LED Bulb Part Numbers

[alaskey2]

Hello again, I'm sure this has been asked before but I just can't find a thread with the info.

Does anyone have the stock turn signal and brake light bulb numbers? The bulb numbers that would coordinate with the numbers on superbrightled.com

Thanks if anyone has the info, if not, thanks for reading

[Prisoner6]

Hi, Allan -

The stock tail/brake combination bulb is an incandescent, #1157 bulb. The turn signals also use a #1157 bulb.

That is the number you would use to find a suitable LED replacement bulb on superbrightleds.com ...

[natemoen]

You will be disappointed. The stock housings just can't reflect well enough to use the LEDs well.

Plus you have to deal with the flasher and if you have a special you need to install diodes in the cluster indicator light.

Not saying you shouldn't do it, but you need to be committed because it is a process and can be very frustrating. As you can see in my signature line I have done a lot of LED work, only thing not LED so far is the OEM tail/break light. I never could get a satisfactory result from the factory turn signal housing from just a 1157 LED bulb. You need to go with LED panels and find a way to mount them within the housing.

No, I haven't done it yet.

[TopCatGr58]

Hey there,

The 78E which is what you have according to your signature, uses the 1157 running and turn signal type bulb for the front turn signals. The rear turn signals are just signals....so you would need an 1156 instead, the single filament type with the large socket but only 1 contact point.

Instead of using the actual same shaped bulb replacements...which don't direct much of the light rearward, they(superbrightleds) have some special types of lights with separate multi-led bulb arrays and then wires going to the socket so you can position the array board inside the light socket for optimal projection rearward vs. trying to use the lights reflector housing.

Here's the main page for OTHER types of bulbs, not just AUTO/Truck:
It's under Boat-RV-Others, then I selected Bayonet type bases:
https://www.superbrightleds.com/cat/bayonet-bulbs/

Then 1157 and 1157 types.
Here's the 1157:


Here's the 1156 type:


And these are actually cheaper than the fancy multi-directional type led bulbs they have at $24.95 ea!



A little hotglue would be useful to mount the array inside the turnsignal lens housing, and then just plug the bulb end into the socket and screw the lens cover back on. BTW, pick YELLOW colored led for front and RED for rear...should match the color of the lens they are mounted in.

The rear brake/tail/running light housing on the 78E is the larger wider type similar to the later specials, so there's lots of room for a very large array type bulb assembly.

Here's the page for the Truck Tail/brake type lights.
https://www.superbrightleds.com/more...-17-leds/1037/

They have them with 10, 17, 24, and 56 led bulb arrays....however, the 24 and 56 units use SMALLER diameter LEDs, the 10 and 17 use the larger 5mm wide LED bulbs, they are a newer design and I think are also brighter and have better projection and reflectivity. The self contained housings are 6.5" WIDE.

This is the brake/tail light LED mod that I performed some 12 years ago.
http://www.xs11.com/forum/showthread.php?t=5093

The led housing will fit into the OEM housing....but will require a slight adjustment/trimming with a dremmel on the ends to clear the housing mounting screws. The OEM reflector also has a white DIFFUSOR lens inside of it....You can experiment with trying the LED array inside the housing just as it is, or you can remove the WHITE inner diffusor. I left the white diffusor and cut out a section of the red outer housing, but to keep it more water resistant, leaving the outer red housing intact would be good. The LED bulb housing is also water resistant. I also cut off the RED cover lens of the LED array...but the old 56 bulb type I used was just plain red plastic. The newer style has special LENS shapes over the led bulbs to help magnify the light emitted, so I would leave the LED housing intact. I soldered wires to the sockets, but you could take an old 1157 bulb, bust out the glass and then solder wires to it so that you can then connect them to the wires of the LED bulb array. Again, hot glue to mount the array inside the tail light housing would be good. The license plate gets it's light from the white section on the bottom of the reflector housing and the 2 regular 1157d bulbs. Since you would only need to use 1 socket to drive the LED array, you could use the other socket to mount one of the smaller 1157 separate array/wired socket bulbs and position it downwards to illuminate the license plate....they make those smaller bulbs in red/yellow/white color.



Okay, a closer look at this array shows it has a fancy reflector built into the base, but the surface lens is just flat red.

The 10 LED type DOES have the round LENS type outer lens cover, uses the same 5mm wide bright leds.



SO...now not sure which would be the brightest....the 10 with fancy amplifying outer lenses....or the 17 with the chromed multi-angled back reflectors!?!? They are the same price.

Okay hope this helps more than confuses!

T.C.

[alaskey2]

Thanks, this is very helpful! Does anyone know the part number for the lights in the gauges?

[natemoen]

Thanks, this is very helpful! Does anyone know the part number for the lights in the gauges?

BA9 is the gauge lights.

[CatatonicBug]

For me, I was disappointed at first when I tried switching to LEDs. They just weren't bright enough. However, it was just a matter of getting the RIGHT bulb! For the brake lights, be sure to get the red bulbs, for the turn signals, get the Amber ones.



Also, don't get bulbs that point in all directions. For the rear signals, I got the right-angle 1156 bulbs (1156-A2W-ARA) and have been very happy with them. I have a fairing, so I used the Amber, 30-LED 1157 bulbs (1157-x30). I used the same bulbs in Red for the lights in my trunk (tail/brake lights) and have had people comment on how bright they are.

They do come out with new products now and then, so there may be better/brighter options available now, that were not available when I got mine, so do some shopping. The people there are really helpful too (I've been to their facility) and if you call them, they will be able to steer you in the right direction.

Pay attention to the lumens, and look at the technical specs to see the change in lumens based on the color you need. DO NOT try to get a white bulb just because it has more lumens, thinking it will be brighter! The colored lens will filter out everything except the color of the lens, making a 150-lumen, white bulb look light a 30-lumen bulb. Basically, get the highest lumens you can get in the right color bulb that faces the right direction.

Another thing to remember is that the LED bulbs will negate your auto cancel feature unless you build the LED auto-cancel mod. Mine has been working flawlessly for a few years now. You also need to change out ALL the bulbs in the circuit at the same time, or the incandescent bulbs will draw too much power to allow the LEDs to work. So, if you are changing the signals, do all 4. In fact, it may be necessary to do the tail lights at the same time, since the front turn signals are also running lights, and may be on the same circuit (not sure on that).

[IanDMacDonald]

I'm currently using the higher wattage 1157 bulbs (2357?), and found them to be brighter (and more expensive). However, not nearly as expensive as these LED bulbs. Damn!

[Azoroth]

On my SG, I put a flush mount LED oval trailer light. It worked out pretty nicely and is SUPER bright. Much better than using the stock housing with LED or brighter incandescent.

https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B3k...ew?usp=sharing

https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B3k...ew?usp=sharing

[cajun31]

I just saw the 1157

led replacement bulbs in my local Walmart.

[IanDMacDonald]

Interesting Cajun.

[TopCatGr58]

Hey Azaroth,

I agree that the LED's own housing is the best, but it may not match the bike's styling per the owner's taste/choice.

I mounted a nice big trunk bag, and mounted the new LED arrays into some spare pieces of leftover diamond plate that I put on the outside of the trunk box so as not to mess up the integrity of the trunk box with the large holes it would have taken to mount them.



T.C.

[skids]

[QUOTE=Azoroth;451571]On my SG, I put a flush mount LED oval trailer light. It worked out pretty nicely and is SUPER bright. Much better than using the stock housing with LED or brighter incandescent.

https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B3k...ew?usp=sharing

https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B3k...ew?usp=sharing

The is a very neat job. Nice looking.