New LED headlight suggestions

It just says DOT SAE E9 at top. I suspect it's just Chinese stuff packaged by LEDperf with a fancy website.... For sure their 'model specific' stuff is same as the general stuff in different section of website & guess all they've done is copy/paste all the different model numbers to make it look like there was some product development/fitting kit design.

In UK nobody checks this stuff which makes it easier to get through annual Road testing without re-fitting all the OEM kit

Thanks for the confirmation! I suspected as much.

So I think I found a nice headlight, the KOSO Thunderbolt. However I can't find many reviews on it. Does anyone here happen to know this headlight?

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motor-timothy wrote:

So I think I found a nice headlight, the KOSO Thunderbolt. However I can't find many reviews on it. Does anyone here happen to know this headlight?

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Yeah it’s good, although it’s effectively 2 x rectangular lamps and the flat beam gives similar issues when cranked over at night to a rectangular headlight.[You must be registered and logged in to see this image.]

That's either a bright night OR the headlamp is really good

Here in New Zealand it's illegal to fit led bulbs in a conventional reflector and any replacement complete light has to be approved.
From my research the unit that remotely resembles the original, has good reports and is approved is the JW speaker 8700 series.
Not cheap but should tick the boxes.

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I think several people here are using them. What approval do the lights actually need? Is it a NZ standard or will EU ones or a US equivalent suffice?

I purchased a cheap Jeep LED ($30) off of EBAY as a proof of concept idea. This bulb is just like a regular glass bulb from "back in the before times".  It won't mount up in the original M/G trim rings.
So I ordered this:
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Luckily it was semi local to me and had it in a day or two. The headlight bucket is black painted metal and my LED bulb fit perfectly. Unfortunately the bucket is just a little too wide to fit in the GRiSO mount. So I used the stock bucket and trim ring along with the new mounting rings and bulb. Took just a little convincing to get it to work.

The LED bulb has a halo ring with your choice of yellow or white depending on which wire you hook up. I chose WHITE. Just the halo "marker light" is brighter than the OEM HIGH beam.
I will revisit the new bucket at a later date.

According to the JW Speaker blurb they are ECE, DOT and SAE approved and legal worldwide.
I've emailed the NZ authorities for confirmation.
Having watched some Utube tests a lot of the LED headlights are not up to scratch.
General agreement is the JW Speaker 8700 is one of the best.
Low beam[You must be registered and logged in to see this image.]
High beam[You must be registered and logged in to see this image.]

It has occurred to me that since there is a heatsink at the back of the headlight it might be necessary to cut some cooling slots in the back of the plastic original headlight shell, or go with a metal shell and modify it to fit the GRiSO.
I've emailed JW Speaker to ask this. Once they reply I'll update. Meantime any opinions ?

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No luck with a response from JW Speakers. They gave me a 800 US telephone number to ring
which is not a lot of help from New Zealand.

I think I'll buy a metal headlamp shell and modify it to fit.
A metal shell should allow the heat from the heatsink to disburse, I can see potential for problems
with a heatsink in a plastic shell.

To tackle the problem of the metal shells being too wide I'd look at cutting slots in the sides and bonding a 6mm plate of G10 fibreglass inside the shell which I'd drill and tap take the original bolts.

Of course this is all theory at the moment until I go ahead but that's the plan.

evansnows wrote:

No luck with a response from JW Speakers. They gave me a 800 US telephone number to ring
which is not a lot of help from New Zealand.

You can ring a 1-800 number from NZ. It just won't be free.

You will hear the warning straight after dialing, but if you're will to pay, just hold.

I have no experience with KOSO LED headlamps, but I do know that they make a very nice set of heated grips. If I'm not mistaken, they are a Canadian company.

The JW Speaker site shows the Motodemic Guzzi-specific bucket.  I don't know whether they only offer one specific to the V7 or if the same bucket is utilized for GRiSO, but point being Motodemic has GRiSO fitment and it is referenced by JW as a joint project. The headlight has a heat sink in back, and there is a large open area in the back of the bucket.  I sent two email queries to Motodemic recently, they answered the first in one business day and the second in two.  HTH/YMMV
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Thanks for that, from the look of it adequate cooling is necessary.
I've ordered a cheap metal headlight shell from ebay and will see what turns up.
Waiting for confirmation from the NZ registration authority that the JW Speaker 8700 is legal here.
I need it in writing in case the inspector is unsure, they don't all know the rule book and a fuss has been made over fitting led headlights to bikes.
The JW Speaker 8700 will cost me around NZ$550.
I don't usually ride at night but a few weeks ago I had to, my 70 year old eyes + the not good standard GRiSO headlight were not a good combination.

The plot thickens. DOT compliant lights are suitable for the US & Canada. ECE versions for UK, Australia,
NZ etc. It's necessary to get the right one to be compliant. For me the only ECE compliant one I can find is from Australia.
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evansnows wrote:

It's necessary to get the right one to be compliant. For me the only ECE compliant one I can find is from Australia.

Are you anticipating that when you show up with a headlight that is several times brighter than the pathetic stock one, you're gonna be questioned about it's legality?  Just warn them you might fry their testing gear!

As long as there's a good cutoff for the dip, I doubt they will be concerned.  That's been my experience with my OSRAM 7" Round Black LED Headlight (mounted without a shell).

JW ECE

Motodemic ECE

Well I bit the bullett. Stedi in Australia had a carbon black unit, E stamped and RHD for NZ$200
At that price worth a punt.
I bought one and picked up from the local distributor, looks the part!
Time will tell whether they approve when I go for inspection.
If not I'll put the original back on for them then change back.
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I checked with the inspectors and the Stedi unit is compliant here (New Zealand) E9 and DOT approved and rhd version.
I bought a metal headlamp shell from Ebay but it was too shallow to take the Stedi unit so I reverted to plan A.
Reinforce the original shell and cut out a portion at the back to allow the heatsink at the back of the headlight to work.
I reinforced the headlamp shell by wrapping it on carbon fibre twill. I bonded the new headlight into
the rim with sikaflex 291. I used the top pivot point in the rim to bolt the rim to the shell as I don't trust the plastic tabs. At the bottom of the rim I used the original bolt.
The satin black and carbon finish on the bike has just evolved over a period of time but I really
like the look of it. The new headlight looks the part.

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Just as a note of caution -
i bought a cheap JW speaker lookalike (£35) on the bay of fleas.
It looks well made and was well packaged
and yes it puts out light....
. and yes dip is dimmer than main.

But both beam patterns are absolutely terrible. It would be ok up to 25 mph or so on a clear night.... not even worth £35 lol


A lot of engineering for the money so i don't want to chuck it away - may use it for an inspection light.

Still recovering from the spill so haven't had a chance to take the bike out at night to check the performance. It certainly seems bright enough in the workshop.
I was sold on the JW Speaker 8700, but on researching found that the E stamped rhd versions are hard to locate. I eventually found one on ebay for NZ$500 but then read that JW Speaker will not provide warranty for units bought on ebay. To be clear these are their genuine brand new units that that they are refusing to provide warranty for. I checked with the local authorized supplier, their price was NZ$850 !

So I started searching for alternatives. As you wrote, heaps for NZ$50 or others for NZ$500 but nothing that I could find between those extremes. The next morning a link came up for the Stedi Australian units for NZ$200. At that price I was prepared to take the risk of buying one.
When I'm fit to ride again I'll see how it performs but I feel confident that it will perform OK.

Do you have a model number for the Stedi light you found?

Found it. Call off the search.

I copied the alignment instructions for the Stedi LED headlight.
I'd assume they would be correct for any unit.
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