New rear blinkers...Finally....

I finally changed my rear blinkers as one of the rears that came with my "New"; bike was pretty much shattered. I had no clue the factory signals were so heavy, and gonna shed even more weight when I ziz wheel off the old mounts and bolt the rear seat directly through the subframe

While these do look good, I always think about visibility. A buddy of mine tried some different turn signals, and when I rode behind him a little ways back, they were Very Hard to see. So we changed out the bulbs, little difference, still hard to see in daylight, but much better in the dark. Still nothing like the factory bulbs. Then seeing them from the side/ different angles so you can be seen by cross traffic etc.
Just don't sacrifice the basic function of letting other road users know your intentions for a look. It can be dangerous enough out there with all the gadgets taking peoples mind off of what their Supposed to be doing. :blink:

I would rather not have signals and use hand signals...which I still use primarily. I just want to have the equipment onboard to keep " legal" status.

I cut the original blinker/rear seat brackets off today ( shortened the tabs on the rear seat and bolted them directly through the subframe)> WOW, What a difference in how it looks! I also cleaned up the porosity filled welds that connect the rear end of the subframe to the rest and just rattle canned it black. Couldn't be happier! Who would of thought that changing blinkers would reduce the weight by over 2 pounds!! Will post pics tomorrow.

Does anyone know what the brightness (in lumens) of the original running lights and turn signals are? I've been looking at some wide-angle LEDs I can cluster together, and the after-market turn signals I got don't have the running-light feature to them, so I was thinking about doing a conversion, but I need a target brightness to shoot for so I maintain visibility.

BubbaZ1982 wrote: I would rather not have signals and use hand signals...which I still use primarily. I just want to have the equipment onboard to keep " legal" status.

Those lights are not legal by DOT (federal) standards. Each state has it's own laws about what they enforce. In California, you would get written up for those.

To see why they fail DOt standards, read attached. It requires 9" separation from center of tail light lens to center of turn signal lense. That's why MC turn signals are mounted on stalks to get distance. At night, those turn signals just blur into the light from the center tail light.

Shdwdrgn wrote: Does anyone know what the brightness (in lumens) of the original running lights and turn signals are? I've been looking at some wide-angle LEDs I can cluster together, and the after-market turn signals I got don't have the running-light feature to them, so I was thinking about doing a conversion, but I need a target brightness to shoot for so I maintain visibility.

If you want LEDs that are as bright as the original 1157 type bulbs, you need the 3W Luxeons from superbrightleds.com. About 99% of the LED tail lights out there (especially the ones on ebay) are significantly dimmer than stock lighting. Extremely dangerous if used for brake light or turn signal.

www.superbrightleds.com/products/tail-br...turn/808,807/#photos

bountyhunter wrote: If you want LEDs that are as bright as the original 1157 type bulbs, you need the 3W Luxeons from superbrightleds.com.

Hmm those numbers seem well within range... The 3W Luxeon is rated at 105lm, and their replacement 1157 is rated at 150lm. I am looking at some yellow LEDs that (at worst) put out 8000mcd at 120 degrees, which converts to 31 lumens -- so a cluster of 7 of these would be 217lm, which is still far higher than the other bulbs. A little work with resistors to give me a high/low output, and I should be good to go.

[EDIT] Actually I finally found a listing for the original 1157 bulbs that gives a rating of 402/38 initial lumens, which means I would need to make a cluster of 13 LEDs to achieve the original brightness. This is still about the same physical size as the 1157, so I should have no trouble fitting it into the new turn signals.

I was just going by personal experience. The 3W ones I posted are the only ones I saw that fit into a bulb socket and are as bright as incandescent (maybe 50% brighter actually). The vast majority of LED "solutions" are not bright enough..... as evidenced by the dozens of unhappy campers posting about them. The junk on ebay is notorious. I have not tested the ones you have.

Shdwdrgn wrote:

bountyhunter wrote: If you want LEDs that are as bright as the original 1157 type bulbs, you need the 3W Luxeons from superbrightleds.com.

Hmm those numbers seem well within range... The 3W Luxeon is rated at 105lm, and their replacement 1157 is rated at 150lm. I am looking at some yellow LEDs that (at worst) put out 8000mcd at 120 degrees, which converts to 31 lumens -- so a cluster of 7 of these would be 217lm, which is still far higher than the other bulbs. A little work with resistors to give me a high/low output, and I should be good to go.

I am not sure if the brightness is additive in linear fashion or exponential when adding an array of light sources compared to a single point source of light. I know the human eye perception is exponential. Getting an led to look about twice as bright takes about 6X current roughly, at least with the ones I have tried.

True, but from what I've read, the biggest problem with using LEDs to replace a regular bulb is that LEDs are very directional. So if you use a cluster of the wide-angle style, you can spread out where they are aimed, and get a light that better approaches the apparent brightness of a bulb.

At least that's my theory...

Shdwdrgn wrote: True, but from what I've read, the biggest problem with using LEDs to replace a regular bulb is that LEDs are very directional. So if you use a cluster of the wide-angle style, you can spread out where they are aimed, and get a light that better approaches the apparent brightness of a bulb.

At least that's my theory...

They make some LED's with a decent viewing angle (like 120 degrees). The biggest problem is the majority of LEds are just are not bright enough to be seen in daylight.




www.fitfreak.net/forums/2nd-generation-g...t-bright-enough.html

honda-tech.com/showthread.php?t=2929114

www.g5club.net/showthread.php/12661-led-bulbs-not-bright-enough

www.r1-forum.com/forums/showthread.php?t=166938

www.jk-forum.com/jk-electrical-lighting-...right-enough-136685/