Instrument lighting update

[nhmaf]

With the earlier onset of darkness this time of year, I became frustrated with the pitiful level of illumination of my R100/7 speedometer and tachometer - though certainly the speedometer/odometer was the most critical.  After researching LED options, and reading what some folks on the airheads list have tried, I decided to order some LED replacement parts that are designed to fit into the typical wedge-base instrument lighting sockets.


With the original filament bulbs in place on my R100/7, the instruments looked about like this:


After replacing the (2) dial-face illuminating plug in bulbs with these LED replacements, things look ALOT brighter:

And without the dashboard indicators on:


I was fairly pleased with the results, and decided to try the same thing on my R65LS.   Prior to the update, the instrument lighting appeared like this:


Unfortunately, I forgot to get a pic with the warning lights off to get a better visualization of the dial face illumination.   Unlike the R100/7, the R65LS has different "packaging" for the speedometer and tachometer under the plastic fairing piece.   The tachometer will require disassembly to try to replace the internal bulb.   I didn't want to dive into that level of detail for a test run - and I was mostly concerned with improving the illumination of the speedometer anyway.  Replacing the speedo bulb was a simpler procedure, though the LED assembly was a tight fit:


After reassembly, I was quite happy with the much brighter speedometer dial face appearance:


You can see how much brighter the speedometer dial is compared to the tachometer face more accurately in this pic:



The LED replacement assembly uses a little less current than the filament bulb, but produces ALOT more lumens of light output.  The assembly is slightly taller than the typical 194-style wedge bulb so it may or may not fit well into the tachometer - we'll see how that goes later in the year.

I don't ride at night as much as I used to, but for anyone with aging eyes and old motorcycles, some extra photons in the right places can make a welcome difference!

An important note -  Despite how one may interpret the "non-polarized" term of the item description, the items I received DO INDEED have to be installed the proper (one) way.  So, the important thing is to plug one into the socket and turn on the ignition & check for illumination first before buttoning everything back up.  If no light -> pull the LED assembly out and turn it 180 degrees and re-insert it -> that should work!

[Justin B.]

That's slick, Mike!  I would imagine maybe the "non-polarized" verbiage might refer to no damage if plugged in backwards?

[Bob_Roller]

I installed LED lamps from PIAA in the indicators a few years ago, the illumination was worse than the incandescent lamps .

They looked nothing like the lamps you have .

What was the cost ?

I do a lot of night riding, over 50% in my estimation .

[nhmaf]

These little babies aren't cheap - they were $5.95 each from superbrightleds.com     But. on the plus side, they do produce alot of light.   There is a small LED driver IC circuit in the base of the thing - not sure how the reliability will be, but so far so good!

Also, DO NOT try to replace your parking bulb in your headlight assembly with this thing - the high temps of the headlight interior will cause premature failures in the LED assembly - probably the IC itself.

some of the long distance, 24 Hr/Iron butt riders on the airheads group use these, or similar ones, in their instruments for improved night time illumination.

I also bought some other LED replacement indicators for some of the warning lights, but haven't bothered with replacing those yet.    Plus, you shouldn't use one of these LED replacement units for your GEN light bulb, unless perhaps you also put in some parallel resistors.  Also, if you have a single turn signal indicator bulb, the LED replacement indicator won't work well for that either, possibly will work with the separate indicators on the LS, though, but the current may be marginal.

[Bob_Roller]

I visited their site a few years ago and they didn't have wedge type LED that looked anything like the ones you have .

I'm a little rusty here, you need three lamps correct, one for the tachometer and two for the speedometer ?

[nhmaf]

I just needed (1) for the speedo and (1) for the tach on the R100.   The R65LS just has (1) for the speedometer that you can plug in/replace with that accessible socket on the back (picture).  The tach, however, will require some disassembly - I haven't gone in there yet to see, but I expect that a single bulb/LED replacement there is all that is needed, provided that it isn't too tall for the available space - these things are a couple millimeters long than the typical 194 bulbs I pulled out, and a smidgen wider in diameter than the glass bulb diameter.

[Bob_Roller]

I'll wait to see what you find on the fitment in the tachometer .

[bruce_launceston]

If I remember rightly you only need to remove the black plastic dust cover off the back of the R65LS tacho, 3 small screws I think.
It's easy and you won't be disturbing anything you shouldn't in the tacho.

[Adrian]

Interesting bulbs I like these. If however you need the standard size for the tacho, I replaced all my wedge globes with the same type but in 10watt instead of 5 watt. This made a significant diference in dial illumination and the "idiot" lights are easier to read as well. I also replaced the 2 wedge globes in the green indicator mounts too. In the sun it can make a difference to seeing the warning lights and now I can read my dials much easier too. The rev counter on my R65 is easy enought o take apart. A couple of small screwws hold the back cover on. Inside there are a few black "twist and pull" globe holders. That's all there is to it. Of course - you have to take the rev counter off the mounting. Your LEDs are much brighter so hen I need to change again I'll be hunting these down for my old girl. Thanks ....

[Red_Hen]

Thanks, Mike.  My Speedo light is out and the Tach light is not very visible.  Very impressive.

I just ordered (3) - will keep a spare in case I drop one during install or something dumb like that.

Great share, Mike.  Thanks.

[Barry]

Very impressive improvement.

That's an interesting picture of the original bulb though (6th pic down). It looks quite blackened internally from being voltage overrun.  I had the same problem when my voltage regulator was set too high. It seemed to affect my pilot and tail lamp bulbs most and not the instrument bulbs which is odd as they are used for the same number of hours.

I put it down to the fact that there are 12v rated bulbs truly intended for 12 volt use

... and then there are "12 volt bulbs" properly rated for automotive use which are actually rated for the voltage that they typically see in use. Somewhere in the range 13 - 14 volts. The difference that 1 - 2 volts makes in light output and lamp life is enormous.

[nhmaf]

I think that bulb is the original bulb, too.

I haven't had any overcharging issues with the bike since I got it about 7-8 years ago, tho anything prior to that is a complete mystery.   I'd expect a newer bulb to be better than the old bulb, but still not nearly so bright as these LED replacements.

[azcycle]

Wonderful difference!

[plc]

Thanks nhmaf for that info. Great and worthy improvement to the anaemic lights for the speedo.

Paul

[fbenach]

Amazing!!! great info nhmaf!! I´m getting my leds right away!!!

Let us know how the tachometer and indicator lights work for you!!!

Take care!!