I just love my leds, the stock light on my gsx-s is criminally insuficient, so first stuck some plus 130 narva's in, abit better, but still lacking light where you need it on a m/cycle- corner entry illumination", the shape of it's lenses is "designed" in such a way that as you lean into the corner , 80% of the little light you had disappears. this design is in many
roadbike headlights, obviously the designers don't ride a bike at night, my old gsxr1100 g had two round headlights which when fitted with 100 watt bulbs gave very good lighting even when cornering, so I've fitted two 36watt auxbeam bulbs into my gsx-s - it may be slightly more annoying to other roadusers
but I can now see when entering corners, so if I have to remove them for wof, it will only be for as short a period as nessesary
Yep, the shape of the headlight is the main factor. Even with twin 100 W bulbs, my Blackbird was poor on twisty roads because of the sharp edge cutoff. Like your GSX-R 1100, my Street Triple had round headlights which gave a much better sideways spread. The OEM bulbs were crap but I replaced them with the same wattage xenon Nightbreakers which were far superior. Comfortably did one of the 1600km/24 hour rides with them. On the GSX-S, I use the Ring brand xenon +130. Adequate for the Coromandel coast road at night but not outstanding. No plans to upgrade though as the bike is being replaced this year.
I put a full set of led bulbs into the std housings on my Ford ranger. When I got a warrant just before xmas, the guys were saying amongst themselves that it had led lights but never mentioned it to me and gave the warrant no comments on the sheet. So must be more discretionary than across the board?
Only a Rat can win a Rat Race!
No, the rules are the rules.
Thing is, some testing officers apply tolerance, and we ride away thinking how cool that is. When in fact that tolerance is condoning law breaking. Just because the testing guy says it's okay doesn't make it legal.
I'm just thinking so many of us know better than the manufacturer who spent a gazillion dollars on R&D to produce our bikes. Then we feck around with them, and grizzle when the rules don't suit us.
Like those knobs who put straight pipes on their tractors. And wear patches saying Loud Pipes Save Lives. Instead of a patch saying Loud Pipes Piss People Off.
In general. I agree with your sentiments. The only aspect I might debate is that manufacturers also factor style, manufacturing cost and convenience into their final design as opposed to necessarily selecting something which provides maximum benefit to the rider. A small example is headlight bulbs (forget headlight design at this stage). My last 3 bikes have been barely adequate for night riding out in the countryside with the OEM bulbs. In each case, I got a significant benefit by switching to a higher quality xenon bulb of the same wattage. A bit more expensive, slightly less life (still over 2 years per bulb) and a much safer ride. Manufacturers aren't necessarily the oracles which might be inferred from your comments.
So they should not have given it then? And they could be penalised for doing so?
Anyway, the low beams are awesome, so much better than stock and have a very definitive height cutoff which doesn't seem to offend anyone. I don't feel like a criminal? Kinda hoping to get away with it for a while yet....
Only a Rat can win a Rat Race!
Inspectors are supposed to apply a uniform standard. It's supposed to be objective.
Thing is, a signature is subjective, belonging to the person signing it off.
If it's in the rules that after market LED headlight are a reason for rejection, then that's the rules.
If you get ticketed and go back to the station to object, the inspector will likely say that you must have changed it after he issued the WoF.
If it's illegal, it's illegal. If an eagle eyed cop found it, he could write it for "Vehicle Not Up To WoF Standard". I think its $150, might be $200. Whether you have a current WoF is no defence to that charge.
Replacement LED headlights are not illegal as such, if they are like for like full replacement units with appropriate ADR or ECE compliance numbers. Simple replacement of LED bulb into a halogen headlamp is illegal. Reason being original housing was not designed for the type of bulb.
I have replacement headlights in my Jeep, with proper ECE compliance certificate, with no problems. These lights are full beams replaced (projector style LED replacement hearlamps).
Sometimes the halogen lamps are used by manufacturer for a good reason. For example, in colder weather with snow LED headlamps don't generate enough heat to melt snow build up - old halogen bulbs do that nicely.
There are different quality LED bulbs > The $10 Alixpress ones are crap and give just a blur of light , however I have seen some Phillips LED conversion led bulbs that gave a proper pattern with a good cut off but I understand about $150 .
A WOF is a visual inspection and it the bulbs cannot be easily seen and the pattern is good they would likely pass.
It's the red headlight alignment machine that got me once. I had a bike that was imported from the USA, and it hadn't been converted to NZ standard.
Low beam went the wrong way.
I was pleased to find out, to be fair. That's why I like inspections, it's a way to learn about things you can improve.
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