LED Tail and Brake Lights

[Greg O.]

I have been considering switching to one of those LED tail lights that plug right into the existing 1157 socket, just to save a little on the charging system. I am wondering if they are as bright as the regular two filiment bulb. Has anyone used them? Is there a strong resolution between the running light and the brake light? Here is one that I am looking at.

http://radiantz.com/index.html?c16.html&1

Greg O

[SPARKSS]

I have been considering switching to one of those LED tail lights that plug right into the existing 1157 socket, just to save a little on the charging system. I am wondering if they are as bright as the regular two filiment bulb. Has anyone used them? Is there a strong resolution between the running light and the brake light? Here is one that I am looking at.

http://radiantz.com/index.html?c16.html&1

Greg O

Hi Greg. I've had the LED replacement units in my 79 GS1000 for a couple of years now. They work well.......are bright etc......The only problem I had was that the ones I got were significantly larger than the incandescent bulbs they replaced and it seems to me that one of them (tail light I think) required a little mod to the lens assembly to fit.

[Steve]

Greg,

While there are some LED replacements that will work, most of them only shine outward to the back of the bike and do not present a very large light to the back. I am working on a replacement board that will fill the entire lens area with LEDs, but that project will have to wait until my cash flow changes to a positive direction.

If you would like to try something in the meantime, here are a selection of bulbs that also have LEDs that shine out to fill the reflector area.

24-LED from SuperBright LEDs. (scroll down to the second item)
Tower lights from SuperLumination


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[bwringer]

Some good info at Webbikeworld about LED lights on motorcycles.

http://www.webbikeworld.com/lights/led-lighting.htm

The amount of electricity you'll save is incredibly minor -- if your charging system is that bad off, there are better places to spend your time and money...

That said, many people prefer the look or durability of LED lights, but it can be difficult to find replacements that equal the performance of a standard bulb -- the lenses must be designed from the ground up to take advantage of the LED's output and distribute the light correctly.

Cramming lots of LEDs into the housing seems to be the only way to keep an outwardly stock tail light lens and improve the overall visibility. It can be tedious and expensive, though.

[Steve]

Cramming lots of LEDs into the housing seems to be the only way to keep an outwardly stock tail light lens and improve the overall visibility. It can be tedious and expensive, though.

That is exactly the approach I am taking. I have worked up designs for a couple different models, starting with the L series (because that's what I have around here). Two versions I have for the L tail lights have either 56 or 99 LEDs facing the rear, 3 facing each side and 5 white LEDs facing down to illuminate the plate. Not sure what they will cost yet, but it will be in the area of $45-50. :shock: By buying LEDs in considerable volume, the difference of 40 additional units in the assembly only adds about $4 to the price. The rest is having the circuit board etched, drilled and shaped.





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[BassCliff]

Let your eyes be the judge

Mr. Greg O,

One of the first things I did to my bike was to get a brand new tail light lens and a new bulb. At first I replaced the incandescent bulb (I still keep it in my bike for a spare) with a 30-LED bulb from superbriteleds. It wasn't as bright as I had hoped. So I tried the 3 watt Luxeon bulb and I really like it. My riding buddies tell me it's much brighter than the stock bulb. It has a 130 degree spread and fills my tail light lens. And I like the fact that my headlight doesn't dim when I step on the brake.

Now there is a 5 watt version available that I might try. I've seen a few reviews of LEDs vs. incandescents and realize that LEDs don't work as well in all situations. But the red 3w Luxeon bulb works very well in my tail light. You'll want to put a red bulb in a red lens so that very little of the light gets filtered. If you put a white bulb in a red lens, the lens will filter all of the light except for the red wavelengths thus cutting down the light that escapes the lens to be seen by the cagers behind you. :shock:

Thank you for your indulgence,

BassCliff

[Steve]

Cliff,

Yes, the light is bright, but does it fill the entire lens area? Sometimes it takes more area than intensity to catch the eye. 8-[


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[Greg O.]

I am beginning to wonder if LED lights will save that much power by the time enough are used in order to fully illuminate the tail light lense. I don't know what the current draw is on a regular bulb. I will have to check that. The charging system has not had a problem keeping up with the demands on my bike, and I ride with the high beam on durring the day to be more easily seen. What I am considering is installing running lights in the turn signals, and I was looking for ways to cut power usage.

Thank you everyone for your imput.

Greg O

[BassCliff]

Yep, it works good!

Cliff,

Yes, the light is bright, but does it fill the entire lens area? Sometimes it takes more area than intensity to catch the eye. 8-[

Yes. It really does work really well in my bike. In my own informal back-yard-at-night test I tried three different bulbs with my brand new, clean, unscratched, unclouded tail light lens. Out of the stock incandescent, the 30-LED bulb, and the 3w Luxeon, the Luxeon LED was the brightest. My wife and my riding buddies agreed. It seems the spread of the LED and the reflective internals of the tail light housing allow the entire lens to be filled.

I'll try to take some pictures one of these nights and see if it comes out on digital film.

Thank you for your indulgence,

BassCliff

[Steve]

The LEDs I will be using draw about 20mA in their full-bright mode. The 99-LED model will therefore draw about 2 amps in the BRAKE mode, much less in the TAIL light mode. The stock bulb draws 2.5 amps in brake and just under 1 in tail. You are right, power savings might be minimal, but the visibility advantage will be considerable, with no extra electrical load.

Running lights can be added to the front, I did that on my wife's 850L. I don't know what bike donated the front signals as I had a box of extras that came with one of the bikes. There is an unused brown wire in the headlight bucket that can be used to power the running lights. Just be aware that they are not all that visible in daylight. Nighttime operation makes them more visible, but how many of us willingly ride at night?

If you are interested in being more visible during daylight operation, consider a headlight modulator. There are several brands available. I use Kisan units, mainly because they were the first ones I was introduced to, but also because they have plug-n-play models for some bikes, like my Wing. Another, more affordable, unit is the Visi-Path from Comagination. They have a combo unit that includes a brake modulator for about the same price as Kisan's headlight (only) modulator.


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[Junkie]

IMO, the real advantage of LEDs is their response time. While it may not seem like much, incandescent bulbs take time to turn on. At 70mph, you're doing just about 100ft/s. If it's 1/20 of a second faster, and the person behind you reacts that much faster, that's 5 feet. That can easily be the difference between an accident and a close call. No clue how long the incandescent bulbs actually take to turn on, but you should be able to notice it. LEDs are pretty much instant though, as they don't have a filament to heat up.

[Junkie]

If you are interested in being more visible during daylight operation, consider a headlight modulator. There are several brands available. I use Kisan units, mainly because they were the first ones I was introduced to, but also because they have plug-n-play models for some bikes, like my Wing. Another, more affordable, unit is the Visi-Path from Comagination. They have a combo unit that includes a brake modulator for about the same price as Kisan's headlight (only) modulator.


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Yep, headlight modulators are wonderful devices. While some states have laws against them, they are explicitly legal under federal law so if you carry around a copy of the code the odds of actually getting ticketed for it are very low. If you do, it'll get overthrown in court.

[Steve]

. While some states have laws against them, ...

What states do you know of that have laws against them? I have heard that some cities or counties don't know that they are allowed on a Federal level, so have tried to block them, but I was not aware of any state that had tried.

I have had modulators on my bikes since about 2002. About once a month or so, I will have an approaching car pull over on a country road, thinking I am an emergency vehicle, but have never had an officer talk to me about my 'flashing' headlight or brake lights. This also includes travel in 25 states. 8-[


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[Junkie]

What states do you know of that have laws against them? I have heard that some cities or counties don't know that they are allowed on a Federal level, so have tried to block them, but I was not aware of any state that had tried.

I have had modulators on my bikes since about 2002. About once a month or so, I will have an approaching car pull over on a country road, thinking I am an emergency vehicle, but have never had an officer talk to me about my 'flashing' headlight or brake lights. This also includes travel in 25 states. 8-[


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I don't recall what state it was, but a year or so ago someone on another forum posted that they had been pulled over and ticketed for it. I think it was on ninja250.org but I'm not at all sure.