Oh, so that's what a road looks like at night.

About a week ago I switched out the headlamp in my Sportster for an LED. Now I have a light that actually works. Yikes, it's bright.

Expensive, but worth every penny. You have no idea how much more I can see! More to the point, I can be "be seen" as well.

Oh, one thing I should add relates to why I put the "good headlamp" in the little bike. And it's a fair question I have addressed.

That little Sportster, (her name is "Spinner"), is technically not my bike. Officially she is the property of my company because I use her for deliveries and doing minor last minute repairs for clients.

Because these services have no set time limit, I might get caught out later into the evening. I have installed a rack and larger size roll to carry whatever I need, and it seemed like a good idea to make Spinner fully functional. Besides, every item is tax deductible, including tune-ups, some mileage entries and the new lock and cable I purchased for her.

Here's my point. While I have a traditional high-intensity bulb in Betty, the Sportster must be able to go anywhere in bad conditions. If you have similar concerns, you might want to check out this style of headlamp.

And Uncle Sam was kind enough to buy mine!

Tourist,

Brighter then the 110watt replacement bulp? Probably not as sensitive to put in either. Get even the slightest whatever from your finger tips on that replacement bulp and it was ruined.

This LED is simply the brightest headlamp I have ever seen, on a car, truck or bike. I see things I have never illuminated. I saw people on the sidewalks, and small scraps of paper along the curb.

I did ask my wrench to aim it properly. I remember when those blue tinged headlamps first got installed on cars. Sometimes they were painful to see in oncoming traffic.

However, so far not one cager has flicked his headlamps on and off at me. And while the high-beam is more diffused I can still see quite a distance down the road. There is no dark area right in front of the bike, either. It truly is a useful high-beam.

As for maintenance, I always wipe the bikes down when I get home. I have cleaned the lamp with both Windex and BugSlide on a micro-fiber cloth and the glass just glistens.

Cool.

I cannot see the video. I just get a big white box with no icon.

Oh, now I see!

I did want to comment on one item. I see by your video that there is a dark shadow running at the bottom of the screen. Yours might be from a batwing or similar screen.

However, my older high-intensity bulb gave me that shadow in front of the bike, and that's with a Dyna and no screen.

On the Sportster that shadow is now gone in both low and high beam settings.

No biggee, but a few months ago I had three doe run across the road here in suburbia a block from my house. My first warning was their hooves, not their bodies. In fact, one had stopped in the middle of the road.

Since then, any shadow in front of the bike has taken on a new importance, and I make sure I don't over-drive my lights by speed. But other than that issue, your video looks identical to my Sportie with the new lamp.

Edit: Additionally, your video points out an enhanced view of the road's shoulders. That is also important here in Wisconsin on rural roads where deer cross.

It appears that my lamp is MoCo's "plug-and-play" unit. You pop out your OEM unit, and simply replace it.

Before I saw this unit I did consider looking for a smaller light-bar--one that you might not notice on a Sportster--just for those late night drives.

But considering the price of such a bar, and the labor cost of tapping into my current wiring bundle, the cost of this brighter lamp probably is about the same.

And I kept the original stuff. If I sell the bike, the lamp comes with me...

If you want a h.i.d. light for your bike, DO NOT buy the kit from XTRALIGHTS. I installed this system on my StreetGlide ($200). It was OK for a few days, then I noticed that it dulled the inside of the lens and looked smokey. Then the high beam quit working a couple days later.

I e-mailed XTRALIGHTS about my problems, as they said they have a 1 year warranty on all parts. Waited 2 weeks-- no response. Sent another e-mail-- no response. I think I will have to eat this mistake since the company appears to be a complete rip-off. DO NOT BUY from XTRALIGHTS!

Alex, thanks for the update. I knew I needed some extra candle-power for my Sportster, and I did consider some type of light-bar before I saw their new headlamps.

I think I would have converted my Dyna to a light-bar, but I didn't want that system on a Sportster. I wanted to keep that bike "lean." The problem is that my Dyna has now become a "fun in the sun" bike and it's the Sportster that has the real chance to be out after dark.

Additionally, it gets really rural around my house after only a few miles. That headlamp might be the only thing between me and deer.

Well, I did like the brighter lights at night, but I just happened to deal with a crooked company. DON'T BUY FROM XTRALIGHTS! I will buy another h.i.d. system from someone else as there are good advantages to these lights: only uses 35 watts of power, bulb has no filament to break--it's gas filled, and will outlast halogen bulbs by 10X.

The color bulb I had was a 4300K, which is a white light with a slight shade of blue. The 6000K is not any brighter, just a lot bluer color.

I didn't know there were l.e.d. headlights. Will have to check those out also.
Good luck, Tourist.

P.S. I has a Dyna Low Rider that I changed out the single headlight with a dual-headlight ($230) from the new Fat Bob Dyna. It fit perfectly, looked sharp, and put out twice the light.

At one time I thought about that, too. Now I have an inverted CVO fork on my Dyna, and when that was changed out I simply went with a brighter bulb. For me it worked, I haven't ridden the Dyna much after dark--usually just to return home from the day's activities or a short spin at dusk.

But on the Sportster I've become a night owl.

Do you think that you could give me the name of the light along with the PN for that light. I ride a lot at night as well and I like to be seen. Would appreciate it. Since you have a name for your bike I have a name for mine but have never said what it is. My bikes name is WhipLash!