LEDs in dash and sidelight

Fanum

Toubab
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Me likey :)

This isn't my bike, it's just a Google image, but I forgot to take a 'before' photo

r1150gs_2.jpg


With an HID low beam and the OEM filament sidelight bulb, you get a nice 6K colour on one side (depending on what colour HID you went for, obviously) but a old fashioned feeling yellow colour sidelight.

So for a very little money, I changed my sidelight bulb with a 6k superbright LED, and this is what you get (my bike tonight)

led2-XL.jpg


MUCH better :thumb2

Then there's the dash illumination......again, not my bike in this one, but the tacho and speedo bulbs are that old yellow incandescent colour


photo.JPG


So I've replaced the speedo bulbs with a pair of 6k leds, and on the tacho , one 6K led on the left side of the dial and a red on the right, which works well IMO, showing up the redline area nicely :)

My bike tonight:

led1-XL.jpg



I've yet to dig out my spare RID to open it up and find a replacement for the yellow light in that, but that's on the list :)

And yes, my clock is wrong :blast

EDIT......the sidelight (pilot) bulb is a beeyatch to get to from under the instruments, so I went in via the screen and binnacle cover.

I tidied up the cover while it was off :)

DSC00830-XL.jpg
 
Hi bill could you tell me where you got your sidelight from many thanks ps you have great taste in vehicles just the same as mine:D:thumby:
 
I got all of the LEDs from ebay, and frankly, I went for the cheapest, so please don't take this as any recommendation or indication of quality :)

(It also means I have several 'sets' of spares, which I intend to parcel up and offer here after a few weeks of mine still working properly)


DASH LEDS (red and white6k)

You need a total of 4 bulbs for the speedo/tacho.....

Pilot light

:thumb2
 
The little T5 type leds, like the bulbs, can be a bit fiddly......the bulb holders they go into have a rubber cover on them, and I found that when i put the bulb in, it worked initially, but when squeezing the rubber holder which acts as a grommet as well back in, the bulbs would go out 50% of the time......the T5 design has two metal prongs that stick out, so the solution I found (and they're still working after a few miles) was to simply pluck the prongs out a few MM to give them a bit of spring action against the holder, then they make proper contact and survive the action of the assembly being pushed back into place :)


The Pilot bulb (type 233) is a standard capped bulb, but unlike the filament incandescent bulbs, LEDs have to be the right way around, so if you plonk it in and it doesn't work (no harm done) just pull it, rotate 180 degrees and pop it back in :thumb2
 
I sorted my speedo and tacho bulbs recently. But unlike Fanum, I bent inward the contact tangs in the bulb holder (I didn't trust the tangs on the bulb to stay in one piece, I also feared it was forcing then into more of a barb shape...). Something else I did was to smear a little silicone grease onto the rubber surround of the holder to aid insertion, you know what I mean, it all just seems to pop in without any fuss ; -)

And thanks to a steer from here, I bought new led bulbs that seem much better (not brighter, but more robust). If i can dig out the link I'll post it.

All that was a couple of months ago and so far so good.


Sent from my SM-N910F using Tapatalk
 
When I used that type of bulb I found they stopped working after a while. The contact wires were just not springy enough. A blob of solder on each wire fattened it up enough to solve the contact problem.
 
Took half an hour to do no issues at all

Easy mod and the LED's make a difference

I opted to have all 4 white


Before

dd662b4a7200089af93e98e47c185379.jpg


After

459ab1de3494316ec1eb31affcb31fd0.jpg


Cheers Fanum for posting ;)

Sent from my SM-G920F using Tapatalk
 
Thread resurrection:aidan

So after 70k miles and 19years on...all 3 of the 4 dash light bulbs decided to go at the same time.
Anyone here have an update on who stocks these bulbs at a decent price? Already have a couple spare sidelight led's.
 
Thread resurrection:aidan

So after 70k miles and 19years on...all 3 of the 4 dash light bulbs decided to go at the same time.
Anyone here have an update on who stocks these bulbs at a decent price? Already have a couple spare sidelight led's.

Unusual, have you checked the voltage is still present. The model has history of water ingress at the wiring loom leading to corrosion and death to instrument lighting. Make sure you check the earths as well.
 
:okay checked and cleaned. Replaced burnt out bulbs with regular ones and all working fine. Thought of putting in led's only to make it brighter now my late night commute mileage has trebled( it'll also match the hid high/low beam, led sidelight and led brake light)
 
Morning.

Looking to do this as it will make a huge difference. I’ve ordered the side-light bulb via the link above, but the link to the dash lights no longer works. I’ve checked the spec via the Haynes manual and all it states is 1.7w. I know what the bulb looks like, but there appears to be multiple sizes. Are these T5, T7 or T10???? If someone has a link to the bulbs they used that would be great.

Thanks in advance.
 
Morning.

Looking to do this as it will make a huge difference. I’ve ordered the side-light bulb via the link above, but the link to the dash lights no longer works. I’ve checked the spec via the Haynes manual and all it states is 1.7w. I know what the bulb looks like, but there appears to be multiple sizes. Are these T5, T7 or T10???? If someone has a link to the bulbs they used that would be great.

Thanks in advance.

T5

Something like this is what I fitted many years ago.

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/2x-White...-/391318267792?_trksid=p2349624.m46890.l49286
 
i don't know the bulb size but i got 2.3 watt replacements in halfords that work very well
 
At Last!

I finally got round to doing this at the weekend. Was keen on the idea from when I first saw it, but was put off by the faff. I had to replace a rocker switch so thought that whilst I was in there I would have a go. Bulb replacement was quite easy actually especially with the new generation of LED bulbs out there (obviously it pays to wait several years for some things!). Bit fiddly as there is not much room behind there and I did it without removing the headlight which made it more fiddly than it needed to be.

I went the ice blue and red combo and very pleased with the results!
 


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