I found these LED running lights that are 1600 lumens each, come with a solid state relay and can be run high/low with handlebar switch. They are bright and work very well. I mounted them to my top caliper bolts as a filler light for night canyon riding.

I took it on its first ride last night with the new lights and they really mess up my Harley Radio. When the lights are switched on, they interfere with my bikes radio and CB communications. There is a terrible static noise every time they are turned on.

Here is what I tried to fixed the problem and none of this worked. I’m very good with electronic and just can’t find the solution:
1. I twisted the power and ground wires so they wouldn't act like an antenna.
2. I isolated the power and the ground back to the battery.
3. I made sure everything had proper grounds and didn't have any ground loops. I even tried running an extra ground to each fork leg.
4. I put ferrite RF filters on the power leads and ran a torrid choke to try and stop the noise
5. I ran the lights on their own power supplier (isolated completely from the bike) and they still interfere badly with the radio.

I'm at a total loss and wonder what else I can do other than returning them.
There was a few guys out there that ran the same lights and was wondering if they ran into the same problem.

 

very comprehensive effort on you part.

with that kind of RF being shot out- I wonder if it could affect the ECM.

possible to bypass the switch and the "lo" function as that may be bleeding voltage to ground

mike

 

I was told the type of power being applied to the CREE Led's is a pulse type of power. Since Resistors generate heat and are old school, they apply voltage in a pulse rather than overloading and burning it out with constant power. Unfortunately for me, this pulse is causing massive RF interference. The LED housing is aluminum, so I thought it would be shielded. Might have to return the lights

 

Sounds like some really dirty lights from the standpoint of wideband spurious RF generation. It's really hard to determine what might be generating the RF. It's quite possible that the high frequency pulsed voltage feed may be the culprit.

I don't blame you I would never put up with that at all, regardless of how good they are. I would take them back and try something else. Remember the stuff manufactured overseas many times slips through the FCC spurious emissions compliance requirements.

Check out some of the lights the BMW guys use.

 

only other thing you could try is shielded cable like that used for strobe lights

 

I don’t believe shielded wires are going to make a difference. In one test using the car charger, I took all the wiring off the bike and laid it on the ground. I turned them on using the charger and it still radiated noise through the radio. I was amazed how noisy these lights are and they are using aluminum housings to boot. Totally bummed. I’m pretty sure I can return them and if I can’t I’ll only run them when I need them at night. If I can return them, I will probably have to look at alternative lighting like Custom Dynamics or Kuryakyn.

 

I once had a similar issue with aftermarket HID lights in a chevy truck. Radio was useless when the lights were on.
I shielded, added ground straps..re wired... only cure was the trash can.

 

It sucks that you cant get rid of the noise. Have you thought about the TL led set? Lotsa coin but good reviews. I have a set waiting on me when I get back from sucking sand. Wish you luck, hope you get it figured out.

 

I have all 3 Harley LED lights. They are way better and brighter than the TL LED's and I've compared them side by side with a neighbor's bike ( see my other posts) but the biggest pitfall with these lights are the linear beam in tight dark turns. All the LED's suck at this problem.

I bought these lights as "filler" and they do work well. Just nosier than hell and literally cancels out my FM and weather with the wonderful sound of running water (static). I'm probably going to return them if I can, if not, I leave them off until I really need them on at night.

 

I would go one step further and add a 0.1 mfd and a .01 mfd capacitor across the + and - leads as close to the lights internal circuit board as you can. Hopefully this will short out or attenuate any RF radiating off the power leads. Barring that, it's radiating right out the front lens. At that point you can repurpose your lights and sell it on eBay as a stereo jammer against neighbors with loud music.