LED lights on old 12v softail

[michael133]

for me to put LED headlight on ol 12v softail,whats needed besides headlight

[Hawk N Out]

I used those bendable led yellow light strips for my turn signals and replaced the standard 1157 tail/brake light bulb with a led replacement. I bought the strips off eBay and the tail light from autozone.

[michael133]

no what I mean is I want one real brite headlight,and I understand that going led you need some kind adapter or modular or something.i cant just hook up led to 12v,rite

[Hawk N Out]

I always have, as long as the led is set up for 12v load

[boxxer06]

J P CYCLE will fix you up. I
put LED'S on my 98 Road King and it was as simple as taking the old out and in with the new and what a difference. Just like a new bike they are that bright

[michael133]

thanks,i wasn't sure.......

[Grayrider]

You only might need a resistor if you go to LED turn signals. The strip lights work as they usually have a built in resistor. If you replace like an 1156 - 1157  for turn you will probably need a resistor.
Headlight bulb alone will work OK.
Just be careful what you buy. Some advertise both high and low beam but only the high will work on our bikes. Have a few like that. 

[Xanadu]

Michael, you might be confusing LED with HID headlights.  The LED will connect to your existing wiring without modifications if you get the bulb made for your year bike.  the HID light is the xenon bulb that uses a ballast that fits behind the reflector in the headlight bucket.  That setup will require you run an additional 12V source to your headlight bucket to power the ballast.  I have tried several different conversion kits, they all had an issue with startup.  maybe 20% of the time when I turned on the ignition the headlight would not turn on.  This is one issue.  Conversions also dont have the light cutoff so the HID conversion kits throw light up into the sky.  at night stop signs will blind you.  I found the HID to be the brightest solution, but its not made for a halogen bulb reflector.

[Dan89flstc]

Deleted double

[Dan89flstc]

Deleted this one too.