- Joined
- Nov 26, 2014
- Messages
- 28
I'm pretty anal about increasing my visibility on the road as much as I can. My greatest fear when riding is to have some SUV-herding soccer mom, engrossed with her cell phone, T-bone me while stopped at a traffic light. There wouldn't be a lot of defense for that.
That said, when I recently added OEM-style turn signal lights to my Commando, I was underwhelmed at the visibility of these lights. First, the new Lucas flasher works sporadically, with flash frequencies varying wildly. Then the archaic wiring diagram of the headlight-mounted indicator light makes it a joke during daylight hours. You'd have to cup your hand over the indicator to see if it was on or not.
In an attempt to improve this situation, I stumbled onto to a British LED specialist: http://www.dynamoregulatorconversions.com/ , and it looked like they provide just what I needed.
For well under $100, I purchased a new 2-pin LED Brake light bulb, 4 turn signal bulbs, a solid-state flasher module (required for LED lights), and a specially-wired indicator LED (Part No. 9), which fits perfectly in the original headlight bucket opening, and looks like the original.
Wiring was simple. Just replace the bulbs, remove your seat and change out the flasher unit, then remove the headlight, unplug and remove the old flasher indicator, and replace with the new one. (You WILL need to order a package of Lucas-style brass connector bullets, and you may as well get a package of bullet sleeves (double style)).
When all was finished, all the lights on my bike now work the way a modern bike should. The brake light is much brighter than standard, and if course uses much less current, the turn signals as well are very bright, and flash at a consistent and proper rate, and the flasher indicator is sufficiently bright during the day.
They also sell a turn signal warning buzzer that I may consider.. a feature I've always liked on my old BMW airhead.
Highly recommended!
Phil,
Austin
That said, when I recently added OEM-style turn signal lights to my Commando, I was underwhelmed at the visibility of these lights. First, the new Lucas flasher works sporadically, with flash frequencies varying wildly. Then the archaic wiring diagram of the headlight-mounted indicator light makes it a joke during daylight hours. You'd have to cup your hand over the indicator to see if it was on or not.
In an attempt to improve this situation, I stumbled onto to a British LED specialist: http://www.dynamoregulatorconversions.com/ , and it looked like they provide just what I needed.
For well under $100, I purchased a new 2-pin LED Brake light bulb, 4 turn signal bulbs, a solid-state flasher module (required for LED lights), and a specially-wired indicator LED (Part No. 9), which fits perfectly in the original headlight bucket opening, and looks like the original.
Wiring was simple. Just replace the bulbs, remove your seat and change out the flasher unit, then remove the headlight, unplug and remove the old flasher indicator, and replace with the new one. (You WILL need to order a package of Lucas-style brass connector bullets, and you may as well get a package of bullet sleeves (double style)).
When all was finished, all the lights on my bike now work the way a modern bike should. The brake light is much brighter than standard, and if course uses much less current, the turn signals as well are very bright, and flash at a consistent and proper rate, and the flasher indicator is sufficiently bright during the day.
They also sell a turn signal warning buzzer that I may consider.. a feature I've always liked on my old BMW airhead.
Highly recommended!
Phil,
Austin
