LEDs – Light work - AdventureRiderMagazine

This entry is part 7 of 16 in the series Adventure Rider Issue #19

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LED – Light Emitting Diode – is the new force in motorcycle lighting. An LED is bright, illuminates instantly and is usually more compact than other forms of lighting such as HID – High Intensity Discharge – and halogen.

LED lights also draw less power and have a vastly increased output life, so much so they can mostly be installed and forgotten. A quality LED is also waterproof so there’s no fear of a light failing when a bike is drowned crossing the Murray River.

One of the reasons LED lighting lasts longer than, say, halogen or HID, is LEDs are extremely efficient compared to filament or gas-filled globes. LED lights run cooler on the surface because more energy is converted to light rather than heat.

So LEDs are an ideal type of light source for headlights, tail lights, blinkers and auxiliary lighting on bikes. For example, a six-watt LED has around the same lighting grunt as a 35-watt halogen bulb, but uses less power and therefore puts less drain on a battery.

They’re long-lasting, energy-efficient, lightweight, cost-effective, and don’t generate a lot of heat.

Light work

The technical aspects of an LED are very appealing for motorcyclists, but the LED itself is only part of the equation. Mounting the shiny little champions is another important factor for consideration, and that’s where quality of manufacture and clever design plays a big part.

The nature of the LED also means a light can be designed as very directional – a spotlight – or in an array to give a diffused or broad spread, more like a floodlight.

Riders have to make a sensible choice when they’re purchasing.

Steve Smith at Adventure Moto has recently taken on Denali, a company offering some specialist lighting solutions for adventure riders, and he has a few words of wisdom on the topic.

“Bike lighting is a really high-end,hi-tech area these days, but it’s one of the few things that’s becoming simpler and easier for owners. Brands like Denali understand what adventure riders are looking for and offer quality product to suit. All the rider has to do is decide what he wants.”

Give that some thought when you’re planning the lighting rig on your bike.

Quick points. LED lights:

• Have an estimated lifespan of between 15,000 and 50,000 hours
• Use a fraction of the energy of incandescent or compact fluorescents
• Can shine light in a targeted direction (unlike other bulbs that emit light in all directions)
• Can be installed individually or in an array
• Don’t expel a lot of heat energy when they emit light

An array allows mixing focussed and spread lighting beams. This pod is equipped with two 60-degree elliptical flood lenses and two 10-dgree spot beam lenses to create a hybrid beam pattern.