Author Topic: Are there any brighter neutral light LED replacement bulbs?  (Read 26220 times)

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retrobikeguy

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Are there any brighter neutral light and turn signal indicator LED replacement bulbs?  They are hard to see in bright sunlight.
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GSS

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Reply #1 on: April 25, 2011, 05:15:05 am
Yes there are. I got some nice LEDs for the C5 and also added extra front and rear side marker lights. I will dig up the receipt tomorrow evening and post the exact bulb types that I purchased from superbrigntleds for the neutral and turn signal.

Regards,

GSS
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prof_stack

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Reply #2 on: April 25, 2011, 05:16:03 am
Good question.  The voltmeter gauge on my C5 lets me know when the turn signals are on while idling.  Lower voltage replacements would be nice.
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Ducati Scotty

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Reply #3 on: April 25, 2011, 06:04:10 pm
Any tips on a solid state flasher replacement?  I know most flashers go double speed when they only have LEDs instead of the relatively heavy drain of incandescent bulbs.  Unless you add resistors but then you don't get the low drain benefits.

After replacing my burnt out tail light I'm thinking more about the longer life LED bulbs.

Scott


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Reply #4 on: April 25, 2011, 06:09:23 pm
Any auto parts store should stock electronic flashers,well worth the cost IMHO. I get mine from NAPA.
 In a pinch they can be sourced from auto wrecking yards.

 
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r80rt

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Sub

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Reply #6 on: April 25, 2011, 08:03:15 pm
Yes there are. I got some nice LEDs for the C5 and also added extra front and rear side marker lights. I will dig up the receipt tomorrow evening and post the exact bulb types that I purchased from superbrigntleds for the neutral and turn signal.

Regards,

GSS

Do you have any pics of them? How much brighter? Does it fill the brake light area better, or is it more of a spot type bulb? My experience with leds is that they have a very narrow usable beam pattern - great on axis, but off axis, as dim or dimmer than oem.
I want a new light for my brake light.. I have the highest wattage in there, and its still a bit dim (I have aftermarket housing). I was thinking about this one
http://www.superbrightleds.com/cgi-bin/store/index.cgi?action=DispPage&Page2Disp=%2Fspecs%2F1157_LED_spider_light.htm#photos


BTW, is our brake light bulb base a 1157 type right??
« Last Edit: April 25, 2011, 08:44:32 pm by Sub »


GSS

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Reply #7 on: April 26, 2011, 01:22:59 am
Here is the list of complete LED bulbs for a C5. I tried 2 different 1157 bulbs for the tail light. The 30-LED BA15 on line 1 is very dim, and the Motorcycle Tail 19-LED on line 2 is much brighter, but still not as good as the OEM incandescent. Both were a waste of time and money as there is little if any illumination of the sides of the light.

Moving on to the smaller bulbs...see attached invoice for specific part numbers as they have multiple variants on superbrightleds.
1 BA7 amber for the fuel light
1 BA7 red for the Royal Enfield logo (LED lights do not work for the check engine light so you don't need to buy a second one)
4 BA9 cool white for the 2 tiger eyes, pilot bulb and backlighting for the speedometer
2 BA9 green for neutral and "trafficator" light
1BA9 blue for high beam

These little lights do a great job - nice and bright in full sunlight.

Regards,

GSS
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Ducati Scotty

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Reply #8 on: November 10, 2011, 12:41:55 am
I wonder if the check engine light failed to work because the polarity in the socket was backwards.  The D in LED stands for diode, and diodes only pass electricity in one direction.

Scott


GlennF

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Reply #9 on: November 10, 2011, 01:45:06 am
Here is the list of complete LED bulbs for a C5. I tried 2 different 1157 bulbs for the tail light. The 30-LED BA15 on line 1 is very dim, and the Motorcycle Tail 19-LED on line 2 is much brighter, but still not as good as the OEM incandescent. Both were a waste of time and money as there is little if any illumination of the sides of the light.

Moving on to the smaller bulbs...see attached invoice for specific part numbers as they have multiple variants on superbrightleds.
1 BA7 amber for the fuel light
1 BA7 red for the Royal Enfield logo (LED lights do not work for the check engine light so you don't need to buy a second one)
4 BA9 cool white for the 2 tiger eyes, pilot bulb and backlighting for the speedometer
2 BA9 green for neutral and "trafficator" light
1BA9 blue for high beam

These little lights do a great job - nice and bright in full sunlight.

Regards,

GSS

With the BA9 size LEDs I just went with all white ones. The speedo has a colored bezel anyway so I could not see any point chasing up fancy colored ones.

The only issue I had was with the flasher indicator in the speedo. With an LED bulb fitted (I tried several as I had spares) both left and right flashers behaved normally but the speedo indicator only lit for the RHS flasher. Very odd.


Ducati Scotty

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Reply #10 on: November 10, 2011, 03:55:32 am
Interesting.  If it only works one way I think it's a polarity thing, but I'll be darned if I can think of a sensibly wired circuit offhand that would do that :)

Scott


GlennF

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Reply #11 on: November 10, 2011, 05:10:33 am
Interesting.  If it only works one way I think it's a polarity thing, but I'll be darned if I can think of a sensibly wired circuit offhand that would do that :)

Scott

nah ... its a voltage thing

Unlike normal bulbs that light up even with just one volt and get brighter as you increase the voltage LEDs have a threshold voltage.  basically ... below the threshold voltage you get zada, no lights, not a thing. Hit the threshold voltage and you get full illumination. Sort of an all on or all off thing.

Clearly my LHS flasher system is not providing enough volts to the indicator socket while the RHS wiring is.  What i cannot figure out is why the LHS voltage is low and RHS is OK. Earth fault ? I could stick a voltmeter on it and check but its too much hassle.

BTW ... this is most likely the issue people are having with the engine sensor light as well, not enough volts.
« Last Edit: November 10, 2011, 05:12:46 am by GlennF »


Ducati Scotty

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Reply #12 on: November 10, 2011, 06:38:44 am
I'm guessing the problem is that you've got one dodgy connector somewhere on the left side dropping the voltage just enough.

Scott


palace15

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Reply #13 on: October 21, 2012, 07:46:46 pm
Hi
I have just changed to LED's and like a couple of previous posters I have also found that the indicator/trafficator warning light in the speedo only flashes on right hand and not on the left, so I have gone back to the original bulb 8) ::)anyone out there got the problem sorted yet?
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barenekd

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Reply #14 on: October 21, 2012, 07:58:39 pm
I got the turn signals sorted out. I left the regular bulbs in those. The rest are LEDs. The taillight LED works great, I follow one around all the time. Quite bright. Sometimes I think his brake light is on. But it snot.
Make SURE you get the -4s- bulbs for the indicator lights, the -s- are no better than stock.
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