When I win the BIG lottery I'll pay to have all your* headlights shipped to me and I'll swap in some 4500k, high CRI emitters and then you'll see first-hand that there is a huge difference in LED emitters.
It's so much work though. If I had it to do over again I would've used Cree XP-L HI for both low and high beam to get more throw on low. The reflector provides plenty of spill in the area it illuminates, the XP-L HI would've thrown further. too late.
It would've cost them 5-10 bucks more per headlight for decent tint and color rendition (just a guess based on the cost of the emitters for a big order) but if it only needs to hit a certain lumens output with something resembling white light then it conforms.
Consider this also: 2 of the same emitters drawing the same current but one is 6500k and the other is 4000k, the 6500k will put out more measurable lumens. So if brighter is better, and higher Kelvins is cheaper, then we wind up with blue and purple tints.
Since headlights are no longer a big piece of glass with 2 terminals that we just swap out we're stuck with their system.
Maybe one of you gearheads will find a replacement headlight that accepts something similar to a 9005 type automotive bulb that we can swap out. I think the current draw on that size would be too high but maybe there's a motorsports or UTV type round headlight that can be used.
I was inspired to mod my headlight by a fellow flashoholic who
modded his scooter headlight, he estimated 350mA for each emitter, 700mA @3.3V on low so that's NOT a lot of current. Light circuit very similar to ours, also made by Stanley, but that headlight assembly looks like a nightmare. We Trail 125 riders stand a chance of finding a decent replacement housing because ours is just round. I'll do some digging this weekend. May require an adapter that will mount within our housing and a wiring harness but we've all seen
much more complicated solutions for automotive and motorcycle upgrades.
Beamshots done with a phone camera are fairly useless, but I'll head out to a dark area and lock the exposure to the hotspot of the low beam and take a pic, then turn on high and take another pic. Will upload if they're realistic.
(edit- useless effort, pictures convey nothing worth posting. But I DID get a little ride in and a saw an owl swoop down off a streetlight!)
To those who hate it: I feel your pain. To those who love it: that's awesome!
* = all who've posted before me. optimistic I'll hit the big one but don't want to spend my life modding headlights.
