brake/tail light leds

[raymond]

Hi, can anyone steer me in the right direction on which LED'S to buy to replace the OEM filament type. Some readups I read say that most led's are about the brightness to oem's. Nearly got my ar$e kicked the other day by a chick who reckons she didnt see me brake, yeh right!!!! :dribble:

 

[wfooshee]

If they're not looking, it really doesn't matter how bright the lights are, does it?

I have yet to see an LED kit that I'd be happy with in place of the original lights. Not so much a brightness problem, but on off-axis problem. Many of the LEDs seem to be less visible when not viewed straight on.

LED kits in addition, maybe so.

 

[bnilguy]

I've never had luck with LED 'bulb' replacements, and I've tried several The key to LED lights is having a reflector designed for it.

For an upgrade, I'd consider using a slightly brighter bulb such as a 2357 versus an 1157. running output is the same, but the brake output is about 25% greater.. wattage goes up about 1.5W..you lose some bright filament bulb life but 400 versus 1200 hours is a lot of braking.. the running filament is the same at 5000 hours

 

[ahchiu]

I have a brake light modulator and a led license plate frame, and Ad-More light kit on my Givi E52, after being rear ended on my last bike, you can never have too many lights, I also watch my mirrors for stupid cagers..

 

[Patriot]

one word - HYPERLITES

a preferred vendor - CYCLE GADGETS

just below the tail light and also on my forks are "hyperwhites" or a set of 16 white leds (not on or illuminated in this picture

- very bright and three way switches for off / always on / and flashing. I use them for visibility "strobes" in flashing mode when I do a PGR escort.

I now only use my fork mounted halogen 50watt each running lights at night since they drop the voltage shown on the voltmeter about .4 volts and I have a lower output Gen I '04.

I run the front hyperwhites in always on for visibility all the time, especially during the day. They are bright enough for me to be seen much better than stock. I sometimes have put them in flashing mode thinking I'm impersonating a headlight flashing modulator, but my friend Jeff_Q thougth they looked too much like a police bike in that mode and I might get in trouble from the authorities.

Hope this helps.

let's ride safe and be careful out there,

Mike in Nawlins'

 

[raymond]

Good thing I asked the question on this forum. Ok looks like the hyperlites are going to be added to my first to do list. Thanks guys :good:

 

[Patriot]

Good thing I asked the question on this forum. Ok looks like the hyperlites are going to be added to my first to do list. Thanks guys :good:

cool, that's what we're here for and I get a charge to help out a fellow Feejer peep... :yahoo:

this is a great forum with (mostly :blink: ) a great bunch of folks

 

[Gizmo]

Patriot - Thanks for the pics on your set-up. (BTW, sorry to read about your bike). Did you install any on the mirrors to be more visible to on-coming traffic?

 

[DaJudge]

Raymond- Take a look at this Thread

and this



Side-by-side with the hyperlites, this is much, much brighter.

 

[raymond]

Thanks for that dajudge. I especially like the flasher find, you are legend. Whats the story with the gen3 LED's, are they some new technology LED. Never heard of that term before

 

[bmwhd]

Also a big fan of the sync-ed Kisan tailBlazer replacement bulbs. Gets ya noticed.

 

[Patriot]

Thanks for that dajudge. I especially like the flasher find

I'm kinda partial to hyperlites:

I notice that all 4 of the stock tail lights are lit. Did you change the turn signals into combined brake and turn? I've been thinking of changing them into brake/running lights and moving the turn signals down and further out - I just haven't figured out how I want to mount them yet.

I have the four way flashers activated...I just kept taking pics until the all the amber lights were illuminated

I have a rubber band holding the front brake lever in to light up the brake lights

The red hyperlites are on as running lights and flash for brake lights (continuously in my case, states like CA only allow like 5 flashes then solid on when brakes applied)

 

[tmonroe]

I just ordered a couple of bulbs from these guys:

https://spectrumled.com/1156_1157.htm.

I don't know what the difference is between the different models, but it looks like these guys ARE taking into account the fact that these are going to be shining into a reflector for several models of these bulbs.

I don't think there are any technical problems that can't be solved with LEDs- I think its more that no one is really interested in bringing a product to market that's going to probably cost 10x as much as a simple light bulb, and only provide a handful of very small advantages. For me, I think worth it for a motorcycle, but not worth it for a car.

 

[Fred W]

The "Matrix II" in Super White, with it's design to accommodate reflectors may be a good choice for the tail/brake bulb on 1st gens for the reason I mentioned previously. The perpendicular light from the incandescant bulb is used to light the license plate at night. Any bulbs with hi power directional LEDs aimed only straight back will not do that.

 

[raymond]

Thanks all going to order the hyper lights as I think the extra lights at the rear like Patriots setup is going to be the goods, then I'll add some LED's replacements for the oem globes.

TMONROE which replacements did you order. Did you get the ones with 5 leds on the end with led's on the outer, and which color would be better RED or WHITE LED's. If it makes any difference I've got the 09 model

 

[Patriot]

I also like the fact that with PosiLoks which they come stock with now for connecting up the wires. And I find them VERY easy to move from bike to bike. My cruiser had the 8 red leds running/brake lights purchased 4 years ago. I removed those and wired them into the 2 year old off my Goldwing 16 led running/flashing brake lights module (you can wire up to 4 sets of two to one module which synchronizes them). So I only purchased the amber turn signal led modules and the 2 sets of hyperwhites.

I see you are a Gen II - mine are mounted on my Gen I '04 with Yammy topbox

my bud Jeff_Q like how mine looked (he follows me around alot) and purchased a set for his '08

here's his setup - 16 red led modules that are solid running and flashing braking

He chose to mount them horizontal:

 

[tmonroe]

Thanks all going to order the hyper lights as I think the extra lights at the rear like Patriots setup is going to be the goods, then I'll add some LED's replacements for the oem globes.
TMONROE which replacements did you order. Did you get the ones with 5 leds on the end with led's on the outer, and which color would be better RED or WHITE LED's. If it makes any difference I've got the 09 model

I ordered the ones with 11 LEDs. According to the site, this is the brightest one. Its also the most expensive.

Judging by the pictures, all of the bulbs from this site use wide angle optics, so they should do a reasonable job lighting up the reflector.

I'll post the results when I get these.

Tom

 

[RB's]

You need to be careful when ordering the LED bulbs to put in for the brake lights. The bulbs need to be the right size. They cannot be over an inch in diameter. I ordered a set off of flea bay that said they were 25mm in diameter. Well they are more like 25.5 or 26 mm which makes them just more than an inch and they will not fit in the hole to put the bulbs in on my Gen I. They are the 31 led units that have 19 leds on top and 12 around the side. I had some red ones that work but since, as others have mentioned here, the tail light bulbs are what light the license plate I need to get white ones. I am now ordering a set of 24 led lights that are suppose to be 24.7 mm in diameter so I am hoping these will work. I also just got done on Monday installing a custom dynamics 6 in light bar below my license plate on a bracket I had made up at my work in the Metal Fabrication shop. The only thing is that I had them make it out of 16 guage stainless steel and the thing weighs a solid pound just for the full bracket. :blink:

Of all the things I needed to do, adding more weight to a bike that is already 600 lbs is something that is not necessary. :huh:

 

[johnny80s]

Mike the Aliens called and they want their space ship back.