1157 led

[jimbyjimb]

Hi guys,

I'm familiar with the excellent write-up on tail, brake and turn signal LED conversion. Now that the world has a wide variety of socket-compatible LED bulbs, and because I personally have found so many different qualities of LED's, have any of you tried them? If so, find any keepers? I was considering doing all of my XS lights up with the LED bulbs.

Thanks and happy riding!

[bikerphil]

Hi guys,

I'm familiar with the excellent write-up on tail, brake and turn signal LED conversion. Now that the world has a wide variety of socket-compatible LED bulbs, and because I personally have found so many different qualities of LED's, have any of you tried them? If so, find any keepers? I was considering doing all of my XS lights up with the LED bulbs.

Thanks and happy riding!

The problem with converting the existing lights to LED is the reflectors in the light housings are designed for incandescent light bulbs, the LED in many cases will not be nearly as bright, the light doesn't reflect the same. I've seen many people do the conversion to LED and their lights end up not as visible as before which IMHO is a big saftey concern. JMHO

[skids]

For tail/brake lights, I installed "Jamstraight" super brights. No problems. Don't expect much license plate illumination though. Turn signals are another issue. I know that there are modifications to get all 4 to work (I have standard xs11s) but the easiest thing to do is to just have the fronts or just have the rears. And yes, they seem brighter at night and dimmer in day when comapred to filiment bulbs. There are bulbs out there that are 90 degree from the base and can be rotated...I have not tried them. There are also straight-on bases in housings from other bike models that you might want to consider. I used "gorilla glue" in one set of rears to get them pointed straight out and used two sets in each side. I think there are trim-to-fit LED boards out there.

[crazy steve]

I'm with Phil, not a big fan of LED. They do offer options if replacing gauge lights (different colors) but for tail/turn/brake they're rarely as bright, a safety issue.

One other thing to think about; the lamps used on motorcycles aren't usually 1157 lamps although they look almost identical. Most use motorcycle-specific lamps with a slightly brighter, heavier-duty filament to withstand vibration better, with some even offering a mid-filament 'support'. If you're having regular lamp failure with 1157 lamps, switching to the bike type will generally eliminate the problem. The best I've found are the Harley lamps (available at any HD dealer), about $4 each...

[bikerphil]

Just to add... if you must have LED, replace the whole fixture(s) with ones designed for LED and you will be fine, they will be plenty bright that way, with properly designed reflectors. JMHO

[Bonz]

The issue with LED's I found used in the brake light/tail light is most are flush with the bulb body, meaning light only comes "straight out" instead of having some side light like you do with incadescent bulbs. That is what messes up the reflection. There are some LED's nowdays that stick out further and give some "side light" if I remember.

Also, with red tailiight lens, you need the red color LED's. If you go with white LED's your light will be not as bright. Trust me on this one, discovered it when changing to LED's on my V Strom 1000 to free up a few watts for other gear/accessories.

[motoman]

I'm with Phil, not a big fan of LED. They do offer options if replacing gauge lights (different colors) but for tail/turn/brake they're rarely as bright, a safety issue.

One other thing to think about; the lamps used on motorcycles aren't usually 1157 lamps although they look almost identical. Most use motorcycle-specific lamps with a slightly brighter, heavier-duty filament to withstand vibration better, with some even offering a mid-filament 'support'. If you're having regular lamp failure with 1157 lamps, switching to the bike type will generally eliminate the problem. The best I've found are the Harley lamps (available at any HD dealer), about $4 each...

.........and the motorcycle specific bulbs will allow the signal flasher to cycle more correctly with the heavier filament creating a bit more resistance.

[jimbyjimb]

Wow, thanks guys. It seems I'll just stick with the incans. I like to do one upgrade every spring, so I thought I'd see who had success with the LEDs. Thanks for all the info!