LED Brake & Turn Signals

[ShakerNorm]

I'm wondering if anyone has tried the LED lights from Mike's, or some of those available on eBay, or other places online.

I'm thinking of converting my bike to LED's to see if it will take some of the strain off my alternator.

I know that to make the flasher work, I'll have to change it to an electronic unit, but I've found them for $12.95 for either the 2 or 3 prong type at www.superbrightleds.com
They also have 90 degree amber LED's for turn signals, as well as red brake light LED's.

I'm also wondering if changing the lights in the guages is worth it (there are colored and white LED's available to replace them as well).

Has anyone used LED's - and what do you think of them?

[barber1303]

If you're going to switch to LEDs, find some with lots of bulbs. LEDs aren't nearly as bright as their incandesent brethren and it takes quite a few of them to make up for the defecit. Just an FYI, your local autoparts store should have an electronic flasher in the sub $10 price range.

[ShakerNorm]

I'd read that, Barber - LED's in themselves aren't that bright - so more LED's = brighter light.

I'll have to check out the price of flashers here in town - I'd just kind of stumbled across them online.

[Jusupov]

If you have special with only one flash indicator bulb you will encounter problems with LED flashers. See www.xs650.jossain.com/pohja_files/history_2006.htm#4

You can also meet my problem where instead of indicators flashing steadily there was more like a disko flashing when the motor was running. The new electronic flasher relay seems to take some additional pulses from the ignition. Maybe I'll have to move the relay from its "standard" place under the tank a bit farther from the ignition coil and the Boyer box.

I will also test the other hint I got: wrap the electronic flasher relay withing grounded aluminum foil.

[LarryBart]

Hi coolpoolnorm:

---

This information may help.

xs650temp.proboards29.com/index.cgi?action=display&board=light&thread=1091512807&page=3

www.usaled.com

LarryBart

[ShakerNorm]

Larry - that's EXACTLY what I wanted to know - great post. TMI was one of the places I was looking, actually.
I'll probably do it in stages, but I think that this will be a great change for the old girl, especially since I do (unfortunately) do a lot of low-speed "Chuffing" around town.....

[ShakerNorm]

Well - I just got in all of the LED lights I ordered (I'm still waiting for the flasher, so the turn signals have to wait till it comes in), and I've found a small problem -

With the LED Tail/Brake light, the idiot light on the panel doesn't seem to recognise that it's there, and doesn't turn off. Now I have an annoying red light right in front of me while I ride. Anyone have any ideas, other than just pulling the bulb out?

[striker]

I have recently converted to LED indicators (LEDs from Mike's, flasher from USALED). I also changed the idiot lights to LED at the same time. A few observations for you :-

1. Idiot light colour is now a different shade as I used white LEDs which must have a different "shade" of whiteness. No problem really, just worthy of note in case it would bother you. If it does, buy colour matched LEDs for the purpose.

2. I got the LED globes before the flasher unit arrived. I found that I could run one LED globe and one original incandescent globe per side with the old flasher unit and it worked OK (flashed a little slower though but not enough to worry)

3. I bought the 3 prong flasher unit as I wanted to have a separate run to the idiot light because I want to change the instrument panel later and it will be easier to do so with the idiot light wired separately.

4. If you buy the 3 prong unit you will have to re-jig the connectors on the plug. Remove the green/yellow connector (which goes to the cancelling unit) and move the +ve feed to its place. The idiot light feed then goes in the now spare slot on the middle prong.

5. I have the same symptoms as Jusupov with the "disco light" flashing. It works fine when the engine is off but goes random when it is running. I am sure it is not charging related as the randomness appears at all rev ranges, not just when the (Bosch RE55) regulator kicks in, so it must be (Newtronics) ignition related. I am not sure if the problem is radiated EMI from the HT leads/plugs, or added noise on the +ve flasher feed. I have tried screening the flasher unit (earthed and un-earthed), adding a capacitor between +ve flasher pin and earth as well as an in-line inductor in the +ve feed. No change. The only conclusion is that Jusupov's idea of moving the flasher unit is the way to go. I have not yet done this but will get time in a couple of weeks. I will report results.

Striker.

[Jusupov]

striker said:

The only conclusion is that Jusupov's idea of moving the flasher unit is the way to go. I have not yet done this but will get time in a couple of weeks. I will report results.

Striker.

Didn't help a bit
My solution:
The led lamps for the fairing integrated flashers were too weak to be seen at daylight. I replaced them with traditional 21W bulbs. The electronic relay still got additional pulses when the motor was running. I replaced the relay with a tradional but "wide load" type relay (not the original one). Now I have 21W lamp at front and LED flasher at back per side. Works perfectly, with a steady rhytm. No extra pulses in any rpm.

[striker]

Jusupov -

I have fixed the "disco lights" problem with my LED flasher setup.

I was going to move the flasher unit to under the seat somewhere but
before I did that, I checked the impedence of what I thought were
resistive supressor plug caps - they weren't! So none of the leads,
caps or plugs themselves were resistive. It is a good idea to have
a few kilo Ohm impedence in the HT circuit as it reduces high voltage
"ringing" in the leads. This is an oscillating voltage caused by the
high voltage which suddenly drops to zero when the spark jumps.The
"ringing" will gradually die away but it never gets the chance before
the next spark arrives. Result - strong radio frequency emissions.

I had a think and decided upon good quality resistive leads (which
come in cool colours too :o) and found the problem stopped immediately!

One point to note is that, if you use the standard coils, you have to
trim the diameter of the fatter resistive cables. They will go in but
a little persuasion is required :o)

Striker.

[ShakerNorm]

Hmmmm - That makes me think. I'd seen an ad for Shielded plug wires somewhere (it was through this thread: xs650temp.proboards29.com/index.cgi?board=ID&action=display&thread=1143415739).
They are supposed to increase your spark intensity, by eliminating any RF discharge from your plug wires. Basically forcing the (normally radiated) RF energy back into the plug wires and on to your spark plugs.

I happen to have some cable shielding that I'm not using.... I wonder if I used it on my plug wires if it would solve the problem. Of course I'd have to ground both ends of it to properly shield the wire, but that's easy to do. Maybe something to try in the near future.

So far - I'm stuck with the old mechanical flasher unit and one old bulb on each side for load, because of the disco lighting.

I've just wrapped the electronic flasher unit in metal tape, and I'll try that (grounded of course) first, then maybe shielding the plug wires as a last resort.

[miker]

Coolpool - just FYI shielding only needs to be grounded at one end - since you're just draining off any captured energy to ground. In fact, I wonder if that really gives you a hotter spark, since shields don't really "reflect" energy, just ground it. Perhaps at RF frequencies...?

miker

[ShakerNorm]

Miker:
I was just guessing about the theory about how the "Nology" wires seem to work.

After shielding the plug wires I'm still getting Disco lighting - with both the original mechanical flasher unit and the electronic one (although it's not quite so bad with the mechanical flasher).

I've tried grounding the flashers and even moving them with no success. It's GOT to be related to my ignition (I have a Boyer setup installed) since the disco lighting seems to increase and decrease in speed with engine speed.

I might have some 8mm resistor wires that I took off my truck when one fried out - I wonder if they would work (ala Jusparov's solution)? I think that's going to be my next kick at the cat....

Does anyone else have any other ideas how to end this sillyness...?

[asdf]

I just thought I'd chime in and let everyone know what I did with LEDs on my bike and give a review. My bike is a 1981 XS650SH. I didn't want to get too complex, so I didn't get into the brake/tail lights or the turn signals.

What I got:
I got my LEDs from Super Bright LEDs. I replaced the high beam indicator, neutral indicator, turn signal indicator, both gauge illumination bulbs, and both license plate bulbs.

The high beam, neutral indicator, and license plate bulbs were replaced with the inverted cone style 'WLED 1-LED bulb' in blue, green, and white, respectively. The turn signal indicator and the gauge illumination bulbs were replaced with the amber 'WLED 5-LED Wide Angle LED'.

My impressions:
The neutral indicator looks more green and the high beam indicator looks more blue, and they give out about the same amount of light. The license plate lights have a bit of a blueish look to them, and they're not quite as bright as the bulbs they replaced, but since it's more of a legality thing than a safety thing, I'm not concerned.

The gauge illumination lights look about the same color as before, but are also a little less bright than the incandescent bulbs. In the daytime it's not an issue, and at night it's enough light to see the gauges. The only problem I've had is trying to read the odometer and trip odometer, but I usually only look at those when I'm not moving anyways, so I just move my head a little closer and I can read them fine.

I didn't need 5 LEDs for the turn signal indicator, but the inverted cone single LED units are polarized and would only work for the left or the right signals, depending on the polarity it was installed. As with the other indicator lights, the color is a bit richer than with the incandescent bulb, and it's the same amount of light. I was concerned about how the LED unit would work with the flasher unit, but I was quite pleasantly surprised. Before, the flash rate of my signals would vary, sometimes from one flash to the next. It was even worse while the bike idled at a red light. With the LED unit, the flashes are now consistent and the rate is just right, no need for an electronic flasher.

Final thoughts:
I'm very pleased with the results, and the minor shortcomings of the LED lights are more than balanced by the advantages. The amount of current the LEDs draw isn't much less than the bulbs, but it's enough to make a difference. The bike even idles a little smoother for me now. That may have more to do with my specific bike than anything else, but I noticed it, so I thought I'd mention it.