Question about LED in 78 GS550

[Guest]

I've installed an LED tail light and turn signals in my 78 GS550. Now I know I need a different blinker relay in order for the signals to work. Currently they just come on solid not flash. But what I'm not sure about is do I need to anything for the tail light itself? It works fine. But doesn't seem overly bright? Perhaps it's the tail light itself? But it occured to me that maybe it needs more juice to work properly, be brighter? Do I need a different regulator as well as a new blinker doodle?

[hampshirehog]

The rear light doesn't need anything else plumbing in - the indicators only need that because they flash. There are different standards of led bulbs - some are way to bright, some are just fine and some are a bit dim.

[Jmcb]

The rear light doesn't need anything else plumbing in - the indicators only need that because they flash. There are different standards of led bulbs - some are way to bright, some are just fine and some are a bit dim.

Yeah... That's kinda what I figured. Bloody cheap eBay tail light.

[tom203]

Experiment with different led bulbs...I've had good luck brightness wise with COB and SMD ones - some are like camera flashes!

[Steve]

As far as the tail/brake light is concerned, take a GOOD look at the "bulb" you installed and compare it to a stock incandescent bulb. The whole light assembly is based on a reflector and lens that will project light from a single point source (the filament) out the back, toward those who are behind you. Many LED 'bulbs' have multiple elements on them and they certainly appear to be bright when you look at them, but very few, if any, of those elements are in the focal point to be sent rearward. There are also some LED 'bulbs' that have a few VERY bright elements that project out the end. That is great, sort of, because there is an intense point of light in the center of your lens, but virtually nothing filling in the rest of the reflector/lens assembly. It can be very confusing. I have not tried the new offerings from Sylvania, the Zevo line. All the claims seem good, but they are about $20-25 per pair to try them out. You will not have to do any re-wiring or compensation to use one, if you finally find one that fill the reflector/lens assembly.

As far as the turn signals are concerned, you will still have the same concerns about the point source and lens/reflector filling, but you also have some electrical concerns. The flasher is thermal-based, so it needs to 'see' a certain electrical load to function properly. Your LEDs do not draw enough current to tickle the flasher, so they remain steady.

To determine the extent of modification necessary, tell us how many turn signal indicators you have on the instrument panel. If you have separate indicators for each direction, it's easy. If you have a single indicator, it will take a bit more electrickery. For the separate indicator version, you can simply install a flasher from your favorite auto parts store that will work with LEDs. Note that most of them have three terminals, your bike's flasher only has two. Your two are power in and flashing out. The third terminal on the new flasher will connect to ground. Easy to do.

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[Jmcb]

Thanks for all that. I have 2 indicators on the gauge cluster. 1 for left and 1 for right.

[Steve]

In that case, get a flasher that will handle the low load of LEDs. Wire in a ground wire, if needed.

Note that if you had a larger bike that had self-cancelling turn signals, the soulution is MUCH more involved.

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