I always see the posts of "which to get" LED lights or HID lights. I have decided to do a quick comparison and summary that hopefully will help people choose. Used 3 test bikes. K8 750, L7 750, and an L8 750. Used the Gixxerboys LEDS, a higher end HID kit with a morimoto bulb, and a higher end priced LED bulb from amazon.
PICS - I was having trouble putting the pics in the body of this due to spam filters so all the pics are here labeled.
Firstly, gixxerboys has updated their lighting kits. Their new drivers are tiny. Their old drivers were about the size of a standard HID ballast, which made fitting 2-3 up in the cluster area barely possible but sloppy and ugly. Just as 2-3 HID kits would. Their new drivers are basically less than two water bottle caps in size, making it tremendously easy to fit under the cluster even with multiple kits. The quality looks and feels very high end and the packaging is very well done also. The wires are much shorter to keep everything contained and easily hidden without needing to zip tie extra wires together or route the boxes behind fairings. I was very impressed with this which made me order them. The GB lights also have built in fans that keep everything extra cool. With the bike off and lights on you can hear these fans. Any exhaust will basically drown this slight noise out once the bike is on. The drivers also help make them much brighter with more power but not confine it all to the back of the bulb generating much more heat as one unit. I also spoke to the owner and he offered free led pilot lights with purchase of any high power LED kit with the code "PILOTS1" for anyone who decides to purchase from this write up. The pilot lights really complete the look with fresh bright bulbs.
The first bike is an 08 750 with an HID low beam and the dual gixxerboys LED highbeams. Keep in mind the k6-k7 has a projector and single highbeam and the k8-k10 have a projector as well with dual high beams. This helps direct/project the light better than the high beams and low beams in other years with halogen reflectors. As you can see from the pics the brightness of the GB set up is pretty intense. Especially compared to the HID. This is especially great for back roads with limited street lights. I originally went with the HID low beam because I wanted as wide a beam pattern as possible for back road riding. So I was willing to sacrifice the super brightness straight ahead. But with the high beam conversion the wide beam pattern is greatly improved. It also casts the light straight ahead and higher up for maximum visibility and lighting.
Another note is the argument with 35w vs 55w bulbs. I had a 55w bulb in the bike for years and it burned slight lines on the inside of the housing. So ideally you should stick with 35w HIDs but will lose a ton of brightness. A 55w bulb would compare more to the sheer brightness of the LEDs but you risk the chance of having damage. They just get extremely hot and not ideal in this confined of a space.
The next bike is a 17 750 with both GB LED low beam and the GB LED high beam. Even with the halogen reflectors the light does a pretty good job at directing straight ahead. And the added high beam intensifies this greatly. And surprisingly has a pretty good width beam pattern as well. The GB lights also work with the stock dust boots on the back of the lights unlike the other brands online that ask you to cut/modify the boots.
The last bike is a L8 750. This bike has a higher end priced LED bulb from amazon. Just the low beam, the high beam is stock. This bulb is an all in one with no driver. It has a fan built into the bulbs but no secure connectors like the GB kit. You just plug the ends into the stock plug. This isn't super secure and it's possible that it will become loose over time. Would recommend using some electrical tape to hold it together a little better. As you can see from the pics the brightness does not compare. The light is also a bit scattered/spotty compared to the GB LEDs. I personally think the GB kit is worth the roughly 15-20% premium over these types of LED bulbs on the market for the brightness alone; but also the better quality of the components. Not to mention the lifetime warranty vs 1 year or so you get with the other brands.
So overall the GB and LEDs in general have come a long way. The brightness is unmatched and the width has improved. You can get close with a 55w kit but the risk isn't worth it IMO. I plan on upgrading the low beam on the K8 to a GB kit but for the purposes of this write up left the HID for comparison. Hope this helps out some people trying to decide on their lighting decision.
PICS - I was having trouble putting the pics in the body of this due to spam filters so all the pics are here labeled.
Firstly, gixxerboys has updated their lighting kits. Their new drivers are tiny. Their old drivers were about the size of a standard HID ballast, which made fitting 2-3 up in the cluster area barely possible but sloppy and ugly. Just as 2-3 HID kits would. Their new drivers are basically less than two water bottle caps in size, making it tremendously easy to fit under the cluster even with multiple kits. The quality looks and feels very high end and the packaging is very well done also. The wires are much shorter to keep everything contained and easily hidden without needing to zip tie extra wires together or route the boxes behind fairings. I was very impressed with this which made me order them. The GB lights also have built in fans that keep everything extra cool. With the bike off and lights on you can hear these fans. Any exhaust will basically drown this slight noise out once the bike is on. The drivers also help make them much brighter with more power but not confine it all to the back of the bulb generating much more heat as one unit. I also spoke to the owner and he offered free led pilot lights with purchase of any high power LED kit with the code "PILOTS1" for anyone who decides to purchase from this write up. The pilot lights really complete the look with fresh bright bulbs.
The first bike is an 08 750 with an HID low beam and the dual gixxerboys LED highbeams. Keep in mind the k6-k7 has a projector and single highbeam and the k8-k10 have a projector as well with dual high beams. This helps direct/project the light better than the high beams and low beams in other years with halogen reflectors. As you can see from the pics the brightness of the GB set up is pretty intense. Especially compared to the HID. This is especially great for back roads with limited street lights. I originally went with the HID low beam because I wanted as wide a beam pattern as possible for back road riding. So I was willing to sacrifice the super brightness straight ahead. But with the high beam conversion the wide beam pattern is greatly improved. It also casts the light straight ahead and higher up for maximum visibility and lighting.
Another note is the argument with 35w vs 55w bulbs. I had a 55w bulb in the bike for years and it burned slight lines on the inside of the housing. So ideally you should stick with 35w HIDs but will lose a ton of brightness. A 55w bulb would compare more to the sheer brightness of the LEDs but you risk the chance of having damage. They just get extremely hot and not ideal in this confined of a space.
The next bike is a 17 750 with both GB LED low beam and the GB LED high beam. Even with the halogen reflectors the light does a pretty good job at directing straight ahead. And the added high beam intensifies this greatly. And surprisingly has a pretty good width beam pattern as well. The GB lights also work with the stock dust boots on the back of the lights unlike the other brands online that ask you to cut/modify the boots.
The last bike is a L8 750. This bike has a higher end priced LED bulb from amazon. Just the low beam, the high beam is stock. This bulb is an all in one with no driver. It has a fan built into the bulbs but no secure connectors like the GB kit. You just plug the ends into the stock plug. This isn't super secure and it's possible that it will become loose over time. Would recommend using some electrical tape to hold it together a little better. As you can see from the pics the brightness does not compare. The light is also a bit scattered/spotty compared to the GB LEDs. I personally think the GB kit is worth the roughly 15-20% premium over these types of LED bulbs on the market for the brightness alone; but also the better quality of the components. Not to mention the lifetime warranty vs 1 year or so you get with the other brands.
So overall the GB and LEDs in general have come a long way. The brightness is unmatched and the width has improved. You can get close with a 55w kit but the risk isn't worth it IMO. I plan on upgrading the low beam on the K8 to a GB kit but for the purposes of this write up left the HID for comparison. Hope this helps out some people trying to decide on their lighting decision.
