Uhmm....LED's again

[Nubian]

I replaced all but the stop light with led's. Obvious difference in brightness. However when I checked the specs I discovered a huge disparity in lumens. So I was going to spill the $25. per bulb to get the max available led's (1157) come to find out that even with the max (45-T) there is a difference of 340 lumens. To those who have done this conversion are you comfortable with the brightness/visibility from these led bulbs?

[clcorbin]

Are you using the correct colored LEDs for each location? The lumens on the bulbs are the total WHITE light output. Then you put that white bulb behind a red or amber filter and you DO NOT get that many lumens OUT of the filter. Unfortunately, unless you use high power LEDs, you most likely will not have quite as much light as NEW bulbs (ever see a car coming towards you with one new headlight?), but probably more than an old, blackened bulb. Be sure to use amber LEDs for the marker lights and red LEDs for the brake light. That way, the light you get from the LED will not be filtered out by the lens.

Of course, the real pain is that the reflector is designed for an omnidirection bub and LEDs are most definitely NOT omnidirectional. I've been playing around with building replacement panels (no reflector) for the marker and brake lights using 1W LEDs, but I haven't done it yet. I still want to convert my bike to fuel injection, so I really need to lighten the load on the alternator and LEDs are a great way to do that.

[Nubian]

Yes I am. The tower bulbs are very close to omni directional and they are the high powered led's, 45 of them in one bulb, but there is still a big difference in light output on paper. I wondered if in real life application is the difference that obvious.

Are you using the correct colored LEDs for each location? The lumens on the bulbs are the total WHITE light output. Then you put that white bulb behind a red or amber filter and you DO NOT get that many lumens OUT of the filter. Unfortunately, unless you use high power LEDs, you most likely will not have quite as much light as NEW bulbs (ever see a car coming towards you with one new headlight?), but probably more than an old, blackened bulb. Be sure to use amber LEDs for the marker lights and red LEDs for the brake light. That way, the light you get from the LED will not be filtered out by the lens.

Of course, the real pain is that the reflector is designed for an omnidirection bub and LEDs are most definitely NOT omnidirectional. I've been playing around with building replacement panels (no reflector) for the marker and brake lights using 1W LEDs, but I haven't done it yet. I still want to convert my bike to fuel injection, so I really need to lighten the load on the alternator and LEDs are a great way to do that.

[cywelchjr]

Yes I am. The tower bulbs are very close to omni directional and they are the high powered led's, 45 of them in one bulb, but there is still a big difference in light output on paper. I wondered if in real life application is the difference that obvious.

That's why I don't go with the omni's, as you really don't need them anyways, as the light on those really only needs to cover a pretty narrow beam, the omni's try to cover too much area and waste a lot of what they create. That said, I ripped out the original fixtures from my Vetter trunk and replaced them with dedicated LED fixtures, which are almost 40% brighter. I plan on changing out the brake light for the bike with one of the big panels like TC used on his, as those actually do put out MORE light than the OEM bulbs do. For the turns when I switch, I figure on using the same type of units in the round type, they have ones that will almost fill the turn signal unit. I just need to find something that will work in the front lights of the windjammer.

[ddragon63]

these are the bulbs I used from superbrightleds.com


rear 2w 90 degree. they come in amber, clear, and red. My turns are in the trunk and are red. These things are BRIGHT!


fronts are in my fairing these are the 24 bulb leds in amber. I will say they are not as bright as the stock 1157s but its a false bright. the standards are brighter in the lens in the 1 spot where the bulb is. the 140 deg LED bulb fills the whole lens better so it is more visible from more angles than just straight a head.


Here's a link to the video I posted on here with them in action

http://www.facebook.com/video/video.php?v=2316378327649