Headlight Bulb - H4 or S2?

[terminalbeard]

Stock bulb

[terminalbeard]

Stock bulb dark garage bike on center stand, high beam

[terminalbeard]

CREE SMD 10 watt LED

[terminalbeard]

CREE SMD 10 watt LED non DOT approved bulb. dark garage. bike on center stand high beam

[Emil]

Ah I see, you put the new bulb in already. Seems nice bright from the photos but also, the light seems to be a bit all over, without a focus area. Have you tried it on the road already - can you see better with it, does it not blind other people?

Thanks for the updates,
-e

[terminalbeard]

Just put the bulb in, no road tests yet. Definitely flood lighting. Did not test low beam because I did not want to start the scooter in the closed garage. Low beam will have the same pattern however just lower power. Will see if it bothers other drivers at night. Daytime should be no problem either way might be more noticeable in daylight than stock.

[terminalbeard]

Total failure. The bulb was too dim on low so I used high which was looking pretty good but the blub blew at the end of the driveway. No high, no low, no LED light at all. Replaced stock bulb. The CREE SMD 10 watt LED blub has that burned electronics smell.

[DenniSMC]

After fighting the same battle on my big boy bike, I found low wattage led spots do the job best. Point them low and you won't blind many people.
     Since my last test I added a second light. They draw so little. And I like the idea if putting them where the blinkers were.



Low beam


High beam


Street Stock vs Led




 The spots are a touch high here.  About the level of the hi beams.  But you can focus them lower to avoid blinding people.   I did have them running off the hi beams power. But I found I got much more light off the battery with a switch.



I will shoot another video tonight. This set up is not the cheapest, but is great at night. You can do this with lights from eBay for under $100. Probably closer to $60.

[terminalbeard]

Nice set up DenniSMC. When I opened my front panel I had two small white bulbs that where not powered but they were wired together. I thought about adding those to the headlight circuit where I see you have switched to amber bulbs and use them as your front turn signals.

[DenniSMC]

I originally had them wired to the hi beams. But switched them to blinkers as I added the second led spot.

I commute at night. And find this lighting clean and effective without killing the battery. I have only been flashed once.  So I angled down a little and have had no issues since. They are very bright. The pictures don't do them justice.

[terminalbeard]

I really like your ability to aim the lights appropriately. The eBay vendor was going to send me a replacement LED bulb but I requested a refund which has been issued. The 10 watt LED was to dim on low beam (may have been defect here) and I suspect too much of a flood light on high. I think the best solution for more light is to add LED spots rather than tax the electrical system with higher wattage and/or hotter headlight bulbs.   

[DenniSMC]

I agree.

[Aceforever]

Yeah I have the same but its a 12v 35/35w H11 but it looks exactly like the S2? I have 2006 Kymco Agility.

[Aceforever]

I brought this up in a related thread, but it got buried.  I figured it was worth having its own.

I was looking to upgrade my headlight to a higher wattage (from 35/35 to 55/60).  I saw several posts stating the headlight is the H4 style.  To my surprise, my headlight is not H4, but rather S2.

Specifically, my headlight is "12728 S2 Philips Duplo 12v 35/35W" and it looks like this:


Compare this to an H4 bulb:


Now, I can't find much for the S2 style bulb.  There are plenty of options for the H4 since it is a standard bulb for vehicles.

First, what gives?  Why do I have a S2 bulb when everyone else has a H4?  It's a 2009.  I'm in the USA if that matters.
Second, does anyone know where to get a 55/60 S2 bulb?  I came up with nothing.

My options: a) keep riding with this crappy stock bulb where I can't even see 30 feet in front of me, b) ride with my high beam on to improve my vision and piss off other drivers, c) keep trying to track down a S2 bulb, d) Spend ~$75 to get a replacement body panel with the H4 socket, or e) modify my current setup with a donor H4 socket off a car or something.

All I know is that it feels like I am riding blind in the dark. Something has to change.

Hmm I just realized you mentioned the S2 BA20D 35/35w 12v bulb and got confused with 55/60. But you have a 2009 model. Could I use the same bulb S2 35/35w 12v on a Agility 2006?