Windhorse
Active member
FJR running lights - LED conversion
I was in the market for some LED running lights for the FJR, mainly for conspicuity during the day. I needed something bright enough to be visible, but not an energy hog, like typical halogen lights. After considerable searching on line, I found it was possible to get fairly high wattage LEDs in a standard MR16 size replacement bulb, like those used on outdoor landscape lighting. These bulbs are a reflector flood or spot with a two pin connector for a two hole socket.
I then found through some more searching, that one could obtain inexpensive halogen driving lights with the same MR16 size bulb. So, could I switch the halogen bulbs for the LED bulbs and have an inexpensive, low drain pair of driving lights? To quote an old farmer's phrase, this is how I made a silk purse from a sows ear.
The lights were obtained from LED Liquidators on line. I found they had 3, 5 and 7 watt LEDs in the MR16 configuration, and chose the 5 watt size ( #LL-MR5-1-ALT-W) at about $25 each. This is a true white light, and has an equivalent brightness to a 45 watt incandescent. Yes, they are expensive, but should last the life of the bike, and will only draw 10 watts total instead of the 90 watts of halogens of equivalent brightness. I ordered two and although they charge UPS minimum for lights that weigh a few ounces, it still took well over a week to get them, and the first time around they were the wrong bulbs! I get the feeling they deal mostly with corporate accounts with hundreds of bulbs per order and don't get real excited over an order of two bulbs.
The bulb design is a single LED of 5 watts surrounded by cooling fins in a MR16 housing. The cooling fins are open to the air flow, which will inevitably get dirty over time and may catch bugs as well as your back yard zapper. This will be a long term evaluation aspect, but I may need another screen around the fins.
On to the housing assembly. I found standard bumper mount running lights from Kiinet, an Ebay store at https://stores.ebay.com/kiinet?_trksid=p4340.l2563. These were standard halogen MR16 bulb running lights for $50.00 a pair. Hmmm, quick mental math genius that I am figures I could save several hundred bucks over the currently available LED running lights out there. I guess there may be some hardware issues, but nothing that can't be solved in the garage, so I order a pair. They came promptly and in good shape.
I set to work to see if the light housing could be adapted to fit an existing bolt on the bike. I had to fit the light mount in a vice and drill it out, but did fit the brake mount bolt on the front fork after that. This allows limited adjustment in the vertical and horizontal axis.
Fitting the new LEDs to the housing also took some modification, as the new bulbs are a few millimeters longer than the standard MR16. The light housing includes a rubber compression washer that fits behind the bulb, so I used a pair of side cutters to cut this out. This gave me the needed space for the new bulb, and I just used a little silicone behind the ceramic connector to cushion it and hold it in place. The new bulbs also need to be centered in the screw on front bezel, or the assembly won't go together. I also used a few smears of silicone on this bezel to insure it stayed on over a rough road.
Wiring was fairly easy, as I decided to take power directly from one headlight. Hey, its only 10 watts, right? I chose to wire from the bulb connector, pulling from the black and yellow wires (low beam). This permits the running lights to be on any time the low beams are on and come on only after the bike is running. The low beam choice is for conspicuity again, as when I have high beams on, there's generally no one in front of me. The light kit includes a rocker switch, but I just didn't need another switch on the bike. Wires were routed up the legs of the front forks and joined at the triple tree where it goes to the headlight connector. Prefab this and make sure you have enough wire to handle the fork movement and handlebar excursion in both directions.
The test photos show my barely visible better half behind some nice lights. Not bad for a hundred bucks plus shipping. Everything works well, and I'll provide a long term report as the miles pile up. Contact me if you have detail questions about the conversion.
https://sbosbach.squarespace.com/photos/fjr-stuff
Steve
Austin, TX
I was in the market for some LED running lights for the FJR, mainly for conspicuity during the day. I needed something bright enough to be visible, but not an energy hog, like typical halogen lights. After considerable searching on line, I found it was possible to get fairly high wattage LEDs in a standard MR16 size replacement bulb, like those used on outdoor landscape lighting. These bulbs are a reflector flood or spot with a two pin connector for a two hole socket.
I then found through some more searching, that one could obtain inexpensive halogen driving lights with the same MR16 size bulb. So, could I switch the halogen bulbs for the LED bulbs and have an inexpensive, low drain pair of driving lights? To quote an old farmer's phrase, this is how I made a silk purse from a sows ear.
The lights were obtained from LED Liquidators on line. I found they had 3, 5 and 7 watt LEDs in the MR16 configuration, and chose the 5 watt size ( #LL-MR5-1-ALT-W) at about $25 each. This is a true white light, and has an equivalent brightness to a 45 watt incandescent. Yes, they are expensive, but should last the life of the bike, and will only draw 10 watts total instead of the 90 watts of halogens of equivalent brightness. I ordered two and although they charge UPS minimum for lights that weigh a few ounces, it still took well over a week to get them, and the first time around they were the wrong bulbs! I get the feeling they deal mostly with corporate accounts with hundreds of bulbs per order and don't get real excited over an order of two bulbs.
The bulb design is a single LED of 5 watts surrounded by cooling fins in a MR16 housing. The cooling fins are open to the air flow, which will inevitably get dirty over time and may catch bugs as well as your back yard zapper. This will be a long term evaluation aspect, but I may need another screen around the fins.
On to the housing assembly. I found standard bumper mount running lights from Kiinet, an Ebay store at https://stores.ebay.com/kiinet?_trksid=p4340.l2563. These were standard halogen MR16 bulb running lights for $50.00 a pair. Hmmm, quick mental math genius that I am figures I could save several hundred bucks over the currently available LED running lights out there. I guess there may be some hardware issues, but nothing that can't be solved in the garage, so I order a pair. They came promptly and in good shape.
I set to work to see if the light housing could be adapted to fit an existing bolt on the bike. I had to fit the light mount in a vice and drill it out, but did fit the brake mount bolt on the front fork after that. This allows limited adjustment in the vertical and horizontal axis.
Fitting the new LEDs to the housing also took some modification, as the new bulbs are a few millimeters longer than the standard MR16. The light housing includes a rubber compression washer that fits behind the bulb, so I used a pair of side cutters to cut this out. This gave me the needed space for the new bulb, and I just used a little silicone behind the ceramic connector to cushion it and hold it in place. The new bulbs also need to be centered in the screw on front bezel, or the assembly won't go together. I also used a few smears of silicone on this bezel to insure it stayed on over a rough road.
Wiring was fairly easy, as I decided to take power directly from one headlight. Hey, its only 10 watts, right? I chose to wire from the bulb connector, pulling from the black and yellow wires (low beam). This permits the running lights to be on any time the low beams are on and come on only after the bike is running. The low beam choice is for conspicuity again, as when I have high beams on, there's generally no one in front of me. The light kit includes a rocker switch, but I just didn't need another switch on the bike. Wires were routed up the legs of the front forks and joined at the triple tree where it goes to the headlight connector. Prefab this and make sure you have enough wire to handle the fork movement and handlebar excursion in both directions.
The test photos show my barely visible better half behind some nice lights. Not bad for a hundred bucks plus shipping. Everything works well, and I'll provide a long term report as the miles pile up. Contact me if you have detail questions about the conversion.
https://sbosbach.squarespace.com/photos/fjr-stuff
Steve
Austin, TX
