I have a ? about my new LED lights...

O

OB_Bulldawg

Registered
Hey, I did my rear fender mod finally after I found this sweet pair of red tear drop shaped LED lights to mount as turn signals. The mod looks sweet, but my turn signals blink as if there is a burnt out bulb (about twice as fast). Any ideas out there to fix it? It's still worth it even with the faster blink rate, but if I could slow it down I would like to. I believe since the LED's pull so little eletricity that the bike thinks a bulb is burnt out...???
 
My guess is to install a heavy duty flasher in place of the regular one.

My lockharts did that and changing to a HD flasher fixed the problem.
 
Post a pic if you can. I would love to see it. Been thinking about a new tail but just havent been happy with what ive been seeing in the market so far.
 
Thanks for the ideas guys. Wrist-Rocket: I don't have the capability to post a photo, but to give you a little more detail, what I found at one of my local cycle shops was a narrow tear shaped lens, about 1/2" wide X 2.5" long. It has 5 LED lights in a line. I used a dremmel to trim off the excess fender, leaving just enough tab to mount the LP back on, then mounted the LEDs on the section of the black plastic that tappers down with the tail just below the painted part of the tail section (did that make sense?). That way, from the rear all five LEDs are visable. I have a red/gray busa, and in Texas we can have red or amber turn signals, so I went with the red turns. It looks pretty sweet, but I still hate that damn License plate. I wish I could find somewhere else for it.
 
Resister soldered across the turn signal wires?

I'm sure someone with a basic understanding of Ohms law and an ohm meter could work out the resistance needed!
 
Bulldawg,

regarding another place to mount your tag.......consider under fender/in front of tire. If you take a snowmobile/bike or boat trailer tag bracket, you can hang it just in front of tire. It is still visible from rear of bike, plus you can remove all the rear fender you desire.

You will need to punch/drill 2 holes in the floor underneath your ecm, just behind your battery, to attach the tag bracket to.

Email me at byhalia@juno.com if you want a look-see.
 
Did you look under the clutch side front fairing where the fuse box is? If it's not there then I think the flasher is near the battery. Take off the front seat. Standing on the front brake side of the bike look in front of the battery and below it. You will see it there.
 
RobBase,

Thanks, I saw them on the website. Were you saying that mounting them with the elevation toward the rear was hindering the view of them from behind bike? If so, I can see what you mean. Have you considered mounting with the elevation toward the front, to allow clearer view of leds at night from rear?
 
I want to mount them with the fat part facing the rear. That is the only way to mount them IMHO. But...no matter which way you mount them the LED's optimum position is to see them directly head on, meaning you have to see the turn signals from the side for them to be the brightest.
 
Byhalia, I'll try and take some pics tomorrow of the turn signals and where/how I am trying to mount them. Check back here.
 
I would Byhalia, but they're still in the bag, I haven't mounted them yet. The reason is that where I want them they would be angled such that the LED's aren't very visible from the back. So I've been experimenting with either soldering & moving the LED's or using the plastic shell & lens and putting a regular light bulb in there.
When I saw them at the store, I bought them cause they're the perfect size for my A-Tech fender eliminator.
 
Robb,
Did you mount the LED's yet? I saw them and they look nice but like you say, the 5 light configuration seems to be facing the side rather than the rear which looks like poor design to me. Why didn't they make the rear of the light rectangular then tapering to flush at the forward section. Please post pics when you can.
Lee
 
Here's the pictures of the turn signals. They aren't mounted as you can see, I'm just holding them up where I want them. Like I said, from the rear the LED's aren't very bright. The only solutions I've thought of are to mount a small light bulb inside the housing or to make my own mini circuit board and solder more LED's, some of which would face the rear.

http://albums.photopoint.com/j/View?u=234516&a=1828200&p=26245693&Sequence=0
http://albums.photopoint.com/j/View?u=234516&a=1828200&p=26245698&Sequence=0
 
Rob,
Man those are tiny. How do you propose that you will fit a bulb in that small housing? Holding them next to the stock makes them look even smaller. I may pass on those.
Lee
 
I have these same lights mounted, but I am getting ready to take them off. They are just too dim to be of any use. Riders behind me say they have never seen them on even once. Before mounting them, I hooked them directly to the battery and they appeared marginally bright enough. After mounting them I noticed that they did not seem as bright. I checked the voltage and was surprised to find that the circuit voltage cycled, but only to a peak of approximately 6 volts. I knew they were too dim, but left them on. I am going to try something else now.

If you are going to use them, I would suggest that you turn them around with the taper to the rear. This is the proper orientation for aerodynamics, visibility, and in my opinion, better matches the lines of the bike.
 
Lee, what I want to try is to use more and brighter LED's. All the buses & trucks have LED lights, even the traffic lights around here are being converted to LED's. All I have to do is head to Radio Shack and find some ultrabright LED's, then experiment. If it doesn't work, oh well, another $30 down the toilet.
 
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