L.E.D. Bulbs

steveyacht · Jun 24, 2011

I have been contemplating replacing some bulbs with LEDs as they are brighter and use less power. Is there anyone out there using LED replacement bulbs in thier Stop, Brake or Signals? If so what are your opinions as to if they are worth it.

Thanks

Hobot · Jun 24, 2011

Very much worth it but kind of hard to find bulb/moduals the work with +earth or give proper spread of viewing. Bulbsthatlastforever had kit I tested by crashing a lot and runing in rain and hail and worked a treat. Don't know if still available as they last forever so market got saturated after a few years. Talk about no good deed going unpunished or shoot self in foot, sheeze. To have the robust and install features Bruce busted his nuts for little but did open up another line of LED for bigger fish market.

DogT · Jun 24, 2011

I'd like to hear some LED tales too. It would be nice if I could replace the front and rear running lights with a lot less current used.

Dave
69S

ntst8 · Jun 24, 2011

Not a direct comparison but i have just fitted one each to pilot, tail/brake and speedo back light on my 16H - 45W generator running at 12V (-ve earth) needs all the help it can get. Mine came from Paul Goff.
Even with the engine off the ammeter needle doesn't move when the tail and pilot are switched on, whereas it would show a draw with the std bulbs.

The pilot is much brighter than the standard 12V one i was using before, and tail/brake at least as good.

Josh Cox · Jun 25, 2011

You'll generally have troubles with LEDs in turning indicators, the resistance of the bulb is a part of the timing circuit for the blinking rate, if you use LEDs with no "ballast resistors" ( warning warning, theres that word again, AKA load resistors ), the blinking rate will be stupidly fast.

There is no power saving benefit in using LEDs with blinkers as the power saved on the LEDs is wasted on the load resistors.

bluto · Jun 25, 2011

Josh Cox said:
You'll generally have troubles with LEDs in turning indicators, the resistance of the bulb is a part of the timing circuit for the blinking rate, if you use LEDs with no "ballast resistors" ( warning warning, theres that word again, AKA load resistors ), the blinking rate will be stupidly fast.

There is no power saving benefit in using LEDs with blinkers as the power saved on the LEDs is wasted on the load resistors.

there are newer electronic turn signal relays available that work directly with LED bulbs and no resistors are required....though they probably only work on negative ground vehicles

bwolfie · Jun 25, 2011

I have an electronic blinker and LED turn signals on my XS650, the blinker is in line of the power wire. It all works very well.

travelerjerry · Jun 25, 2011

steveyacht said:
I have been contemplating replacing some bulbs with LEDs as they are brighter and use less power. Is there anyone out there using LED replacement bulbs in thier Stop, Brake or Signals? If so what are your opinions as to if they are worth it.

Thanks

I purchased a postive earth LED tail/stop bulb, tried it and found that it does not illuminate the surrounding side lens portion very well. I put back in the Sylvania 1157 filament bulb back in. It illuminates the rear lens much better. Guess there is a 2357 bulb that the stop filament is brighter but gives less life (400 Hrs) for the bulb compared to the 1157 (1200Hrs).

TomC · Jun 25, 2011

Hi Group
I believe that some of SuperbrightLED's bulb are set up to work with out worrying about the ground.
TomC in Ohio

builder · Jun 25, 2011

The current version of the BLT4E brake/tail light does not care if + or - ground, it self corrects. While I was more heavily involved in the the Brit parts biz, I sold well over 200 of these units...never had one returned nor one negative comment. British Cycle Supply in Canada is now the distributor for this unit...BTL4E does not sell units direct to the public.

LED turn signals are a easy. An additional resistor is not needed if one uses a modern flash unit set up for LED. A generic unit is something like $5 or get something a little "flashy" and get a "Trick Flasher" with different patterns.

I've tried a lot of different LED brake/tail lights and have yet to see anything that comes close to the BTL4E unit. My unbiased opinion, as I no longer have any financial interest in the sale of these units, and have not for a number of years.

steveyacht · Jun 25, 2011

These were what I had in mind.................

http://www.britcycle.com/products/led/LED.htm

http://www.britcycle.com/products/391/391_56605_LED.htm

builder · Jun 25, 2011

steveyacht said:
These were what I had in mind.................

http://www.britcycle.com/products/led/LED.htm

http://www.britcycle.com/products/391/391_56605_LED.htm

Those are the Bulbs That Last 4 Ever products. As close to Plug and Play as you're going to get.

maylar · Jun 25, 2011

I converted my 850 to negative ground so I could use readily available LED replacements for blinkers and tail lights. Got the lamps from these guys: http://www.superbrightleds.com

I found that the amber blinkers are not as bright as regular bulbs, so I only used them in the front. I want to be visible from behind. Never got around to doing the tail lamp.

The BTLF get good reviews but they're pricey.

jseng1 · Jun 26, 2011

Before I went to the JS lightweight pistons - I could not keep bulbs in my Atlas. Any time I went for a speed run or revved it out - I took the chance of vibrating a filament to death and if it was night I could be driving home in the dark. I was using Halogen in the front and this started getting expensive.

I changed to led lights in the tail and ended up drilling holes in the lens and gluing them in with plastic cement. This helped because the LEDs don’t have fragile filaments.

Its been years now and I've revved the bike over 8000 RPM and there are no more bulb failures. But most of this improvement is because the vibration went away when I went to the lightweight pistons.

One rear bulb is a night light and the other is a brake light. They are auto supply store bulbs. I still use a Halogen in the front and I love it.

Hobot · Jun 26, 2011

I thought I was seeing the 1st Cdo with back up lights Jim, till I read the post. I ordered the 1st of Peel's tail lighting to help see tag and backing up, little Lilly blossoms with blue lit stamens.

L.E.D. Bulbs

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