It would be unwise to compare the accuracy of the equipment used in a garage with the gonio photometer used to measure light distribution when the cars optics were originally developed. The distribution cannot be the same which is why it is a straight fail. There is light where it is not wanted and/or no light where it is wanted. If there is an accident and the police decide this was a contributing factor then the driver is as screwed as if he had bald tyres.
I never understood the logic of led in a panigale. It is a heavier system than tungsten halogen. Why add the weight?
There is not a light meter in an mot station that can measure light distribution to anything like what is required. The human eye is useless also. They have given you a lazy answer.
yes, I get the styling idea but for me it undermines the concept of the bike. min the one hand they fit forged aluminium wheels to save weight and then they add weight by using LED. The styling is firstly a subjective improvement and counterproductive to weight. So I don’t get the logic of that. It’s not like you can see the led when you are riding it.
It seems that the power has shifted at Ducati from the Ducati Corse to the marketing department who give the designers a check list of things the bike must have. Hence, no more double sided swing arm on SBK
This paragraph shows that you don't understand everything. For a start "A projector bulb" The projector is the type of headlight that the bulb is fitted into, as can be seen on many Ducatis like the 848/1098. The bulb that is fitted to those models is a halogen. Every vehicle manufacturer that uses a HID xenon bulb with ballast puts that HID into a projector type headlight because it has a physical shield to give a dip beam with no stray light. The reflector that you refer to in a H4 bulb is there because that is a twin filament bulb. A reflector headlight (you call it parabola), on the other hand, is one with a big silver reflector behind that headlight glass with a bulb in the middle of that, like older 7 inch headlights. My 939 Supersport and my GFs Monster 821 both have reflector headlights. Fitting a HID xenon bulb into this type will allow stray light to spread above the dip beam cut as there is no physical shield, this is the reason that they are now not allowed. The same goes for LED bulbs, unless the LEDs are mounted in exactly the same position as the filament in a halogen bulb, the beam pattern will not be correct. Achieving that positioning is impossible as the filament chucks out light 360 degrees, but an LED sits on a flat surface so needs two. Not many LEDs are the same length as the halogen filament so they cannot produce the beam that the headlight manufacturer designed.
I expect we have all been blinded by oncoming vehicles at some point. On wide roads it is really annoying, in lanes its annoying and downright dangerous. So why do people think its OK to change their bulbs for the MOT? This really isn't lie switching your number plate to a slightly smaller one... Are these the same people who ride really really slowly away from their home -or freewheel- because their exhaust is so loud they don't want their neighbours to think of them as a cnut?
I'm perfectly happy with that. Having driven many bikes over the years that had headlights little better than red hot nails I will happily fit LEDs, as long as they provide the correct dip pattern so that they are not dazzling other roads user. Frankly I can't see any other realistic reason to ban them.
What's interesting is they refer to the non-homologated HID/LED bulb being used in a halogen headlamp equating to a fail, but what if you fitted an entirely new headlamp designed for either a HID or LED bulb to produce the correct beam pattern for the type of bulb, then wouldn't this scenario not contravene this MOT requirement and be able to officially be passed?
based on expeiriance, i will wager if you were to phone every MOT authority in the UK, everyone would give you a different answer.
Because it needs a driver and a heat sink. LEDs are destroyed by heat so a heat sink which is usually die cast aluminium is used to dump the heat. LEDs can be run as constant current or constant voltage. Constant current is better, and the voltage is typically are 24V not the 14V or so from an alternator which is AC anyway. Either way you need a box of electronics to feed the circuit board on which the LEDs are mounted. you don’t need either with tungsten halogen
The unit that I have installed in my bike merely replaced the halogen bulb and, whilst being a shade longer weighed about the same. If you are that concerned about weight why not just have a bloody good crap before you climb on your bike. A lot cheaper than wasting money on Titanium fripperies.
when i was testing, every region. i have tested in 3 regions, grampian, argyle, highland then back to argyle. every time i moved i had to do another test with VOSA.
The thing is, OEM and after market are not the same thing. I would not buy an LED light fitting from b and q for example. I work in professional, technical lighting and I see the difference between quality products and cheap products all the time. you are free to buy what you wish but the fact remains that Ducati put on heavier parts for styling purposes on a bike that is sold as being lighter than the base model. I have Panigale but deliberately did not buy the S model but bought the base model. Then lightened and improved it with the money I saved.
