LED Headlights?

Greetings! Has anyone installed LED headlights in their 2009 (or comparable) Silver Wing? If so, what kind of success did you have, which brand/source did you use for the lights, and what, if any, modifications did you have to make to install the lights?

There are, no doubt, several answers to your question here on the forum.

Have you introduced yourself in the, um, Introduction section?

Just did—my apologies for the oversight. As for the LED question, I’ve yet to come across recent discussions that don’t involve a lot of anti-LED admonishments, alas. But I’ll keep hunting.

If LED lights are so important, most new maxi scooters have full LED lights as OE. They're on the Forza 300 and 350 along with traction control, keyless ignition, and multi function instruments.

Retro fitting them to now long discontinued Silver Wing is of course possible and I've read a few posts on here from owners that have installed LED bulbs/lamps or whatever you call them.

If it's just better main and dip beam on your Silver Wing's headlights,  it's a lot easier to improve things by simply replacing what you have now to the latest generation of halogen bulbs.

I have full LED lights on my Forza 300 including a couple of rows of 'eyebrow strips' above the headlights and indicator/turn signal running lights on the backs of the bodywork mounted mirrors.

After a few outings on the Forza, the novelty of having full LED lights had worn off,

Remember what ever you choose the lamp should match the reflector. Just because the lamp is brighter or whatever doesn't mean it's light will be correctly focused for riding.

As long as the LEDs have the emmitters in the same physical location as a halogen filament, then the beam pattern should be practically unchanged. Just don't buy LED's with the correct base but a completely different emitter location; that is how you end up with dazzling lights.

Thanks for the reflector insights—very good information. Anyone have any brand names/links to lights they’ve had success with?

It's always worth checking the legality of this kind of upgrade in your country / state and what it will do to your insurance before you get too carried away.

Having purchased 2 new SilverWings, riding them over 90,000 miles---I would leave the lites stock---think trouble in the middle of nowhere....and maybe a stock bulb can be found. Honda put a lot of thought in the design and approval...over 20 years ago. My lights always worked fine

steve_h80 wrote:

It's always worth checking the legality of this kind of upgrade in your country / state and what it will do to your insurance before you get too carried away.

That's a good point. I did read recently that in the UK, fitting a LED into a shell originally designed for halogen was an automatic MOT fail, and the same applies here in NZ. However in the UK sanity has prevailed and you can now legally fit an LED provided the light passes the requisite pattern test i.e. low beam does not dazzle oncoming drivers.