LED Conversion

[bdholsin]

I would like to convert all of my turn signals and brake light to LEDs. I would bet vital parts of my anatomy that I read someone do it on this forum but for the life of me I can't find the post(s) using "search".

Could someone point a half-witted knuckledragger in the right direction?

Thanks.

 

[Grinder]

One of the best things you can do for the old electrical system. You can use any of the LED signals out there, you just have to get a flasher that is LED compatible. Get a two prong flasher that says it will flash 1 to a million leds and you should be good. Mount the flasher away from the coils as it may pick up some noise from them. The stock flasher has three terminals/wires, just use the brown and brown/white wires. You will lose your self canceling function of the signals, but that will get you killed anyway.

This is the best 1157 replacement LED bulb I have found. Couldn' tell any difference between it and stock bulb. 45 Led's all around the bulb. Buy a red one for red lense.

http://www.superbrightleds.com/cgi-...ry=CAR&Page2Disp=/specs/115x-x45-T.htm#photos

Model 1157-R45-T

 

[bdholsin]

Thanks Grinder. I appreciate the link. I'll start my research and report back in this thread.

 

[jims428]

The LED signals work well on the older models because they have a separate left and right flasher indicator in the instrument cluster. Basically there is a separate circuit for the left flashers and a separate circuit for the right flashers.
The newer models like your 83 have a single flasher indicator in the instrument cluster. The new flashers for LEDs tie the left / right circuits together through that single flasher indicator in the instrument cluster. Because of this both the left and right sides will blink at once because the new flasher does not separate the left / right circuits like the stock flashers did. There are work arounds for this using diodes that you can find through search.
Myself, I gave up on using LED's in my flashers on my 82 because of this. In my opinion the work arounds seemed to add more chances of failure in the circuit so it did not seem worth it to me.
Did anyone come up with a simpler solution to this problem?

 

[bdholsin]

I backtracked the wiring from the tail light and rear turn signals. I think I may be able to add the load resistor OR flasher unit right after the point where they all branch off from the main harness...possibly on each individual branch of the circuit so I won't have to contend with the combined flasher unit up front. Am I looking at this correctly jims?

This is going to take some time and effort but may be possible. First thing is to gather the $$ to get the LEDs and necessary accessories. This is going to take some time as money is tight right now.

 

[Grinder]

Adding load resistors defeats the purpose of using LED's which is to lower current draw on our old systems. You have to replace the current flasher at the same location as the wiring goes up to the bar switch for left and right signals. The single indicator light is not that hard to do. You have to use diodes to do it though. A diode is a one way electrical "check valve" that allows current to flow in one direction only. You have to take one positive wire from each side (L, R) of the signals and solder it to the "in" side of the diodes. The "out" sides wires connect together and go to the positive side of the indicator bulb. Ground the other lead of the bulb. I've had this setup on mine for quite a while and it works great. These are the diodes I used, you can use smaller ones but these are nice and beefy.

http://www.radioshack.com/product/index.jsp?productId=2062591

The end with the stripe is the "out" side.

 

[bdholsin]

That makes sense. A resistor adds load. Duh, what the hell was I thinking? My mind has been elsewhere lately.

This project may be put on hold due to lack of desire to work with 'trons. I was really hoping for a plug/play option for the bulbs. Apparently not going to happen as a flasher will be required and I'm not 100% proficient with the electrical shit. I can do the basic stuff but now we're getting into an area that will require some trial/error.

Going to have to think about this. If I had a brick/mortar store nearby that I could put my hands on some products I may proceed. For now I'll just keep reading and do some research.

Thanks Grinder.

 

[XSLeo]

Changing the flasher is about as hard as plugging in a cord into a wall socket. Just be sure the new two prong flasher plugs into the brown and brown with wires.
I think you will like the results.
I have a volt gauge mounted on my 75. With the stock flasher and bulbs you could see the voltage drop by 1 to 2 volts every time the lights flashed. With the LED replacements not even a slight wiggle of the needle.
Leo

 

[DB90]

This is a bit of an old thread and I'm not sure if this is in the tech section (honestly haven't checked yet. This was the first thing to pop up on Google when I searched LED conversion.)

But my question is, with the bulbs linked above, can I just get the new flasher, plug it in and go? I have an 80 XS Special. Or do I need to do the whole diode thing no matter what?

 

[OHRider]

The LED signals work well on the older models because they have a separate left and right flasher indicator in the instrument cluster. Basically there is a separate circuit for the left flashers and a separate circuit for the right flashers.
The newer models like your 83 have a single flasher indicator in the instrument cluster. The new flashers for LEDs tie the left / right circuits together through that single flasher indicator in the instrument cluster. Because of this both the left and right sides will blink at once because the new flasher does not separate the left / right circuits like the stock flashers did. There are work arounds for this using diodes that you can find through search.
Myself, I gave up on using LED's in my flashers on my 82 because of this. In my opinion the work arounds seemed to add more chances of failure in the circuit so it did not seem worth it to me.
Did anyone come up with a simpler solution to this problem?

I used the diodes on my 78 go to the Super Bright LED web site tell you how to do it. https://www.superbrightleds.com/moreinfo/motorcycle-accessories/metric-bike-diode-kit/1190/2805/ This where I got all of my stuff.