Going 100% LED's

[Peter]

I have changed all my bulbs to LEDs except for my two tail trunk signal indicators. Changing those to LEDs sent the turn signal relay into a blinking fit.

I purchased one of those "electronic relays" from China but it does not work. The blink rate still varies by load.

Solution... I am building my own out of a 555 timer and P type MOSFET.

The circuit works great (in Multisim) and I am currently building it for a real life test.

The timer is set to flash at a constant 90 per minute regardless of load.

[SIR tricky]

Nice we have an electronics expert in the house, and is your location Hamilton, ONTARIO?

[Peter]

Nice we have an electronics expert in the house, and is your location Hamilton, ONTARIO?

Indeed

Finished the circuit and it is pulsing away... just need to find the right MOSFET to drive it all... I figure with all LED's I will not be drawing more then a few amps at most. Think I will measure that tonight.

[Lehandre]

I'm a total novice when it comes to LED, but would like to go the same route.

What does it require? Do I have to change the fittings or just the bulbs? LED's is still a rather new thing in South Africa, so after a bit of a search I'm sure I'll be able to find all the required pieces.....

[Peter]

China produces most bulb bases with different LED configurations, there are no real LED bulb numbers. Everything I installed I purchased off of Ebay.

I will post a list of all the bulbs I ended up using to go 100% LED. My trunk has the turn signal mod so I MacGyvered up some LED panels for that. The trunk brake light also has extra string LED's added to it for that really bright "I AM BRAKING" look. I also added a third brake light by replacing the center bottom reflector.

I will be posting pictures later once I get the new solid state flasher installed.

FYI, does anyone have an old burned out flasher they are no longer using? All I need it for is the case so I can use the existing plug and mount.

With regard to the MOSFET I used, I ended up going with an IRF9540. The "on" resistance is only .12 ohms (very low) so the device does not get warm at all under full load. The flash rate is a solid 90 times a minute (spec is 60 to 120).

[Peter]

Here are the custom side signal and trunk signal lights I made.

I used a 48 SMD led panel which can be cut.

For the side signal lights I cut one panel in half so 24 LED's a side.

For the trunk signal lights I used two 48 LED's a side but had to cut a string of 3 LED's out to accommodate the mounting screw for the yellow lens.

I bought a "lot" of GL1200 relays from ebay. Once they show up I will post pictures of my electronic flasher mount in a stock relay housing.

[Whitefox]

I found 6 watt LED bulbs and replaced all of them. I also exchanged the four way and the signal flasher with ones that work perfectly. I will post a link to where I bought them at the bottom of the post. I decided to leave 2 tail bulbs as regular for two reasons. The 1156 bulbs I used are brighter in my opinion than they should be when disengaged so when I engage the brake in my opinion they do not show enough of a difference. Also by leaving two of the break lights as regular bulbs my dash indicator goes out. The only problem I have is that the signal switch on the handle bar does not self cancel.

I have subsequently purchased 4 x 9 Watt LEDs for the brake lights. When I complained about the brightness distinction of the 6 watt bulbs the vendor suggested the 9 waters. I am hoping they will draw enough that the rear brake light indicator in the dash will turn off.

I managed to use a dremel and some plastic quick ties to connect 1156 6 watt LED's in the corners of the top box. And switched the lenses to amber. (The brightness that way of my whole back end matches.) However I have subsequently decided to brighten the brake bulbs even more. With 6 waters the back end is definitely brighter than with the incandescent bulbs already. LOL I light up the road behind me at night.

I also found strip LED lighting that alternates colors from BLUE to GREEN to YELLOW to Orange to Red to PURPLE and back to Blue again and so on. I put one strip at the top of the front forks. One on each side of the bike under the fake tank and One on each side under the bags. I have gotten away with "SHOWING" with them running while riding without hassel from the cops. If you do this make sure you don't flash blue to red rapidly or you will likely be pulled over for impersonating the cops. Also if you make anything flash do it at the rear of the bike where it is legal.I plan to add a flasher to the rear break bulbs to cause a criss - cross effect when the breaks are applied. I hope to do this early next season. I have the flasher in my possession to do it.

Additionally I put some 22 watt driving lights on the front of the bike and a Hid light replacement for the main headlight bulb. I have subsequently discovered that you can now get an LED replacement bulb for the H4 bulb as well.

Unfortunately my attempt to modify the Cassette deck to allow a 1/8 jack in for IPOD has not been successful yet and my attempt to add CB hasn't been successful either. I will reattempt this over the winter months for next season. My year is 1986. The mods for the other years posted here do not work on 1986 and 87 models as far as I know.

I got the advice to check this guy out here at this forum. I have tried to go elsewhere but have come back to him. He's the best.
http://canadiancruisercustomizing.ca/

I found a pair of replacement sidelight LED bulbs on EBAY but unfortunately after installing them I cannot tell you where I got them except that they were I think 7 WATT LED and they shine on the Blue end of the spectrum, perhaps 8000K they look cool blue beside my 6000K Hid light. I think I prefer the difference in color. The LED's I got for Driving lights I will try to find to post a link to them. They are true 6000K, no blue which I prefer for them. They match the HID headlight.

[Peter]

Whitefox

Sounds like nice LED mods. I hope to see it sometime.

I just finished modding my third brake light into an all LED one, I bought the 5m LED waterproof strip as well. I also bought a green strip to add to the bike similar to what you did with the RGB strip.

Where did you find a flasher relay that will work with 100% LED conversion? Everything I purchased did not work, so I built my own.

I attached a few photos of my third brake light mod. Having seen it on the bike now I plan on modding the trunk brake light as well. I think the normal 1157 for running and the strip for braking... a work in progress.

Also in regard to the radio input. I saw, someplace on the internet, (Hack-a-day I think) a guy took one of those old cassette to 3.5mm jack adapters and converted it all to bluetooth. It looked pretty easy and would allow you to connect your smartphone via bluetooth to you cassette in the OEM radio. A nice modern update. HA!... found it... it was KipKay on YouTube... http://youtu.be/WxXS3OdJUqg

[Whitefox]

Whitefox

Sounds like nice LED mods. I hope to see it sometime.

I just finished modding my third brake light into an all LED one, I bought the 5m LED waterproof strip as well. I also bought a green strip to add to the bike similar to what you did with the RGB strip.

Where did you find a flasher relay that will work with 100% LED conversion? Everything I purchased did not work, so I built my own.

I attached a few photos of my third brake light mod. Having seen it on the bike now I plan on modding the trunk brake light as well. I think the normal 1157 for running and the strip for braking... a work in progress.

Also in regard to the radio input. I saw, someplace on the internet, (Hack-a-day I think) a guy took one of those old cassette to 3.5mm jack adapters and converted it all to bluetooth. It looked pretty easy and would allow you to connect your smartphone via bluetooth to you cassette in the OEM radio. A nice modern update. HA!... found it... it was KipKay on YouTube... http://youtu.be/WxXS3OdJUqg

Ask Scott at Canada Cruisers about the flashers he sells for GL1200. They worked, except that the automatic shut off on signal lights fails now, you have to turn signals off manually after each turn. I gave a link in my post.

Also I realize I will have to use the Cassette conversion method. I want to go Bluetooth. I was trying to get a better hookup by soldering into the main board but I must have soldered to the wrong contact points.

[Peter]

I hate noise and HV stuff.

GL is 95% LED... still having a problem with going 100% on turn signals.

The solid state flasher I made works great as long as the bike is not running.

You start up the motor and it goes to crap. The relay mounting point is right beside one of the ignition coils and that causes the flasher to flash a lot faster ... apparently in sync with engine RPM.

Looks like it is back to the drawing board to improve the noise rejection.

[bs175dths]

that light at the end of the tunnel was a cliff, right?

[Peter]

that light at the end of the tunnel was a cliff, right?

Indeed

[Peter]

Finished modifying the trunk brake light.

I had already installed LED 1157 replacement bulbs but was not happy with the contrast between running and brake so I added 4 strips of the same LED lights I used in the third brake light.

The pictures show the before and after, I have not taken a night time picture yet... but trust me the contrast is huge. When I brake now it screams BRAKE!!!!!!

I hooked the 4 strips up to the brake wire and left the 1157 hook-up alone. With the diffuser installed the lighting is quite flat in both running and brake.

Taking the lens apart was a bit of a challenge and you can see where I broke one red lens tab. I had to remove all the yellow adhesive that Honda used. When I was done I had a ball of glue the size of a ping pong ball. I resealed the lens using a bead of white silicon sealer.

I also replaced my license plate bulb with a homemade LED one. I didn't want to wait for one to come from China so I printed up my own holder and installed 3 white LED's with a current limiting resistor... 100 ohms I think. Works great and only draws 50ma. Whole thing is held together again with white silicon sealer.

Now for some green LED "hover lights".

[1TallTXn]

Peter, I see some excellent work, I'm quite impressed.

When I swapped my GL1100A over to LEDs (not including the dash) I had to swap the flasher as well. I went lazy and bought one with the lights from SuperBrightLEDs.com. Something like $12, and aside from my '83 not matching the FSM wiring, it worked with very little effort.
Clearly, you've got the skills to make it work without resorting to off-the-shelf hardware, but figured I'd let you, and others who don't have your skills, know there is a source.

I'm quite liking the mods for the lights on the side and rear of your GL1200I.
I'm hoping to do something similar for my GL1200A.

Do you have links to your sources for the lights or just browsing eBay for them?

Thanks!

I'm curious to hear your total draw before and after the swap.

[1TallTXn]

Avoiding work today, I did some guestimating.

I found the 5050 SMD LED is much brighter than the 3528, but also much higher draw. (0.335A/ft vs 0.091A/ft at 12vdc)
Price-wise, they're pretty close ($16/5m vs $13/5m)