01 We start by removing the bottom retaining screw of the trim ring off of the Road King
Russian Oleg Vladimirovich Losev has been credited with the invention of the first Light-Emitting Diode (LED) in 1927, but no real use was made of the technology for decades. The first practical visible-spectrum (red) LED was developed in 1962 by Nick Holonyak Jr. while at General Electric. He is widely known as the father of the light-emitting diode and every electric manufacturer in the world rejoiced in his being born.
LEDs have now grown out of their red and green-colored hues and into the realm of intense light. This is thanks to Shuji Nakamura, who invented the first high-brightness white LED lighting, which went into production in 1993. From there the first production LED headlamps were factory-installed on Lexus models in 2007 and the rest is history.
The Truck-Lite 7-inch round LED Headlamp ($299) provides a new level of performance for your touring motorcycle. Truck-Lite’s 12-volt headlamp employs 10 high-output LEDs as its light source, with an output much brighter than traditional glass beam headlights.
02 The trim ring was then carefully pulled off of the nacelle as not to bend the spring c
This lamp meets or exceeds the Department of Transportation (DOT) requirements pertaining to headlights, which is one of the most difficult standards to achieve. The US Military has had these same Truck-Lite LED Headlamps on vehicles in Iraq and Afghanistan since 2007, so these lights have had some extreme weather testing far more than our motorcycles could dish out.
These headlamps are a direct plug-and-play for Harley baggers as well as many other touring bikes. They have built-in solid-state circuit board assemblies for vibration resistance and hard-coated polycarbonate lenses that offers 30 times more impact strength than glass. Truck-Lite’s Headlamps offer improved visibility over convention-al bulbs, as the color temperature of the assembly is around 5000K. This is closer to the color temperature of daylight, improving light projection distance and visibility over incandescent or halogen lamps. Yes, that equates to better nighttime seeing and even more importantly being seen better at night.
Follow along as we install a major lighting upgrade in less time than it takes to have a pizza delivered. See for yourself the major difference LEDs headlamps make.
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03 Three screws are all that holds the old headlight to the retaining ring. We removed th
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04 The incandescent OEM headlight bulb was then pulled from the Road King’s nacelle and u
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05 This front shot shows the difference in the two 7-inch headlamps with the LED offering
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06 The rear shot shows the anodized aluminum housing of the LED light on the left. Note t
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07 The stock H-D headlamp mounting ring was slipped over the new Truck-Lite headlamp with
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08 The OEM wiring plugged directly into the back of the LED light.
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09 Before we permanently bolted the new headlamp into the nacelle, we checked to see if i
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10 The Headlamp retaining ring was then reattached to the nacelle with the stock Phillips
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11 The trim ring was then snapped on to the nacelle and held into place with a single scr
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12 The new LED headlamp shone brightly in its new home. We really liked the amount of pur
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13 Before, with the stock H-D headlamp.
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After, with the Truck-Lite LED headlamp.
Source
Truck-Lite Co. Inc.
(800) 562-5012
truck-lite.com