Servicing LED lights

[mophead]

I went ahead with the 2014 low mile purchase and will just live with the old halogen bulbs. Compared to the older K100RS's I rode for several hundred thousand miles these halogens in the 2014 and even my older 2008 were pretty damn good.

I can see it now, " 2016+ FJR 1300 for sale". Hey buddy, all those LED's working? Replacing the headlight assembly would cost me more than a valve job or something to that effect.

Time will tell as to how they hold up and answers to these questions are far out in the future, hopefully.

No Serviceable lights...............................That ain't right!!!

 

[AdamK]

They are serviceable. You just have to replace the entire headlight bucket to do that.

I had my headlight assembly replaced on my 2016 ES. But not because the lights failed but because the shipping company who delivered my bike to me from Alabama tipped it in the trailer and chipped the lens. Cost them about $1,500 if I remember correctly.

 

[mophead]

Well looks like I was correct on the replacement cost at $1500.00.

 

[Chiefblueman]

As an electrician that recently retired from a municipal traffic signal maintenance shop I can say unequivocally that not only do LED's fail, they also dim with age. All our displays were LED and luminaires were in process of being replaced when I left. While their lifespan is much longer than incandescent or HPS, their photometrics degrade over time. Our replacement schedule was recently extended to 7 years, this to assure minimum brightness levels be maintained. The signal displays are 12 inch self contained units. Sometimes the entire unit will fail but more often individual LED pixels fail.

My trusty Gen1 is now 13 years old and in excellent health. It would be a shame to have to junk it because it's not worth replacing the $800 head light.

 

[Fred W]

Yes, except that is 7 years of being on 12 hours a day on average, 365 days a year. ( I bet the red and green lights faded much more than the yellows). Plus switching on and off more or less continuously probably doesnt help their longevity.

None of us ride our bike to that extent. If you did, the LEDs dimming would be the least expensive of your worn out parts

 

[FJR Flyer]

This is my first full week on my new-to-me '16 ES. I will also say the LED headlights are head and shoulders better than the halogens. The hi beams are amazing. Hope they last. Now to see if I can get the YES.....

 

[RossKean]

Yes, except that is 7 years of being on 12 hours a day on average, 365 days a year. ( I bet the red and green lights faded much more than the yellows). Plus switching on and off more or less continuously probably doesnt help their longevity.
None of us ride our bike to that extent. If you did, the LEDs dimming would be the least expensive of your worn out parts

At an average speed of 50 MPH (depending on where/how you ride), it would equate to a mere 1.5 million miles.

Current generation of automotive-type (headlight) LED's haven't really been out there long enough to have an accurate assessment of longevity under "real" operating conditions. For LED's that use fan cooling, I expect that mechanical failure of the fan happens before the LED "wears out". Effects of in situ temperatures, vibration, electrical connections and voltage fluctuation are hard to simulate. Probably safe to say that Yamaha has done what they can to evaluate these devices and expect them to last well beyond the warranty period. If they start failing en masse after 4 or 5 years, they will have a lot of pissed off customers. It would be interesting to have a measurement of luminosity when new compared to after a few thousand hours of operation.

I wonder if the headlight buckets are permanently sealed (heat or hard glue) or if some clever individual could figure out how to open them up and replace the LED's in the event of a failure? Pretty sure that the emitters are available off some shelf or other - I doubt that Yamaha commissioned their own OEM design.

 

[Fred W]

Averaging 50 mph is pretty tough in real life, unless one only rides on the highway. About half of that (25 mph) might be more realistic, but that still means going 750k miles. Even SkooterG doesn't put that many miles on his FJRs.