LED Conversion

[sgilbert14]

I have been reading in the forum on this and it seems like there are mixed results. I have not figured out the exact number of bulbs needed to change out everything and I would be using the bulbs from SuperBright and would change the single light relay to one to eliminate the resistor.. but before I order the light what are the overall feelings on this?

Here is what I have in my cart:


4 194 LED Bulb - 1 LED - Miniature Wedge Retrofit - Cool White 120 Degree
4 194 LED Bulb - 1 LED - Miniature Wedge Retrofit - Amber 90 Degree

10 194 LED Bulb - 1 LED - Miniature Wedge Retrofit - Red 90 Degree (Not sure if you need 10 but got the number off a forum post)
10 1157 LED Bulb - Dual Function 19 LED Forward Firing Cluster - BAY15D Retrofit - 1157 Amber 100 Degree

4 1157 LED Bulb - Dual Function 19 LED Forward Firing Cluster - BAY15D Retrofit - 1157 Red 100 Degree (Added the additional fender brake/running light)

2 1156 LED Bulb - 19 LED Forward Firing Cluster - 6 VDC - Amber 100 Degree 6VDC

1 CF13JL-AR LED Bulb Electronic Adjustable Rate Flasher - 3 Pin Black Japanese Adjustable Flasher

As always thanks for any advice!

[Wahrsuul]

I was disappointed in my results. I swapped out all the dash gauges. The neutral light was an issue - it stayed on all the time, but was a dim. With the clutch in, it worked normally and was nice and bright, bus as soon as the clutch was released, it would go back on no matter what gear I was in.

The gas light stayed on but was very dim. Never got low enough on fuel to see if it worked correctly.

The headlight light was on dimly.

Other than that, all the back lights are other idiot lights worked normally. I went back in and replaced all the regular bulbs, and now all the lights work. I'm guessing I could have put in resistors to fix the issues, but I'm not good enough at electronics to eve guess at what size I would need, and where to put them. Others on this board have done the conversion with no issues, so YMMV. I'm thinking if I go back in there for any reason, I'll replace everything but the trouble lights. I never got as far as doing headlights/tails or turns.

[triton28]

When I did my dash lights 2 years ago I had a problem with the OD light but all the other dash lights worked OK. One note is that I co-ordinated the bulb colour with that of the lens it was going to illuminate.
For the gauge illuminators I had used Blue but changed it out to White as I found the Blue too dim.
There is so much variance between bulbs of the same colour/# of diodes from different suppliers it is a gamble. There doesn't "seem" to be any International Standard for luminescence per single/multiple diode/s.
The only bulbs that take a resistance sensitive circuit into consideration are labelled as Canbus, and I'm not sure if there is a T-10 base Canbus bulb.
Dave

[sgilbert14]

Thanks for the help. I think that at first I will upgrade all the non-dash lights and add the new resistance relay and see how that goes.

[SgtSlag]

LED's vary... A lot! From maker to maker. I bought mine off of e-Bay, looking for the highest luminance ratings I could find for all of them. I made certain the LED's had equal, or higher Lumen output than the OEM incandescent bulbs. I have a Hi/Lo headlight LED to install shortly. I added some aluminum foil to some of the light receptacles, as they did not have reflectors inside of them -- flat black plastic, very little light reflected. I just used some RTV silicone, smeared by gloved fingers, for glue to hold the foil in place, shiny side out. It adds quite a bit of reflected light, making them even brighter.

I found red, 1157 LED's, with built-in flashers: hit the brakes, they flash five times, then on steady. Very bright, too. They allowed me to remove my brake flasher module, as they had it built-in!

Running lights are LED's of proper colors. They are about the same brightness as the incandescent bulbs, but they should last 5-10 times as long, and they draw less power.

I gained around 0.2-0.4 Volts on the meter, with the bike idling. This shows that there is a lower amperage drawn from the electrical system, less strain/load on the charging system, and battery. The LED headlight will reduce the wattage from 55/60 Watts, to 35/40 Watts. So it will offload another 20 Watts from the system. However, the dual 10 Watt running lights I added onto the crash bars will offset the savings from the headlight. Still, less amps drawn is a good thing. This LED also pumps out 2500lm(low beam) / 3000lm(high beam) ! It has no fan, no moving parts. It uses a metal mesh web of cooling heatsinks. No muss, no fuss. Cheers!

[sgilbert14]

great stuff. In time I want to update everything including the headlight. The denalli's are LED's so that will be great.

[cranky]

... I know a lot of smart folks gone before me, but what is the trade-off
of doing the LED stuff -vs- getting your alternator rebuilt to heavy duty level?
Thanks for your thoughts!

[Wahrsuul]

LEDs can be cheaper and usually last longer. Besides, I think they're cool.

[SgtSlag]

Some folks have posted that the heavy-duty winding on the rebuilt alternator results in the need for higher RPM's to charge the system... There is a trade-off: the more windings on the alternator, the smaller the wires to fit in the same physical space inside the part. No room for a larger alternator, so the wires of the windings are smaller gauge so more wraps can be put into the same amount of space. This can generate more volts/amps, but it takes more energy to create said power, which means, higher RPM's on the alternator rotor. There is no free energy, it has to come from somewhere, and that somewhere is, basically, a faster idle, to generate more energy, by burning more gasoline.

Switching to LED's makes your lighting system more efficient/less wasteful of the energy it uses. This means you get more Lumens per Watt of energy burned. It doesn't use more energy, it uses less, while pumping out more light. Think of replacing your 80% efficiency furnace in your home, with a 92%-96% efficiency furnace. The new, high-efficiency furnace burns less fuel, but manages to heat your house the same -- and it costs less, each month, for fuel. Of course, the higher efficiency furnace costs more money, up front, as well. Typically the same with LED's, but they're prices are coming down quickly, as production increases.

Hope this helps. If I put it at too low a level, I apologize. No offense intended. Just trying to do what Reader's Digest does: put it at a level where the majority of people can understand it. This forum is wide open to the public. Cheers!

[Tonyvdb]

The big advantage to the better LEDs is they are brighter than incandescent, Last longer and when used in the brake or turn signals the instant on and off makes them far more noticeable.

[sgilbert14]

I'm sold on them and always have been. What made me ask was some of the issues that I have read about for the dash conversion. I already have most of my order ready on the superbright.com site. Used their stuff on past projects and have always had great results..

[Tonyvdb]

I changed out all the bulbs in my dash with LEDs from Superbright (also used them for other projects in the past) The only dash bulbs I did not change was the Headlamp out bulb and the Low fuel bulb as its a different size and I never let the fuel go low enough to have it lite.

[cranky]

[quote="Hope this helps. If I put it at too low a level, I apologize. No offense intended. Just trying to do what Reader's Digest does: put it at a level where the majority of people can understand it. This forum is wide open to the public. Cheers![/quote]

KISS - Keep It Simple Stoopid - always works for me! Thanks!!! I did not consider the dash lites,
did LED the running and turning/most of 'um, turn signals are not on much, haven't done the
headlight as I have a modulator..... as to high RPMs, I do NOT lug a scoot, I like 'er running
fast and free!!! GBG Thanks!

[sgilbert14]

Great, now's the time for me to do it as the bike is apart and the fairing is off. Do you recall what you had to order to complete the job? I was thinking of replacing the relay for the single lights instead of trying something in-line..

[Tonyvdb]

for the Dash lights look at this post:
https://amervoyassoc.org/forum/viewtopi ... =15&t=8710

[sgilbert14]

thanks

[Wahrsuul]

Not sure why this bike gave me trouble with the dash light conversion, I did a 99 Concours, and a 96 Honda NightHawk with no issues. Guess it was just the luck of the draw, and only those few light gave me trouble, all the others worked fine.

[sgilbert14]

I think what I will be doing is all the exterior lights now and then over the winter next year I will be sending the radio in for the Bluetooth upgrade and at that time do the dash. I still need to get the part number that I need for the turn single relay so I can order the replacement to run the LED's

[SgtSlag]

EP34 Relay Unit, LED compatible. Note, however, that if one LED goes out/is not working, you won't get the funky strobe flash that you will get with an incandescent relay, when one of your incandescent bulbs goes out.

The EP34 Relay Unit can be found in any auto parts store, for about the same price as e-Bay, minus the shipping charges! They typically sell for $8-$12. Don't waste time with mail-order... Cheers!

[sgilbert14]

thanks