LED light addition-small but powerful

[1olbull]

I bought mine from the European distributor, so that won't help you most likely.
These guys seem to have a decent price and they do great informative videos about this stuff too; they're in the US however.
http://www.headlightrevolution.com/JWSPEAKER_8630_Evolution_p/0549911.htm
Since you seem to be sporting an Australian flag, doing some quick Google searches seem to point to these guys as the sole Australian importers.
http://www.speakerlighting.com.au

Yeah, I had in mind the Daymakers were even more than that, but I may be misremembering (or remembering an old price). Though a little over $400 is more correct for the Evo, about the same as the Daymakers, and still quite a chunk of change since it takes two. Still, the Daymakers now appear to be the inferior choice where before they appeared to be better.

I would have to see the testing and compare before I believe that.
Daymakera are pretty good regarding what you can see how far downstream at night with no ambient light (3.2 lux or .3 ft cd).

 

[barbagris]

As far as I know the Daymakers are still the older generation, so it's not an apples to apples comparison, the new Evo should through more light, and further.

To comply with ECE law - it actually cannot provide much more light on DIP than the old one does.
On main - the DIP stays on as well on the EVO as it does with the NEW Daymaker. And this is where the "extra" light comes from. It does not mean however that the MAIN beam leds are more powerful.

Lest we forget the original Daymaker was a 100% re-badged original 8630.

The "plus" on the 8700 EVOII seems to be a wider closer DIP beam. But is it when you're banked over. Erm no - I seriously doubt it.
The Delphi connector should not faze any reasonable auto electrician (professional or not) - Build a new harness if you're worried - the Plug on the end under the tank is a very standard one - uses standard 2.8mm blades.

 

[Loonitick]

Work with automotive electrics every day. Worst part of the job will be digging out the correct connectors

 

[cr0ft]

I really don't have a horse in this race, as I already have a great 7 inch LED solution on mine. It's just fun to debate it. However, these are the patterns that Harley claims for the Daymaker and the pattern for the new 8630 Evo from the JW Speaker PDF:



The Harley (colored) graph goes out to 800 feet (though of course there is not a lot of light left at that point) and the 8630 Evo passes 375 meters. 375 meters is 1230 feet or thereabouts. Even if you look at the pattern closer to the source you can see that the same seems to apply across the board, ie you get usable light as well further with the Evo.

Which makes sense, I can't see JW Speaker come out with a brand new model, only been out a few weeks, and make it inferior to their own earlier efforts. At least, that's my opinion.

 

[1olbull]

Like to know where you discovered these graphs?
I wish to evaluate further and compare to my own light testing.

 

[cr0ft]

The Harley graphs are from the Daymaker page, a PDF there http://www.harley-davidson.com/app-content/eStore/LED_Halogen_Headlamp_Comparison.pdf and the JW Speaker one is from their PDF, http://www.jwspeaker.com/products/led-headlights-model-8630-evolution/0549911/ (from the page http://www.jwspeaker.com/products/led-headlights-model-8630-evolution/) There's not a whole lot more scientific data to be had there. And of course, it's possible that the Harley graphs are more illustrative than precise of course. Just seemed like an interesting comparison.

The conversion from meters to feet is mine, though, as Harley uses ye olde Imperial units.

 

[1olbull]

So then your colored graphs are of a 7" LED and the Evolutions are 5.75" LED?

 

[cr0ft]

I think the colored graphs are unspecified Harley LED graphs, rather, so can't really tell. I did follow the link to the PDF from http://www.harley-davidson.com/store/daymaker-led-headlamp-pa-11-67700144--1 (5.75 inch) but looking at the PDF now it is extremely vague as to what it actually depicts, or if it is even depicting some specific model or just is a generic comparison between old school to the left and LED to the right. The black/white graph is specifically from the 8630 Evo document. So my bad there, the colored Daymaker graph may well not reflect the reality of a 5.75 inch Daymaker.

 

[barbagris]

Have a composite of OLD 8630 and 6150 & 6050 fogs - Cut from JWS glossies.

I may have the pdf files somewhere - I'll have a look.

Shows an important point - The new fogs are rated HIGHER in Lumens - but would seem to have less spread.

 

[1olbull]

I don't understand why they choose the lux numbers they do for their graphs?
Tis common knowledge within the forensic lighting community that the end of civil twilight (sun 6° below the horizon) is the approximate human limit for discerning objects without assisted or ambient light.
That is 3.2 lux. So on their graphs, somewhere non linear between the 1 lux and the 5 or 10 lux values. IMHO the .25 lux measurement is worthless for human purposes.
I would personally prefer to see 10, 5, 3.2 & 1 lux light meter readings used.