New LED headlight suggestions

So the flimsy headlight bucket is once again falling apart, I've decided enough is enough and just replace the entire damn headlight with a new LED headlight. While I'm not a huge fan of the shift to blinding LED headlights, all the new cars have them anyway and with the recent shift to unlit roads and highways here due to some crazy powersaving scheme it's sometimes downright scary with the stock headlight at night. So best to go with the times.

I was wondering if you guys have any recommendations for an affordable option for the GRiSO 1200. I came across this one: [You must be registered and logged in to see this link.] + this one: [You must be registered and logged in to see this link.] which seemed to me like a nice plug and play choice, and was wondering if anyone is familiar with the headlight they are offering (they sell the LED unit from a company called Cree but also a GRiSO-compatible bucket) or know of a better alternative?

Hopefully Beetle will come along and comment. You should do a search here. This subject has been covered pretty well and Beetle has a nice looking replacement as I recall. I agree the stock one doesn’t do much. I’m not a night rider or early morning except for a couple of times. Recently I had and early morning start and I almost couldn’t tell the headlight was on.

JohnA wrote:

Hopefully Beetle will come along and comment. You should do a search here. This subject has been covered pretty well and Beetle has a nice looking replacement as I recall. I agree the stock one doesn’t do much. I’m not a night rider or early morning except for a couple of times. Recently I had and early morning start and I almost couldn’t tell the headlight was on.

I know right, I was in a tunnel a couple of months ago and apparently the headlight bulb had blown during the ride. I didn't even notice it until the police car in front of me pulled me over.

I did use the search function but most topics are either years old or deal with Australian products.

I have LEDperf fitted & I'm happy with it despite some issues:

1. It's NOT plug & play. At a minimum you need to drill new holes in the original headlamp shell to fit it. If you buy the 'Universal' headlamp shell, it doesn't fit in GRiSO shape headlamp mounting but the associated bits were useful & I actually fitted the LEDperf 'Universal' shell on my V50 !
2. If you wire it wrong you get orange angel eyes...there aren't any instructions
3. It develops condensation inside the front lens immediately after stopping, it disappears on running & disappears parked up for a long time.

I'll check the actual variant I bought but from memory it's the angel eye variant (they are all same and no specific fit for GRiSO AFAIK)

Paul, wasn’t someone using a headlamp from a Jeep in the original bucket? Sound familiar?

paulbrice wrote:

I have LEDperf fitted & I'm happy with it despite some issues:

1. It's NOT plug & play. At a minimum you need to drill new holes in the original headlamp shell to fit it. If you buy the 'Universal' headlamp shell, it doesn't fit in GRiSO shape headlamp mounting but the associated bits were useful & I actually fitted the LEDperf 'Universal' shell on my V50 !
2. If you wire it wrong you get orange angel eyes...there aren't any instructions
3. It develops condensation inside the front lens immediately after stopping, it disappears on running & disappears parked up for a long time.

I'll check the actual variant I bought but from memory it's the angel eye variant (they are all same and no specific fit for GRiSO AFAIK)

Thanks! I'll continue looking for another option then as when their site says the headlight shell makes fitting the led in the GRiSO very easy using the brackets or the GRiSO's original mounting points, then I expect this to actually be the case and not that it won't fit.

Found it...I bought this (headlamp shells were to have chrome or Silver colour options but (as said before) the shell doesn't fit a GRiSO without massive rework (reshaping, cutting, welding ...) but I altered the associated fittings to make the LEDperf lamp fit the GRiSO OEM shell - they may have changed things but you'd need to check.  Also some pics to show the 'work' required to make it plug & play

[You must be registered and logged in to see this image.]

Yes, I think someone put Jeep headlamp in OEM shell....I think beetle put Jeep one straight on front w/out OEM shell.

TBH with the new generation LED bulbs, unless you want funky shape lights (Angle eyes, square blocks..) they seem to work fine & no fitting issues that I'm aware of - I have a £10 LED H4 & a cheap LED running light in V50 headlamp lens & it's bright enough to scare people.

Yeah those jeep led units are crazy expensive though. But affordable 7" led units are not the issue so much, its to find a fitting replacement bucket for the GRiSO that is the main problem as I really don't want to buy a new OEM bucket (the current one is barely holding together, I'm not sticking an expensive LED module in there). I did find one seemingly fantastic replacement exactly as I want it here: [You must be registered and logged in to see this link.]

It's not even that expensive. However they are based in the US, if for some reason it won't fit it will be a hassle to send it back and its a crazy 70$ shipping cost to Europe. I'm keeping it in mind though.

Yes, I have a Jeep headlight, without the shell.

JohnA wrote:

Paul, wasn’t someone using a headlamp from a Jeep in the original bucket? Sound familiar?

I've got a Jeep LED unit in my Convert, but just a Drop in LED bulb in the GRiSO.  I would think that these Jeep LED full housing units will fit easily, as they take up less room than the stock unit.

$44 for two. [You must be registered and logged in to see this link.]

Bulldog9 wrote:

JohnA wrote:

Paul, wasn’t someone using a headlamp from a Jeep in the original bucket? Sound familiar?

I've got a Jeep LED unit in my Convert, but just a Drop in LED bulb in the GRiSO.  I would think that these Jeep LED full housing units will fit easily, as they take up less room than the stock unit.

$44 for two. [You must be registered and logged in to see this link.]

Dirt cheap. Makes me wonder what the difference is between those and the 150$+ LED's that look identical. And if one fails you even have a spare.

Long video but I found it interesting: [You must be registered and logged in to see this link.]

make sure you get headlights for the region you live in, as the angular flare is different for left hand and right hand sides of the road for your country.

I've never had a problem with the OEM bucket (so far in 40k miles, 11 years....Inshallah)...I have a new one 'in stock' just in case, so that's probably why the original hasn't failed .

Anyway, even the OEM new ones are 'only' €130 ish; and since they go across wide range of models there are 2nd hand ones around as well.....I'd go for OEM one & save the grief/fun of re-engineering the shell or the front supports to take 'universal' ones that actually don't fit.

paulbrice wrote:

I have LEDperf fitted & I'm happy with it despite some issues:

1. It's NOT plug & play. At a minimum you need to drill new holes in the original headlamp shell to fit it. If you buy the 'Universal' headlamp shell, it doesn't fit in GRiSO shape headlamp mounting but the associated bits were useful & I actually fitted the LEDperf 'Universal' shell on my V50 !
...

Paul and Moto-Timothy,

The company now seems to be offering a different shell for installing their LED headlamps on the GRiSO:

[You must be registered and logged in to see this image.]

It's even relatively cheap, at about 65 Euros.

Here for comparison is my own GRiSO 1100's original shell:

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I judge their shell to be about 2cm deeper. There is space for this, I think, if a brake line and some wires can be nudged aside. (Not promising this.)

Here's a link to their page for the chrome version of the shell (there is also a black version):

[You must be registered and logged in to see this link.]

This looks like a very good possibility, if the light output is much better than the OEM. There are favorable posts about the company's service and products, with comments about the need to get the right shell they offer. The company seems to be in France, so I presume the light dipping is in the correct direction for North Americans.

Moto

I've ordered the (albeit expensive) motodemic shell. Now to find a good ECE approved led unit to fit into them, that is ideally really good yet also really cheap

beetle wrote:

Yes, I have a Jeep headlight, without the shell.

Me too. I copied you.

Oz1200Guzzi wrote:

make sure you get headlights for the region you live in, as the angular flare is different for left hand and right hand sides of the road for your country.

I've imported quite a few Guzzis that I purchased in the USA, and then used without incident in New Zealand. When going for a warrant of fitness, the testers are expecting the USA versions will dip to the right, while ones purchase in NZ dip to the left.

It's an old wife's tale. They both dip vertically.

But Oz1200Guzzi has mentioned an angular flare. If it what I think he's referring to, it's a little sliver of light that is almost vertical and to one side. I've been told these "slivers" are designed to be able to illuminate the street signs where there is no normal street lighting. And yes, they differ depending on which side of the road the headlight is designed for.

Your post got me diving in the garage cupboard & checking

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Answer is that's exactly the shell I have (chrome one & a black one) so they haven't changed it !.....the problem is the LEDperf 198mm width (between the fittings & outside edge) doesn't fit in the GRiSO headlamp support as the MG OEM is roughly 185mm across the fitting points (I didn't see any measurements for your OEM bucket) & the fitting points are the large support alloy 'things' that hold the indicators etc; are attached to the lower yolk & can't easily be opened up by 1.5 cm.


At the time I also bought a 2nd hand pair of headlamp supports & looked at engineering them along with the LEDperf bucket but there's too much work required to either open the headlamp supports or reduce the diameter of the LEDperf 'universal' fitting. Suspect it'll be the same for most 'universal' buckets.

Even with the OEM bucket the LEDperf fitting that came with the bucket needed dremel to reduce the bracket width (to fit into the shell bumps), and the two holes in the Guzzi OEM bucket to run retaining bolts.

Paul,

Thanks very much! You saved me from an expensive mistake. I just confirmed it's about 185mm between the mounts of my shell.

Timothy,

It looks like you are on the right track. Please post an evaluation of your new shell when it arrives! (Does it really fit the GRiSO's mounts?)

Moto

P.S. On the good news side, LEDperf ships orders of 100 Euros or more for free anywhere in the world! If only they had what we need.

If I was doing this again I'd just go for the LED main H4 bulb & sidelamp bulb approach (same as I did on V50) as it's much cheaper, easier & just as bright.....means I can ride V50 with just parking/running light and still be visible - pictures show dipped main with both bulbs on & then just the small running bulb on & note the headlamp bucket is the black LEDperf 'universal' one with ring from the chrome LEDperf (my GRiSO has the black ring on the OEM bucket)

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moto wrote:

Paul,

Thanks very much! You saved me from an expensive mistake. I just confirmed it's about 185mm between the mounts of my shell.

Timothy,

It looks like you are on the right track. Please post an evaluation of your new shell when it arrives! (Does it really fit the GRiSO's mounts?)

Moto

P.S. On the good news side, LEDperf ships orders of 100 Euros or more for free anywhere in the world! If only they had what we need.

I've found some forum banter on other guzzi forums where people discuss the shell, saying its well made blablah and that it fits the GRiSO if only barely (apparently its a mm too wide at the mounting points but it will fit).
But I'll let you guys know when I have it. Still a bit peeved about the 70$ shipping cost haha

OK - Good luck & in case it helps you plan the fitting I was thinking (in the option 'don't feck up the lovely chrome bucket') to 'mill' (I have a milling machine) 5-6mm off each side of the alloy fixing point on the OEM headlamp brackets (I have spare pair & the total gap with equalised top & bottom is 10-12mm - see picture)

....thing that stopped me is that where the inside/back edge of bucket sits will have to be milled almost fully through the brackets; & almost through the width of the bracket to get the clearance & fit so likely will compromise the strength.  You can see the challenge from photos below:

[You must be registered and logged in to see this image.]

BTW the LEDperf bracket kit won't work unless you throw away the OEM headlamp supports, reposition the indicators & work out how to support the instrument cluster (plug & play it defo isn't).....

Thanks Paul! Could you tell me if the Ledperf LED unit is ECE approved for use on EU roads (has the entire ECE document number engraved in the glass not just the E9 or whatever that the Chinese non-approved lamps like to have to appear legit?)