Led Taillights and ABS Breaks

[crizyal]

I read another thread that discouraged leds in the tail because of directional lighting. I found a replacement that might solve that problem but I am unsure if it will affect the ABS breaks on my '06A. Any experience would be helpful.

https://www.autodirectsave.com/1156_1157_LED_BULBS.asp

 

[Fred H.]

How about I order a set of those bad boys and put em on my 06A and take photos of before and after?

Personally, I can't see how tailights would have any impact on the ABS system.

 

[Fred H.]

I just ordered 2 RED 18 LED 1157's. Should have them in a few days. I'll let ya know how they work.

 

[tripletango]

How about I order a set of those bad boys and put em on my 06A and take photos of before and after?
Personally, I can't see how tailights would have any impact on the ABS system.

I agree. However watch out for other problems. My buddy put them on his road king and off we went to Key West from TX. Got there and headed north. We were hanging at Platinum in lauderdale. On reluctantly exiting the HD would not even light up to take him home. Too bad so sad. Told you those dam Harleys were nowt but expensive pos. gave him a ride on the back of my Suzuki Burgman 650. (Yes i cruise on the old mega scooter occasionally) Oh how are the mighty fallen! Kitted out with all his HD clothes and paraphernalia he rode ignominiously back to the hotel on the back of a scooter.

Now to cap it off the dealer could not fix it in Lauderdale. So he flew home. Missed the rest of the ride. Shipped the harley back to dallas.

The dealer there determined that the difference in resistance of the LEDs over the regular bulb was enough to fool the security system and cause a doa HD.

No one could explain why it took 1000 miles or more to cause the problem. But then it is a Harley.

 

[TheAxeman]

Kitted out with all his HD clothes and paraphernalia he rode ignominiously back to the hotel on the back of a scooter.

Now why is there never a camera around when you need it the most? Imagine the mileage we could have gone with that....

It will be interesting to see whether the lamps make that much of a difference. If Fred is on the case I am quite sure that there will be excellent pics to follow.

 

[radman]

Pics of a bulb install. Be still my heart. :lol:

 

[Fred H.]

Pics of a bulb install. Be still my heart. :lol:

If you need photos of how to install a tail light bulb, you are in serious trouble. :lol:

The photos will be of the before and after so you can compare the change in brightness/dispersement angle.

 

[crizyal]

Pics of a bulb install. Be still my heart. :lol:

If you need photos of how to install a tail light bulb, you are in serious trouble. :lol:

The photos will be of the before and after so you can compare the change in brightness/dispersement angle.

Thanks Fred!

 

[Woodstock]

Pics of a bulb install. Be still my heart. :lol:

If you need photos of how to install a tail light bulb, you are in serious trouble. :lol:

The photos will be of the before and after so you can compare the change in brightness/dispersement angle.

Thanks Fred!

FJR04ME (I think?) had pics of LED replacement rear bulbs that were not nearly as bright as the stock incandescent.

 

[HIGHLANDER]

Pics of a bulb install. Be still my heart. :lol:

If you need photos of how to install a tail light bulb, you are in serious trouble. :lol:

The photos will be of the before and after so you can compare the change in brightness/dispersement angle.

Thanks Fred!

FJR04ME (I think?) had pics of LED replacement rear bulbs that were not nearly as bright as the stock incandescent.

Yep Woody, I remember those pics, the LED's were dimmer than stock.

 

[ionbeam]

Gen 1 info:

IIRC, the head of the bigger & brighter LED assembly is too large to fit through the hole in the tail light assembly. I think the tail lens needs to be separated and the LED assembly pushed in from the front.

The less bright 1156/1157 LED direct replacement will be a close fit. You can see another alternative LED tail light here at SuperBright. Turn signals are where LEDs most often cause problems because of their reduced current draw over a filament bulb.

Unlike some bikes, the LED 'bulbs' should be fine as replacement tail lights even in ABS applications.

 

[mdisher]

One word: HyperLights

(Ok two words put together) then fuggedaboutit

Having those on my other bike sold so many sets for them the should probably give me a set. The work _really_ well. Especially riding into the sun. They have a 'Modulating' version now too incase you're anal about not wanting something that really flashes, they go from 100% to 40% and back, etc. instead of on/0ff completely.

 

[Fred H.]

I have actually been shopping for some lights for a while. I have previously used Life Brites on my Concours, and was happy with them but I wish they had more surface area. They are real similar to Hyper lites.

https://www.lifebrite.com/

https://www.hyperlites.com/

My biggest problem with these products is they seem to be WAY overpriced for what they are.

I have been watching the improvements in super brite LEDs for a couple years now, and I think that there are actually some newer ones out on the market that will outperform both Hyper Lites and Life brites, but you will have to make your own.

Here are a few links to sites with info on newer LEDS.

https://www.lumileds.com/

https://www.luxeonics.com

https://www.allelectronics.com/cgi-bin/item..._LED,_5MM_.html

https://www.gilway.com/ultrabright.htm

https://members.misty.com/don/led.html

Here is a site that will calculate the resistor values you need.

https://metku.net/index.html?sect=view&...dcalc/index_eng

Here is a site that makes some motorcycle specific lites.

https://www.customdynamics.com/motorcycle_led_bulbs.htm

Kissan has some interesting lites that could be mounted under the mirrors as auxillary turn and running lamps that look like they would get the lights up higher and further apart, which will further increase your chances of being seen.

https://www.kisantech.com/view_product.php?product=VL-20

What I would really like is some sort of light on the saddlebags to increase the surface area of the light signature and make the bike look larger from the rear. The small Hyper and Life Brite lights do penetrate well, but they don't seem to present much actual surface area like a true tail light does.

I have some sample LEDS on my bench now that one of the LED manufactures sent me that are supposed to be the brightest ones on the market today. I hope to get around to testing them sometime soon. I have a couple other light links on my other PC that I will post when I get a chance.

 

[ionbeam]

I would really like is some sort of light on the saddlebags to increase the surface area of the light signature

Have you seen the 3M reflective decals at night?!?! Not a day time solution but boy does that s#it work at night B)
I've recently done some design work using LUXEON LEDs and while very, very high output they are also too $$$ to be worth pursuing for motorcycle applications. There is the prospect of using a few ultra bright LEDs as strobes with a button on the bars, sort of an on-demand attention getter.

Rear visibility can come as lights 'always on, see me' to alert lights like when signaling or when braking. I would have a concern when running 'always on' lights that are bright enough to significantly increase your surface area because they may be mistaken as brake lights. Worse yet they may really irritate someone that is forced to follow on a long stretch of two lane highway. As alerts, there is nothing like flashing to draw attention. Much better than a steady bright glow.

For the creative person with way too much time on their hands someone could install a ring of LEDs around each bag and have them race around or twinkle in a random fashion :taunt: You may then get to meet most of your local LEOs too

 

[mdisher]

Rear visibility can come as lights 'always on, see me' to alert lights like when signaling or when braking. I would have a concern when running 'always on' lights that are bright enough to significantly increase your surface area because they may be mistaken as brake lights. Worse yet they may really irritate someone that is forced to follow on a long stretch of two lane highway. As alerts, there is nothing like flashing to draw attention. Much better than a steady bright glow.

The HyperLights that run as running lights run at 40% I believe when in this mode, not flashing. They are of the new modulating variety vs on/off.

You could also mount those more outward and get more surface area sort of, the lights themselves are still small.

 

[MotorSWATCop]

Tag markers

I used something similar to the 6 light modules (fourth item down on page) on my Harley Police bike. Mounted them on the tag bracket and wired into the tag light. Mine were blue (police) and were very visible from a long distance. $17.00 bucks invested and a few minutes of install. When you pick your color, make sure it's legal in your state. This was not the outlet that I used; just one I found on Google.

 

[Fred H.]

Here are some links to some other sites that have some interesting products.

https://www.vehiclelight.com/

https://www.lumex.com/

Lumex sent me some sample LEDs that I am testing out that are extremly bright.

 

[Luke]

In lieu of the replacement type, I added a 6" light bar of 20 LED lights in addition to the stock brake lights. They are mounted at the end of Garauld's rack. They look great and work great.

 

[Geezer]

The superbright taillight bulb replacements look like they have a bigger diameter than the auto direct model. I'm thinking that the auto direct ones may fit in through the same hole as the original. Waiting to hear from Fred to see.

I would like to replace the directional light bulbs with these if they work out. It may need a resistor in series with the led, but it will be worth it if they are bright enough.