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LED Headlight review - SKTYANTS 7" with integral DRL and turn signals

12K views 11 replies 6 participants last post by  SuzieV18 
#1 ·
I just installed this light: Amazon.com: SKTYANTS 7 Inch led Headlight DRL (Left/Right) Turn Signal Lights for Motorcycle Harley Davidson: Automotive

Anyone else try it? I figured I couldn't go wrong for 46 bucks, worst case it would suck and I'd just send it back.

I really like the way it freshens up the look of the front of my ride (I know, this is personal taste and many will hate it).

My biggest worry was that it would be light the drop in replacement "H4" LED bulbs, and give a terribly beam pattern, blind oncoming drivers, and have terrible distance projection, but I found the opposite.
Low beam is brighter, and with a sharper cutoff edge than the OE H4. Long distance projection seems better too, though I haven't done a ton of night riding to get a detailed impression.
High beam slightly better than the H4 high beam, with the stronger low beam LEDs plus another couple of LEDs to fill in above the lowbeam cutoff.

DRL and integrated turn signals are nice! In the daytime the combination of the DRL plus lowbeam is much more visible than the H4 for oncoming cars.

Not the best photos, sun is at the worst angle right now.

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#2 ·
Headlight part was plug and play, DRL and turns required a tiny bit of rewiring.
Mounted right up with no modifications by combining the original outer chrome ring with the inner two-piece sandwich clamp mount from an EMGO Kawasaki Kz headlamp retaining ring kit i grabbed off ebay for 20 bucks.
 
#4 · (Edited)
I installed this headlight a couple of weeks ago and would caution that the low beam throws light in two concentric circles and is very weak in the close range and only barely brighter than stock in the longer range. It's very important to set up the vertical throw high enough (without blinding oncoming traffic) to get the best range possible especially when riding at higher speeds on minor highways (I had a few scary moments already).

The high beam is usable however quite scattered with no discernible hotspot so you'll basically illuminate the street to the tree tops equally.

I will keep this light for now as I enjoy the DRL and integrated indicators (only until I get a ticket for them being too close together). But I would say in terms of light output it's better to get a high quality LED bulb and use the stock housing.

Eventually I'll probably upgrade to a quality light like the EVO 2 by JW Speakers sold by Motodemic for $639. The price difference however is just jaw-dropping.
Scratch that. I'll go back to an LED bulb with stock housing once they have the ADV Monster H4 R4 available again for $50. That bulb is very strong, no moving parts, and a very clean cutoff line and hotspots.

Finally, if you cannot find the Kawasaki mounting rings, you'll have to spring for the set including the brackets (I discarded the housing and fork brackets) which is $94 instead.
 
#5 ·
I installed this headlight a couple of weeks ago and would caution that the low beam throws light in two concentric circles and is very weak in the close range and only barely brighter than stock in the longer range. It's very important to set up the vertical throw high enough (without blinding oncoming traffic) to get the best range possible especially when riding at higher speeds on minor highways (I had a few scary moments already).

The high beam is usable however quite scattered with no discernible hotspot so you'll basically illuminate the street to the tree tops equally.

I will keep this light for now as I enjoy the DRL and integrated indicators (only until I get a ticket for them being too close together). But I would say in terms of light output it's better to get a high quality LED bulb and use the stock housing.

Eventually I'll probably upgrade to a quality light like the EVO 2 by JW Speakers sold by Motodemic for $639. The price difference however is just jaw-dropping.
Scratch that. I'll go back to an LED bulb with stock housing once they have the ADV Monster H4 R4 available again for $50. That bulb is very strong, no moving parts, and a very clean cutoff line and hotspots.

Finally, if you cannot find the Kawasaki mounting rings, you'll have to spring for the set including the brackets (I discarded the housing and fork brackets) which is $94 instead.
Thanks for all this info, I'll definitely be looking for this behavior. I guess you get what you pay for.

My bike's PO installed some off-brand LED bulb in a really crappy ebay reflector; the light is very scattered and I don't feel safe riding at night at all. Hoping this LED is a bit of an improvment (I got the one that came with the housing and brackets), but we'll see.

I agree on the JW as well. It seems every thread I have looked at can be summed up with "all set-ups that aren't JW have pitfalls, so if you're serious, go with a JW". Hard to justify a headlight thats ~1/4 of the bike's cost though.
 
#6 ·
I installed the SKTYANTS light+bucket yesterday evening and it looks/feels quite a bit better than the PO's plastic bucket. The light looks well made and has a really nice weight to it, but taking a closer look at any one bit shows its a little rough around the edges. That being said, this is above what I expected from a ~$100 light!

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I haven't wired up the DRLs yet, but the turn signals are fairly bright and should be pretty visible to drivers in front of you. However, I am not convinced these are visible enough to act alone as your front signals, especially to drivers beside you. I have a second set of 360 turn signals around my forks and I feel a lot more confident that drivers in front AND beside me can understand my intentions.

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I haven't got any pictures of the beam pattern yet, but it puts my previous set up to shame. Its brighter, whiter, and more consistent. The cutoff is good, but @sv650bklyn is absolutely right that you must aim it as high as possible without blinding other drivers, because it doesn't project as far as one would hope (I'll be enlisting my brother's help to do that tonight). Maybe there is a difference in the high beam between units, because mine throws a bit more light directly ahead but there is virtually no added light anywhere else. Not super useful for getting a better look at your surroundings. It's disappointing really.

Another point to be aware of for anyone looking at projector style headlights, the cut-off is nasty while cornering. I don't do too much night riding on back roads, so I think this will do for now, but I was genuinely surprised at how tilted the beam pattern becomes even in wide turns. It becomes all but useless in tight turns, so make sure to take your regular riding environment into account when deciding on a projector.

All in all, for $100, I'd say its worth it for my purposes. If I ever end up doing more night riding, especially on back roads, I will likely invest in a better setup, like a high quality LED bulb and a reflector to give myself a wider (and potentially brighter) view of the road.

I'll try and add some beam pattern pictures later.
 
#8 ·
I installed a very similar LED headlight from some amazon company called SUPAREE. It looks exactly the same as OP's headlight. Tried to do a before/after beam comparison, see below. I haven't actually ridden it out at night though.

For DRLs, I had a spare 12V connector in my headlight wiring bundle (though it could be leftover from when I swapped the gauges out). See if you can find a wiring diagram (I only have a gen 1 diagram), very helpful for tapping into power or whatever you need.

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#10 ·
I recently purchased the SKTYANTS lights and tried to install it. I'm have trouble with the signal lights. I was given two wires and connected them to each signal light. The correct amber signal lights up but stays lit up without blinking. Would could be the issue?
The halo also doesn't light up, which I assume is because the brown wire isn't connected to anything. Am I supposed to make a third wire to connect the halo DRL to a power source? If so, were would I have to connect it to?
I apologize, I don't have experience with wiring and would really appreciate any feedback. Thank you!
 
#11 · (Edited)
You have to connect the DRL wire as well. In order for the indicators to turn off and flash the DRLs need to have power.

If your bike was originally an S model then you can use one of the two brown wires for the DLR. Those were used for the position lights in the stock headlight assembly. To connect the wires either solder and heat shrink, use insulated bullet connectors, or a Posi-Lock (see below).

If it's a true naked model, then you can tap into the stock low-beam wire (it's white I believe; but definitely the middle wire on the 3-pronged H4 headlight connector). The DRLs use 10W only and the low-beam LEDs 30W, so running them in parallel on the low-beam factory wire is fine.
I recommend using a Posi-Tap for ease of use and a solid, yet reversible connection. It pierces the insulation of the main wire at one small spot, vs the cheap alligator taps that basically cut into the tapped wire twice. Get the red/black ones part no. PTA1800M for 18 gauge tapped wire, order here.
 
#12 ·
You have to connect the DRL wire as well. In order for the indicators to turn off and flash the DRLs need to have power.

If your bike was originally an S model then you can use one of the two brown wires for the DLR. Those were used for the position lights in the stock headlight assembly. To connect the wires either solder and heat shrink, use insulated bullet connectors, or a Posi-Lock (see below).

If it's a true naked model, then you can tap into the stock low-beam wire (it's white I believe; but definitely the middle wire on the 3-pronged H4 headlight connector). The DRLs use 10W only and the low-beam LEDs 30W, so running them in parallel on the low-beam factory wire is fine.
I recommend using a Posi-Tap for ease of use and a solid, yet reversible connection. It pierces the insulation of the main wire at one small spot, vs the cheap alligator taps that basically cut into the tapped wire twice. Get the red/black ones part no. PTA1800M for 18 gauge tapped wire, order here.
Thank you so much for your reply. I somehow managed to figure it out before getting to your post. I did splice it to the main power so that I could have the halos on for both low and high beam and I also had to get a LED flash relay to make it blink properly. But this is my first time hearing about the Posi-Lock and I will definitely use it for future wiring. Thank you again for spending your time to explain this!
 
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