LED Replacement Bulbs for Gen 1 Speedo Assembly

[deanw]

and can these be used in the tirn sigs also? Thanx

Go see the first link in the first post and that post talks about turn signal bulbs.

Actually, all it says is:

Two larger lights (4YR-83517-10-00) that are the turn signals are at about mid arc in the top. They twist in with plastic inserts.
(snip happened)

There are 2 turn signal bulbs of some other model at the top, but doubt they burn out either being used intermittently.

A somewhat dimmmer replacement for those wouldn't hurt my feelings, if anyone has a reference...

 

[wingshot]

It looks like they now have a 2 lumen and 6 lumen bulb. What lumen size did you use Iggy?

 

[Specter]

A frosted surface might difuse the light more and get rid of the hot spot. Sanding with fine sandpaper might do it.

 

[Fred W]

It looks like they now have a 2 lumen and 6 lumen bulb. What lumen size did you use Iggy?

It look like the 2 lumen LED "bulbs" have the 100 degree beam and the 6 lumen ones are the 120 degree beam pattern.

I'm in the process of ordering right now as I noticed that my gauges are half dark the last time I rode at night. :glare:

I'm getting a set of 5 of the white, 2 lumen LEDs for the 5 indicators across the bottom. Probably not necessary, though that high beam indicator is on a lot on my bike.

And I'm getting 4 of the higher power, 6 lumen, 120 degree ones (for the back lighting) in both red and white.

It doesn't appear that anyone has figured out what the turn signal bulbs translate to, so I guess I'll just leave them stock.

 

[ionbeam]

Hi Fred, I actually sent Iggy the LED info via a number of PMs and we have a lot of technical info. You will want the 120º neo3 bulbs for all the dash lights IMO except the turn signals which are neo5s. The designation T3 - T5 refer to the size and style of the base for the BULB carrier. The LED base equivalent are designated as neo3 - neo5. Here is the link to the LED neo5 info as well as all the other neo-x LEDS: LEDs You would want to order a couple of the neo5 LEDs for the turn signals.

Since I have some pixs, for those that haven't been into the Gen I dash -- Gen II comes with LEDs

Side view of the stock bulb:

LED physical specifications:

The actual electrical contact of the bulbs and LEDs is not on the bottom but on the top of the shoulder, same side as the bulb/LED where there are only two wires.

 

[wingshot]

It look like the 2 lumen LED "bulbs" have the 100 degree beam and the 6 lumen ones are the 120 degree beam pattern.

Thanks Fred

Thanks ionbeam, as that was my next question. Will be ordering mine this next week after payday.

 

[Fred W]

Hi Fred, I actually sent Iggy the LED info via a number of PMs and we have a lot of technical info. You will want the 120º neo3 bulbs for all the dash lights IMO except the turn signals which are neo5s.

Thanks, but I already ordered 'em.

I really do not need to replace the 5 indicators (along the bottom), so I thought I would try the lower wattage 100 degree ones. Mostly because they are half the price, and well... you know me being ever a tightwad. Why would you have used the 6 lumen bulbs for the indicators? Do you think that the 2's are too tall? If the 2 lumen ones don't work for me I'll only be out $6.

What I really needed is the 4 neo3, 120 degree (6 lumen) bulbs for the back lighting and I got the correct ones there in both red and white.

Not really looking forward to tearing all of the tupperware off just to change these bulbs, but at least this should be the last (only) time I have to do that.

 

[ionbeam]

I really do not need to replace the 5 indicators (along the bottom), so I thought I would try the lower wattage 100 degree ones....Why would you have used the 6 lumen bulbs for the indicators?...Not really looking forward to tearing all of the tupperware off just to change these bulbs, but at least this should be the last (only) time I have to do that.

Well, you will be our Guinea pig for the indicator lights. My unproven concern is that in full sunlight the lower powered LEDs illuminating through colored lens may make the indicators unreadable.

Once you get to actually taking off the tupperware and extracting the dash you will find out that the job is actually just as bad or worse than the anticipated pain :lol: But, it should be a one time only deal 'cause LEDs should have a longer life than you or me. I did change all my dash lights so I hope not to have to do this again.

 

[Fred W]

OK, my turn.

I noticed a few weeks ago that half of my dash was dark. Having seen this thread and the other one about accessing the instrument cluster, I knew I was in for a real fun time, and I knew I was going to want to put in LEDs so I wouldn't have to do this again in another 50k miles.

I decided to order a set of 4 of the NEO3, High Power (6 lumen) red LEDs and as a backup a second set of 4 of the NEO3, High Power white LEDS. I also ordered 5 of the low power (2 lumen) white LEDs with the intention of installing these in the 5 different colored indicators along the bottom (Neutral, High beam, ABS, oil, Check engine). Here are the different bulbs. L-R Burned out standard NEO-3 incandescent bulb, High Power NEO-3 (reds and whites look the same), and the Low Power NEO-3 white.

I decided to tackle this fun job today. :glare: Getting access to the instrument cluster is a royal pain in the a$. You need to remove the entire front fairing assembly, uppers and lowers and center section to get at the screws on the back of the instruments. There is one screw in the center of the center nose piece that really had me going. The only way I could see to get that out was to remove the upper two screws holding the headlamp assembly and tip it forward enough to get a screw driver on it. I somehow misplaced that screw when it came time for reassembly...

So once I had the bike looking like that it was time to try some of the new LEDS. First I put the 4 red LEDs in the back lighting spots, and one of the low power white LEDs in the Neutral spot as a test. Of course, the LEDs are polarity sensitive, so I managed to get only 2 of the 5 in the right direction on the first attempt. Here's whjat I had after flipping them all to the correct polarity

To take these pictures I blocked all the windows and closed up the garage and turned the lights out. The photo above actually makes it look better than it did in real life. I was underwhelmed. :glare: Then I put the bike in neutral to test the low power LEDs as indicators. Holy smokes!!

The LED throws all of its light outward toward the rider, so it is so much brighter than the standard indicator bulbs it would definitely be distracting at night. In the above photo it still appears to be a little bit green, but to the naked eye it was a bluish white (not green at all). I think it washed out the color of the lenses due to its brightness. No... no. This will not do. After deciding to just go back to the standard incandescent bulbs, I did swap the very lightly used bulbs from the ABS and Check engine spots with the ones that have had more use in the neutral and high beam spots. Hopefully this will help them last longer.

As a comparison I swapped two of the high power red LEDs with two of the high power white LEDS here:

It was pretty clear that the whites will give a much more readable gauge face, so I finished swapping in the other two whites and called it good

Just a couple of more hours of reassembly in the 100% humidity of my garage and the job is done. Hopefully... never to be repeated on this bike.

 

[SkooterG]

Oy vay Fred! All the time on the forum and you haven't learned the proper way to disassemble the front end? Forget that one screw! After removing the lowers, you unplug the headlights and remove the ENTIRE assembly at one time by unscrewing FOUR phillips screw! Silly rabbit. Procedure has been documented and discussed often around here. Major time and PITA saver.

 

[Fred W]

Son of a bitch!

No, I had never had any reason before to remove the upper cowling on my bike. I did look in the FSM and that was of no help. I should have known to do a search and I'd have found an easier way.

Funny thing, when I was struggling to get at some of those screws that hold the center section and the two uppers together I almost went to do that search, but then I managed to get them all out. Oh well, I'll know better next time (if there ever is one) and can put that one center screw back in.

 

[Blind Squirrel]

Help!

I click on the NEO3 series, then click on the "See prices and buy" button which brings up another window. I'm good so far. Where I get lost is where it says "Available in 3mm, 4mm, 5mm sizes" (is that the difference between the 3-5 series?). Which size(s) do I need?

Second question: Should I stick with white for the turn signals, or go with green? I forget how LED's work when being filtered through a colored lens.

*Edit* I will post a pic when I get home. Don't have my FTP client set up here at work.

 

[Fred W]

Help!

I click on the NEO3 series, then click on the "See prices and buy" button which brings up another window. I'm good so far. Where I get lost is where it says "Available in 3mm, 4mm, 5mm sizes". Which size(s) do I need?

Second question: Should I stick with white for the turn signals, or go with green? I forget how LED's work when being filtered through a colored lens.

*Edit* I will post a pic when I get home. Don't have my FTP client set up here at work.

The NEO-3 is the 3mm. That's the size that you will want for your instrument cluster back-lights.

You will also want the higher power ones for that application. I suggest going with the white ones. The red ones did not work well because the back light was too dim and the paint colors on the gauge faces were incompatible. Iggy used the blues and was happy, so that's an option too.

I don't know if anyone has tried replacing their turn signal indicator lamps with LEDs yet. They are a larger diameter base (not NEO-3). I seem to recall they are NEO-5's. For as much use as they get, the incandescents are just fine, IMO.

 

[Blind Squirrel]

By George, I think I have it! The part # does not display until AFTER you click on the color and the 3,4 or 5.

 

[blueman]

Which LED's Did you feel are the best for the indicator lights.

 

[Ignacio]

Which LED's Did you feel are the best for the indicator lights.

I don't. I've put 135,000 miles on one and never had one burn out. I leave those stock.

 

[blueman]

Thanks for the info. Did you also leave the turn signals alone!

 

[blueman]

And how did the blue LED's work out over the whites.

 

[Blind Squirrel]

Thanks for the info. Did you also leave the turn signals alone!

I replaced everything with LEDs. You have to slightly trim the tabs of the turn signal LEDs to get them to fit. They work great!

 

[Fred W]

Which LED's Did you feel are the best for the indicator lights.

I don't. I've put 135,000 miles on one and never had one burn out. I leave those stock.

+1

I was going to replace the indicators with the low power NEO-3 white LEDS, but when I tested one I found that they were just too bright. All of the LED's light gets projected toward the rider's eyes, which makes even the low power ones overpoweringly bright, to the point that it was hard to tell what color the lenses were in the dark. Since you would be using these while riding in the dark at night, discerning the color of the indicator is important (to non-color-blind me) to discern the functional meaning of the light (blue for high beam, green for neutral, etc)

I did "rotate" my light bulbs when I was in there and swapped the neutral and high beam bulbs for two of the other ones that get very little "on time". I'm in the habit of riding with high beams on in the daytime, so the high beam indicator bulb was a bit blackened inside (indicating filament erosion). The neutral would be the next most used bulbs, and the other three hardly ever come on.

I did not try the blue colored LEDs for the back lights, just the reds (which FAILED) and the whites, which I like. FWIW, the white ones still give the instrument face a sort of bluish green tint, just like it looks in the picture above.