Should've just put that light on a wall, compare brightness in lumens, cutoff line and overall pattern. It's hard to compare headlights, thus numbers are very important. I run led light for my xcountry and difference on the camera vs real life is crazy. Something that is hards to show. You need same exposure, white balance etc. To at least try to show the difference, otherwise camera will compensate the brighter light.
The G650GS has a 400w alternator. Your normal incandescent headlight bulb draws 55 of those watts the whole time the ignition key is switched on, also 5w each for the tail running light and front DRL. A bunch more watts are used for the fuel pump, ignition computer and coil, recharging your battery from starting, maybe you use the heated grips, maybe the fan cuts in... Everything you don't use goes out the bike through the regulator as heat, and it can cope with that as designed. Now remove the 55w bulb and replace it with a maybe 5w LED headlight, and the regulator is potentially overloaded by 50w.
I'm sure it's more than 5 watts as it's obviously more efficient, but also much brighter, but I get your point. How many watts do you think charging a phone/GPS would add?
@@YouMotorcycle 5w total may be exaggerated but for sure you're trading 55+5 of incandescent bulbs for much less in LEDs, and that excess has to go somewhere. A normal charger for your phone outputs 5v at 2amps which would be 10w. A bit more for a faster charger.
Just double checked and the manufacturer claims the wattage is 45 watts. However, I believe that is with high beam on, and they claim high beam is 15 watts, so maybe in low beam you're at closer to 30 watts. Either way I'm not too worried about. Thank you for the heads up though.
I, who already have visual impairment due to age, would never put this headlight on my bike. Very weak and subject to rapid deterioration due to the fact that these plastics are of poor quality used in construction. Nothing like a sealed beacon of the most powerful machines. Motorbikes at night should fill like tigers on the hunt. Your care in the installation was very valid.
Hey friend, long time no see! Are you still on youtube? These lights are better than stock, but not by a lot. I think they look better though. I will add some extra running lights to help out!
Hey Walter, thanks for the kind word! I just put out a video yesterday showing all of the upgrades I've done to my G650GS, specifically because I'll be shipping it to Italy to ride across the country. If you're interested in other G650GS mods you can check them out here: th-cam.com/video/EnWKHOYTyW0/w-d-xo.html
Thank you. I think your route of simply replacing the bulb is the better bang for your buck approach. I wanted to try this but... I don't know yet if I'm satisfied or not. Need to see what caused my lithium battery to completely die out like this
@@YouMotorcycle I don't think it is the cause but hard to diagnose online. Hopefully it's just the regulator. Please inform us what the issue was when all fixed. Have been eyeing those headlights for a while here in SE Asia.
I want one of these screens you’ve got but when I go on the Givi website it says it won’t fit with hand guards but I can see you’ve got hand guards, so can you enlighten me this. It would be much appreciated. Duncan Miller
Hey Duncan. Technically the hand guards bump into the screen a bit when I crank the handlebar all the way to the right or left... But the windscreen isn't wide enough that this has ever really been an issue for me. I wouldn't let it dissuade me.
Not sure what the high beam was trying to accomplish there lol. Hard to see in video but it looked a bit better anyway over the stock. I hate night riding as I tend to outride through coverage sometimes which is just asking for trouble.
@@YouMotorcycle i watched the vídeo about battery, Very good! I have a tornado 250, I'm looking to buy one GS 650, I'm already researching some upgrades, I love offroading and going to waterfalls, as well as participating in motorcycle groups and traveling to events
Oh shhhhh-ooot. I forgot to make a follow up video. Problem was not due to LED headlight, nope! Just coincidental. I'll make a video next week explaining what went wrong and how I figured it out.
Depends on where and how you plan on riding. I don't do any off roading so the upside to the Sertao wasn't going to benefit me. Where and how do you plan on riding?
I'm a sucker for looks. An LED bulb would have been cheaper and better. This was prettier. In most of my videos I'm pretty damn cheap... But not this one 😂
Yeah i'm sorry but that light looks crap, and it seems to give worse light than the originals. I put a Led bulb upgrade into mine and it made a worlds difference, upgraded the parker bulb to led too so they were both nice and white.
Lol, beauty is in the eye of the beer holder 😅 the lighting is actually much better in person. Wider and brighter, but hard to capture on video. Best bang for your buck would definitely be going the route you went and just putting an LED bulb in the stock housing.
This video was enough to stop from making the mistake of buying that headlight. Thanks!
Lmao! As long as it helps, one way or the other haha. Thanks for the comment!
Should've just put that light on a wall, compare brightness in lumens, cutoff line and overall pattern. It's hard to compare headlights, thus numbers are very important. I run led light for my xcountry and difference on the camera vs real life is crazy. Something that is hards to show. You need same exposure, white balance etc. To at least try to show the difference, otherwise camera will compensate the brighter light.
Agreed. Next time :)
The G650GS has a 400w alternator. Your normal incandescent headlight bulb draws 55 of those watts the whole time the ignition key is switched on, also 5w each for the tail running light and front DRL. A bunch more watts are used for the fuel pump, ignition computer and coil, recharging your battery from starting, maybe you use the heated grips, maybe the fan cuts in...
Everything you don't use goes out the bike through the regulator as heat, and it can cope with that as designed.
Now remove the 55w bulb and replace it with a maybe 5w LED headlight, and the regulator is potentially overloaded by 50w.
I'm sure it's more than 5 watts as it's obviously more efficient, but also much brighter, but I get your point. How many watts do you think charging a phone/GPS would add?
@@YouMotorcycle 5w total may be exaggerated but for sure you're trading 55+5 of incandescent bulbs for much less in LEDs, and that excess has to go somewhere.
A normal charger for your phone outputs 5v at 2amps which would be 10w. A bit more for a faster charger.
Just double checked and the manufacturer claims the wattage is 45 watts. However, I believe that is with high beam on, and they claim high beam is 15 watts, so maybe in low beam you're at closer to 30 watts. Either way I'm not too worried about. Thank you for the heads up though.
@@YouMotorcycle it's still 30w under the designed load of 55+5, but yeh it doesn't seem like enough to overload the regulator by itself.
I, who already have visual impairment due to age, would never put this headlight on my bike. Very weak and subject to rapid deterioration due to the fact that these plastics are of poor quality used in construction. Nothing like a sealed beacon of the most powerful machines. Motorbikes at night should fill like tigers on the hunt. Your care in the installation was very valid.
Hey friend, long time no see! Are you still on youtube? These lights are better than stock, but not by a lot. I think they look better though. I will add some extra running lights to help out!
Hello! When it comes to motorcycles, the more lighting, the better.
Thank you for the excellent video. I am going to do this upgrade to my 2014 g650gs. 🎉🎉
Hey Walter, thanks for the kind word! I just put out a video yesterday showing all of the upgrades I've done to my G650GS, specifically because I'll be shipping it to Italy to ride across the country. If you're interested in other G650GS mods you can check them out here: th-cam.com/video/EnWKHOYTyW0/w-d-xo.html
Well done, am using a philips ultinon pro led bulb in stock housing with great results. Thanks for the video.
Thank you. I think your route of simply replacing the bulb is the better bang for your buck approach. I wanted to try this but... I don't know yet if I'm satisfied or not. Need to see what caused my lithium battery to completely die out like this
@@YouMotorcycle I don't think it is the cause but hard to diagnose online. Hopefully it's just the regulator. Please inform us what the issue was when all fixed.
Have been eyeing those headlights for a while here in SE Asia.
Hey, how did you install the LED bulb in G650? Any videos with instructions? I would love to switch to LEDs too...
@@Szabal16 plenty on here. Just simply removed the dash and replaced the bulb, 10min job.
WHAT TO BUY:
LED HEADLIGHT: ebay.us/lnhhoi
DRL Adapter: amzn.to/3DV7MWu
Crimping tool + connectors + heatshrink: amzn.to/3S9tlag
Heat gun: amzn.to/3dIQ3ab
best thing off the shelf there is clip nuts good video thought
Where would you recommend using clip nuts?
I want one of these screens you’ve got but when I go on the Givi website it says it won’t fit with hand guards but I can see you’ve got hand guards, so can you enlighten me this. It would be much appreciated. Duncan Miller
Hey Duncan. Technically the hand guards bump into the screen a bit when I crank the handlebar all the way to the right or left... But the windscreen isn't wide enough that this has ever really been an issue for me. I wouldn't let it dissuade me.
Not sure what the high beam was trying to accomplish there lol. Hard to see in video but it looked a bit better anyway over the stock. I hate night riding as I tend to outride through coverage sometimes which is just asking for trouble.
😂 high beam was an afterthought I think lol
What a nightmare... Sorry to hear this upgrade light didn't work for you.
Really worked hard to try to force it to work lol
Por que no final a chave nao ligava a moto? O farol de led estragou algo?
No there was a problem with the lithium battery I started testing. I've done a few thousand miles with this light and everything is fine
@@YouMotorcycle i watched the vídeo about battery, Very good! I have a tornado 250, I'm looking to buy one GS 650, I'm already researching some upgrades, I love offroading and going to waterfalls, as well as participating in motorcycle groups and traveling to events
Hey there! Great video! So what was the reason for the dead battery? Was it related to this LED Headlight?
Oh shhhhh-ooot. I forgot to make a follow up video. Problem was not due to LED headlight, nope! Just coincidental. I'll make a video next week explaining what went wrong and how I figured it out.
@@YouMotorcycle Cool, thanks for the answer. Will be looking forward for next week's video then.
@@diogoeiro thanks so much!
@@YouMotorcycle quick question- do you think it's better to look into a used normal GS650G or a sertao?
Depends on where and how you plan on riding. I don't do any off roading so the upside to the Sertao wasn't going to benefit me. Where and how do you plan on riding?
I like the blue DRL but I think it'd be illegal in Australia, it'll look too much like a police light and I'd get booked for it
I can't understand why the makers did that. It was a complete lack of thought / understanding on their part.
Much easier to fit some Denali auxiliary lights, many versions available.
Even easier to just put an LED bulb in the stock headlight housing:)
@@YouMotorcycle can do, but illegal here in Germany.
Probably about triple the cost.
This looks like a good deal to me.
The video is good love from africa
Thanks very much!
Just upgrade the H4 there’s 3 or 4 levels of brightness/quality
@@allenscott1705 you can swap an LED bulb in, in place of the incandescent h4, if you want to go that route
Как укрепил эту фару? Крепления отличаются от оригинала!
I put the nuts in place, and then I used duct tape to hold the nuts in place so that they wouldn't fall out, until the bolts went in.
why wouldn't you just get an led bulb for factory light?
I'm a sucker for looks. An LED bulb would have been cheaper and better. This was prettier. In most of my videos I'm pretty damn cheap... But not this one 😂
@@YouMotorcycle this comment brought to you by someone who drives cars and has never used LED headlights lol
@@pawpawbandit3871 😂😂 at least in cars lighting is usually much better than on this bike
this looks like it will fit the g650x series bikes
Is the headlight identical to the g650gs?
@@YouMotorcycle I'm not sure but it certainly looks the same as my XChallenge
Worth a try! Might want to see if they use the same part number for the headlights, and if so, order the LED :)
Yeah i'm sorry but that light looks crap, and it seems to give worse light than the originals. I put a Led bulb upgrade into mine and it made a worlds difference, upgraded the parker bulb to led too so they were both nice and white.
Lol, beauty is in the eye of the beer holder 😅 the lighting is actually much better in person. Wider and brighter, but hard to capture on video. Best bang for your buck would definitely be going the route you went and just putting an LED bulb in the stock housing.