Replaced '13 tail/stop light bulbs with LEDs - tricky

[RichDoyle]

I replaced mine with the omnidirectional, high end LED bulbs last year and tried to take a picture. with only 1 LED and and an incandesent they both will not light. I do not know why. 2 LEDs=fine, 2 incandecents=fine, one of each=no way! (unless you fed power fron an independant sourse. Sorry, not all that fired up.)

Interesting. The ones I got from vizi-tec didn't behave that way at all. After putting one LED stack in I turned the bike on and operated the brake to confirm I wasn't losing anything. No problem at all. Mine is a Gen III, maybe that has something to do with it?

 

[FJR Flyer]

Are the LEDs white? I've seen some 1157 LED replacements that were red, which didn't make sense with red lenses and probably why they didn't seem as bright as the incandesents

 

[mcatrophy]

Are the LEDs white? I've seen some 1157 LED replacements that were red, which didn't make sense with red lenses and probably why they didn't seem as bright as the incandesents

A red LED with a red or clear lens will be more efficient than a white LED with a red lens.
[technical stuff]

There are two common ways for white LEDs to produce "white" light.

One is to have red, green and blue LEDs and mix them, the second is to use a blue/ultra-violet LED, the ultra-violet being used to excite a yellow phosphor, which, mixed with the original blue, gives the semblance of white.

In either case, use with a red lens will lose much of the light energy, in the case of the red green and blue, clearly only the red part will pass through a red lens usefully, in the second, only part of the yellow will be useful.

If a red LED is used with a red lens, Ideally, the wavelength of the LED and that of the lens should be matched.

[end of technical stuff]

 

[Fred W]

Piling on with an alternate explanation:

The reason that your taillights look red when they are backlit with white incandescent bulbs illuminating them is that the plastic is a filter to block all spectrum of light colors except red. Only red will pass through it and, coincidentally, it also only reflects red light as well, which is what makes the plastic appears red without being back lit.

Since a red LED only generates red wavelength light, all of its light output will pass through the filter.

 

[mcatrophy]

...Since a red LED only generates red wavelength light, nearly all of its light output will pass through the filter.

Fixed it for you

(the lens won't be totally transparent at the LED's wavelength, or probably at any wavelength).

 

[RichDoyle]

...Since a red LED only generates red wavelength light, nearly all of its light output will pass through the filter.

Fixed it for you

(the lens won't be totally transparent at the LED's wavelength, or probably at any wavelength).

That's what I was thinking. Not all red is the same red. But presumably a greater proportion of the light's emission would match the transmissivity of the lens and pass through. I see another experiment coming on.

 

[RichDoyle]

Doh! Doofus that I am I forgot that the LEDs I got from vizi-tec are, in fact the red ones. I reassert that, as far as I can tell, I get the same level of illumination I got from the incandescents I removed.

 

[art miller]

I am using Kisan TailBlazer 20W-D halogen brake bulbs and they are fine. They have had no negative affect on my cruise control. As is the case with any brake light bulbs when you apply the brakes the CC will disengage.

 

[mcatrophy]

I am using Kisan TailBlazer 20W-D halogen brake bulbs and they are fine. They have had no negative affect on my cruise control. As is the case with any brake light bulbs when you apply the brakes the CC will disengage.

The possible problem isn't in disengaging when putting on the brakes, it's not being able to engage the CC when the brakes are not on. This is the result of something like an LED light that doesn't have a low resistance to 0 volts when not energised.

 

[RichDoyle]

I am using Kisan TailBlazer 20W-D halogen brake bulbs and they are fine. They have had no negative affect on my cruise control. As is the case with any brake light bulbs when you apply the brakes the CC will disengage.

The possible problem isn't in disengaging when putting on the brakes, it's not being able to engage the CC when the brakes are not on. This is the result of something like an LED light that doesn't have a low resistance to 0 volts when not energised.

Well, I can attest that the factory CC on the GEN III is unaffected by this installation.

 

[mcatrophy]

I am using Kisan TailBlazer 20W-D halogen brake bulbs and they are fine. They have had no negative affect on my cruise control. As is the case with any brake light bulbs when you apply the brakes the CC will disengage.

The possible problem isn't in disengaging when putting on the brakes, it's not being able to engage the CC when the brakes are not on. This is the result of something like an LED light that doesn't have a low resistance to 0 volts when not energised.

Well, I can attest that the factory CC on the GEN III is unaffected by this installation.

That's one advantage of having a built-in CC as opposed to after-market that we Gen II and Gen | riders have.

 

[Top_Speed1]

Not sure about the tricky part but I was one who attempted this with superbrightleds.com probably back now a couple of years ago. I'm sure the bulbs are getting better for this...

I just couldn't accept the luminance or reflector usage with the LED's -vs- the OEM filament bulbs.

Make a video L/R utilizing ea bulb, then do a walk out/away also. It would be sweet to be able to have LED's