mean your bike will no longer be roadworthy! 

Why so?  (He asks, even though this may have been covered previously.)

[DaleAP]

Why so?  (He asks, even though this may have been covered previously.)

I've found this in an Aussie 4WD site...

"The short of it is if you take a vehicle that didn’t come with LED or HID head lights and you install them just by changing the globes, its not legal. It’s actually really simple; halogen lights have a specific reflector (the housing) that is designed to distribute the light evenly and safely in front of your vehicle. When you throw and LED or HID globe inside a normal reflector that light gets scattered everywhere as a pose to the one direction, blinding oncoming traffic and annoying the absolute daylights out of those driving around you."


I checked and my bike does have the LED globes with fans fitted. I'll be getting rid of them not because they're illegal, but because they're useless!

[ruSTynutz]

Thanks Dale, that explains it pretty well...

When I bought my ST it had HIDs fitted and the previous owner reckoned they were the bees knees...
I reckon they were bloody awful with the spread of light all over the place.
Yes, they were bright but I got sick of oncoming cars "flashing" me so I ripped them out, put the halogen bulbs in and now I enjoy riding at night.

What surprised me was that it passed a roadworthy with the HIDs fitted as, if the mechanic had done his job properly it shouldn't have... 

[Williamson]

I checked and my bike does have the LED globes with fans fitted. I'll be getting rid of them not because they're illegal, but because they're useless!

That's good enough reason there.  You really didn't need the prefacing quote.

I've found this in an Aussie 4WD site...

"The short of it is if you take a vehicle that didn’t come with LED or HID head lights and you install them just by changing the globes, its not legal. It’s actually really simple; halogen lights have a specific reflector (the housing) that is designed to distribute the light evenly and safely in front of your vehicle. When you throw and LED or HID globe inside a normal reflector that light gets scattered everywhere as a pose to the one direction, blinding oncoming traffic and annoying the absolute daylights out of those driving around you."

Having said that, an unattributed quote from a 4WD site is possibly only one step up from a Facebook group, especially this bit ....

... as a pose to ...

I suppose he / she meant to say as opposed to.  The younger generations are often criticised for poor spelling, grammar, punctuation, etc.. What hope have they got if / when they're fed this stuff?