Philips DayLight 8 LED-DRL

[R111S]

Wifey bought me a nice lighting upgrade for my '99 R1100S. So many new cars have these rows of white LEDs near the Headlight. It seemed good to add these to the bike and maybe be mistaken for a car...or just more conspicuousity.

The Philips DayLight 8 units are very good quality construction and obviously more pricey (~$200) than the lesser quality units on the market now. Diecast metal housing and thick clear lense. You get two units with 8 white LEDs in each one. You also get a "control box" but I didn't utilize it. I wired a single DayLight 8 to my low-beam circuit.

The color temperature of the Daylight 8 LEDs match well with the DDM Tuning 5000K HID bulbs in my Headlight. The Philips installation documentation is good but it failed to mention the Lumens rating. Some research yielded a "450 Lumen" value but it might not be correct.

I've just took some pics but haven't ridden it yet - I'm waiting on new set of Michelin PR3s first.

Here's the Philips DayLight 8 Kit:


I chose this mounting location and fabricated two aluminum brackets for it. I used loctite on the threaded fasteners:








On the bike:




HID Lowbeam and DayLight 8 on - saying the LEDs are bright is an understatement:


Reduced exposure:

[wswartzwel]

Looks nice i thought you would mount them in the lens for an eyebrow effect, but you location looks good does this mean the fog lamps will be coming off the mirrors Dan?

[R111S]

Thanks Bill - No the 100W Halogen Driving Lamps will stay put. They're aimed at the ditches.

[turboflyer]

Very clean and straight forward install. Good job. I would have been tempted to put them piggy back and do a wig-wag but hey still nice work.

[elmontanero]

Originally Posted by R111S

You get two units with 8 white LEDs in each one.... I wired a single DayLight 8 to my low-beam circuit.

(my emphasis added for clarity)

Any chance you'd be interested in passing on the other unit to me? They look great!

[flatbutt]

Nicely done. Did you have to diddle with it to get it to fit that nicely?

[lkchris]

Originally Posted by R111S

So many new cars have these rows of white LEDs near the Headlight ...

... because it became a requirement in the EU beginning 2011.

Bit redundant with headlight on, I'd think.

They are meant as DRLs, i.e. daytime running lights, and the purpose and design is for visibility of your vehicle by others and not for the driver to better see where s/he's going.

LED Daytime Running Lights (DRL) | PowerBulbs

[R111S]

Originally Posted by flatbutt

Nicely done. Did you have to diddle with it to get it to fit that nicely?

Thanks Flatty. No real diddling outside of custom making the two aluminum "L" brackets. I researched the housing size (6.33" long, 0.74" high, 1.38" deep) and noted they'd fit snugly under the Oil Cooler Snout.

Amazon has them for $189:
Amazon.com: Philips 12824WLEDX1 DayLight 8 High Powered Luxeon LED Daytime Running Light: Automotive

[R111S]

Originally Posted by elmontanero

(my emphasis added for clarity)

Any chance you'd be interested in passing on the other unit to me? They look great!

Sorry...you're too late, one of my Riding Buddies here is interested in it.

[Paulaner]

Nice install!
will you post a pic of the finished bike from the front (like an approaching vehicle would see)?

I'm seriously considering this, but want something that will attach to the forks so I can see around turns better. My current HID low beam is already VERY noticeable, high beam downright painful!

[R111S]

Hi Len,

I've got it all back together and have ridden at night too.

If you're wanting significantly more light these don't really do the job IMO. I have DDM Tuning 35W 5000K HID low and high beam bulbs and these LEDs can't compete with those electric arcs.

OTOH the conspicuousity both day and night is much better than HID only. I think this is the real intent of the DRL-LED in the primary sense.

Lastly, the look of these LEDs says "leading edge" Tech...I'm almost sure some will want these if for that effect alone.

Here's some pics I took this evening in the twilight. HID Low Beam and LEDs. Sorry but my camera just washes the light so that detail is lacking.

If you look at the reflection off the front Fender you can see the individual LED elements.

[EddyKilowatt]

So it worked to just wire the individual light unit to 12V, rather than going thru the 'Control Module'? I presume that means there is drive electronics in each light unit, in addition to the Control unit. Any issues noted with going this route?

[wswartzwel]

[damage113]

Very cool looking lights! I like having as many points of light as possible on the front. BUT, I did have some small fog lights mounted in the same location and had a problem with clearance. Hit a random and the front fender met the lights, now I have a cracked fender. Once it hit one time I moved/adjusted them to get more room but couldn't stop thinking about another incident so I removed them. I am not saying you are in danger of the same, but that front suspension moves a lot more than i thought. If i can find pix, i'll post.

good luck!

[R111S]

Originally Posted by EddyKilowatt

So it worked to just wire the individual light unit to 12V, rather than going thru the 'Control Module'? I presume that means there is drive electronics in each light unit, in addition to the Control unit. Any issues noted with going this route?

You are correct and nothing so far has gone wrong but its only 293 miles ago.

[R111S]

Originally Posted by damage113

Very cool looking lights! I like having as many points of light as possible on the front. BUT, I did have some small fog lights mounted in the same location and had a problem with clearance. Hit a random and the front fender met the lights, now I have a cracked fender. Once it hit one time I moved/adjusted them to get more room but couldn't stop thinking about another incident so I removed them. I am not saying you are in danger of the same, but that front suspension moves a lot more than i thought. If i can find pix, i'll post.

good luck!

Thanks and yes pics please!

You have confirmed my own concerns with this mounting position but so far the light and fender have not made contact. I've only ridden 293 miles though and most of that was riding to work on smooth roads. OTOH the profile of this light is very slim and I've lost only ~20mm of clearance...time will tell.

I also have Wilbers front/rear suspension. It has been my experience with aftermarket suspension (Ohlins and Wilbers) that chassis control is much better than OEM units - this might work in my favor - or maybe not.

[R111S]

Originally Posted by wswartzwel

ReddyKilowatt - He's sure been around a long time. He must have retired years ago.

Well Bill, since you're injecting some whimzy into this thread I'll add this one - this surly looking Rat on a Motard'd YZ cracks me up! He makes jumping Busses look easy too!

[R111S]

Well I had a good ride with my Riding Buddies this weekend. We did our usual crappy county bluff roads ride where there's lots of uneven pavement and some stuff where you must pick your line(s) carefully!!! - 63 miles worth.

These roads are so crappy that my friend who rides a GSXR1000 (and does track days) was joking that his Gixxer is not a Moto-X Bike...suspension too stiff to keep from being airborn in the bumpy curves (yes I know it's hard to believe we have curves in Illinois).

I normally run no spring pre-load as as little damping as I can get away with on these undulating countryside roads to smooth the ride. I'm happy to say no damage occurred to my 14 year old carbon front fender therefore I conclude I don't have clearance issues.

But as more miles pass it'll be the proof if this is really the case. Current total miles on the Daylight 8: 356

You might wonder why we ride on such crappy roads? Well there's not much else to choose from here in the corn and bean fields...but...if you can ride swiftly on these roads you are good to go most anywhere else. So, there's a method to this madness. It's actually good training that holds you in good stead for when things go terribly wrong.

[damage113]

Here is a pic of the failed light mod, i think after this first position i moved them outboard an inch on each side but still didn't work - they are much lower than your light bar, you should be good!

[R111S]

Thanks for sharing your pic...makes me feel even better now. :^)