Using LED Tail/Stop light bulbs

[Anonymous]

I just changed my 85 1150ES over to led bulbs and really like the additional brightness. The only problem is that the light sensor sees the bulbs' lower resistance as a sign that a regular incandescent bulb has been blown out and my "Tail/Stop" warning light is always on.

Like I said, I like the safety aspect of the LED bulbs. Does anyone know specs on what kind of resistance the light module needs to see? I don't have any problem going to Radio Shack and wiring in resistors as needed if I only knew what to get.

Thanks in advance.

Dan Bennett

 

[Billy Ricks]

Scotty and Hap can help you with this. Scotty, Slowpoke, has done this and Hap is an electrical engineer.

 

[Anonymous]

Get out your Multi Meter and check the ohmage on the original bulb.. Then do the same to the new led light. figure the difference... R1(original)-R2(LED)=Rx.. go to Radio Schack and get a resistor that is equal to Rx and put in line with wiring, this will correct the indicators Ohm sensing ability...

Correct me if I am wrong.. But I am also an EE..... and this is just my reccommendation.. haven't actually done the conversion on my bike but am planning on it...

 

[Anonymous]

Dan I need a picture of your bike for my website.

http://home.westman.wave.ca/~hankv

email me hankv@westman.wave.ca

 

[Anonymous]

Checking the ohms sounds resonable to me. I'm no EE either, just tons of experience working radar/weapons systems on fighters.

 

[Anonymous]

Dan I need a picture of your bike for my website.

http://home.westman.wave.ca/~hankv

email me hankv@westman.wave.ca

As soon as I get a chance to take a new picture I'll send it your way.

Nice job on the website, by the way.

I never could figure out why Canada always gets the best looking paint schemes. You guys must have better taste or something.

I'm thinking that the model numbers were different between the US and Canada. Here they were 1150ES followed by the letter for the year. That makes my 85 a GS1150ESF.

All the fairing models in Canada were EF, right?

Dan

 

[Anonymous]

Jeremiah

Jeremiah

WHAT WATTAGE RESISTOR SHOULD HANK USE :?: :?: :?:

 

[Anonymous]

Canadian Bikes

Canadian Bikes

I THINK THAT THEY GET THE BEST COLORS ON THEIR BIKES IN CANADA TO COVER THE FACT THAT THE CANADIAN MODELS HAVE LESS HORSE POWER :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol:

 

[redliner1973]

One thing to consider, adding resistors kinda defeats the purpose of getting the LED's in the first place--electrical savings ( 8/23watts vs. 500 milliwatts) There are electrical flashers out there that will flas regardless of the load. try those first before cutting any wiring...

 

[Anonymous]

One thing to consider, adding resistors kinda defeats the purpose of getting the LED's in the first place--electrical savings ( 8/23watts vs. 500 milliwatts) There are electrical flashers out there that will flas regardless of the load. try those first before cutting any wiring...

I didn't really care about the electrical savings. As I mentioned, the LED lights are a BUNCH brighter than a normal bulb.

It's not a flasher issue, either. These are two bulbs that are the tail/stop lights for my bike. The turn signals are separate on stalks and flash fine. I'm just trying to find a clean way to get my tail/stop warning light turned off.

When I get a change to ohm the bulbs and figure out how I'm going to get the resistors in line without cutting any wires, I'll let everyone know.

I like to keep things bone stock, so I'm going to have to find a way that doesn't do any permanent changes.

 

[focus frenzy]

I was thinking the same thing as jeremiah but it suddenly ocured to me that the led tail light is going to have alot higher resistance, and adding resistors is not going to work.
also using a ohm meter to check the resistance of the incadesent bulb will probably give you a incorect reading due to the low level current suplied by the meter not causing the element to illuminate.
your only option may be to disable the warning light.

 

[Anonymous]

As far as where to add or correct the load issue, go to the connector... under the seat. Follow the wire from the tail light and you will find the connector.. As far as the resistance. if the sensor is expecting a certain load, the only way to keep things simple is to impedance match the line....

Ohm the two bulbs out or better yet... what wattage is the original OEM bulb and what is the wattage lof the LED lamp.. we can figure resistance from there????

there is always away!!!!

 

[Anonymous]

Resistance

Resistance

YOU MAY ADD RESISTANCE IN SERIES OR RESISTANCE IN PARALELL AS NEEDED DEPENDING ON THE WATTAGE AND RESISTANCE OF THE NEW BULBS--BUT SOMEONE HAS TO MAKE A COMMENT ABOUT THE WATTAGE OF THE RESISTORS TO USE---LAST COMMENT IS DO YOU KNOW ANY ONE WITH A DECADE RESISTANCE BOX--?????????
IF YOU REDUCE THE RESISTANCE OF THE BULB, THE CURRENT FLOW WILL BE INCREASED AND EITHER CAUSE THE BLINKING TO SPEED UP OR STOP---IF YOU INCREASE THE RESISTANCE OF THE BULB, THE CURRENT FLOW WILL BE REDUCED AND THE BLINKING WILL SLOW DOWN OR STOP--- IN THE CASE WHERE THE RESISTANCE OF THE BULB IS TOO HIGH RESISTANCE IN PARALELL OF THE PROPER VALUE SHOULD CAUSE THE FLASHER TO SEE A LOWER RESISTANCE AND ACT AS IT SHOULD WHERE THE HECK ARE YOU HAP E=IXR- WATTAGE OF THE RESISTOR BEING TOO LOW WILL POSSIBLY CAUSE FIRE
I THINK I GOT IT???????? AS ALWAYS CORRECTIONS PLEASE

 

[Anonymous]

An Afterthought

An Afterthought

THEN WILLTHE LED BULBS BE AS BRIGHT--PERHAPS PLAYING WITH A DIFERENT FLASHER IS THE ANSWER ((PROPFLUX01 SAID THAT FIRST AS I RECALL))

 

[Anonymous]

we are not playing with the turn signals.. only the tail light... always on and the second element is switched on via brake lever.. therefore nothing needs to be done on the turn signals.. just the tail light.. the problem is the indicator on the gauge cluster is reading a low or high resistance in accordance to its tolerance.. we must match that tolerance.. this will cause the indicator lamp to go out..

 

[Anonymous]

Turn Signals

Turn Signals

I THINK THAT I MUST GO FOR A READING TUTOR--SORRY

 

[Anonymous]

Is this type of a mod possible on a bike where the tail and stop are a single bulb? I would love to make my back light brighter, but I figured I wouldn't be able to change the type of bulb because of the dual fillament. Would I also need resistors, I have no indicator light for a bad bulb?

thanks, Dominick........

 

[Anonymous]

no reason whyt you can't make the same mod Dominick. The LED Taillight should be a dual element bulb.. The only issue here is that on some GS's there is an indicator light on the cluster that monitors the resistance to let you know if you have a bad light.. So, go forth and search for Aftermarket LED bulbs that will fit your bike...

 

[Anonymous]

I hate to point out the obvious guys but the light was to warn if the light was to burn out, A LED style light will last a lot longer than the bike will. even if one of the led's were to burn out the rest would still light. So I would just remove the warning light b/c the likelyhood of the bulb going out is very minimal and if you check your light each time you get on your bike like you should (LOL) then you would notice it. I would think that your wiring would fail long before the LED's would! :idea: 8)

 

[Anonymous]

I hate to point out the obvious guys but the light was to warn if the light was to burn out, A LED style light will last a lot longer than the bike will. even if one of the led's were to burn out the rest would still light. So I would just remove the warning light b/c the likelyhood of the bulb going out is very minimal and if you check your light each time you get on your bike like you should (LOL) then you would notice it. I would think that your wiring would fail long before the LED's would! :idea: 8)

That's a good point. While most of the bulb failures I've ever had are due to the filament vibrating in two, I've also seen cheap bulbs that had soft contacts which deformed and stopped making contact with the terminals.

Plus, I think it's going to be a lot easier to play with resistors than to pull the fairing and instrument panel, disassemble, and put everything back together.

This week has been a bit busy but I'll post a message after I've had time to fiddle around with the thing.

Thanks to all for the comments.