LED Indicators

[BSA_54A10]

www.bulbsthatlast4ever

[Gavin]

Hi Simon. At this stage I have found the led's I am using are great in red for the tail/ stop light, but the orange indicators just vanish in direct sunlight. (Making them dead useless for road safety). So while I want the style and look of these, I still have some work to do before they will help with doing the job they were designed for.

I have ordered other indicators, and I have been back in contact with the US manafacturer of the ones I currently have to see what can be done to improve them.

Gavin.

[alanp]

I'm thinking of fitting some LED indicators to my bike - I'm sick to death of being cut up by motorists who fail to recognise a hand signal, especially in this failing winter light. Also, I'm always a bit wary of the consequences of taking my hand off the throttle to signal that I intend to pull out and pass something or move to the right hand lane on a Dual carriage way etc.

I can't help feeling that a decent set of indicators would result in a much safer me.
Simon

Simon, don't hesitate any longer, get those indicators on. I'm amazed at how many classic bikers on these crowded roads of the UK still rely on their hand signals. One 'hand signal' friend of mine always wants me to follow him at a tricky right hander with my indicators on so he can feel safer!
Is it because a lot of riders are worried about the wiring or are they trying to keep their bikes as original as possible?  I just don't understand it.
Alan

[LJ.]

Hi Gavin... Well done so far! Possibly what blew your LED was the fact that they had the incorrect, or no resisters. LEDs only require a small correct amount of current. I recently visited a couple of very helpful sites, take a look...

http://www.bedazzled.uk.com/index.html
http://www.hobby-hour.com/electronics/resistor_color_code.php

Personally I still use hand signals and feel confident with that. I once made a fatal mistake of leaving indicators on while riding and being unaware of this. At least you cant forget to cancel a hand signal. I think the utmost important thing here is some warning light to show you it is functioning so you can cancel it after manoeuvres.


Edit: 'Cant' not can.... sigh!

[olev]

Gday Mosin,
Here are the indicators i'm fitting.
They are from Hong Kong. quality seems ok.
The mounting method came from a beesa bill post.

http://cgi.ebay.com.au/4-X-15-LED-Motorcycle-Turn-Signal-Light-Indicator-Bulbs-/260592017580?pt=UK_Motorcycle_Parts&hash=item3cac7ea0ac

I'm a bit concerned about Gav saying the orange led's dissapear in daylight though.
and I'm really impressed by the warning lights he built into the switch.
 
And so LJ doesn't forget to switch them off, perhaps a wire from a spark plug through the indicator switch and affixed to a tender part of his body by a bulldog clip might give the necessary reminder.

Also does anyone have an idea how to run the cable for the brake/tail light on a plunger with the hinged rear guard? There is no hole through the guard and the rear light mount is the old open type.
Is there a glue good enough to stick the cable directly to the inside of the mudguard?

 

[LJ.]

And so LJ doesn't forget to switch them off, perhaps a wire from a spark plug through the indicator switch and affixed to a tender part of his body by a bulldog clip might give the necessary reminder.

Careful I might enjoy that! lol

Running a wire under the plunger guard? It's horrible under there and far better for wiring to be run on the outside but it never looks nice in my opinion. Mine is wired under the guard and I used nylon zip ties to whatever there was to attach them to, it does not have to look tidy, but so long as they dont dangle onto the wheel obviously. Watch out for the stupid mistake that I made by having the cable too tight and then finding the hinged part wont open.  Any connectors really want to be on the outside so as not to collect all the crud under there. 

[MG]

  Just like in our moped days, when one of the common pranks was to run a piece of wire from the plug cap to the seat, piercing the foam and cover. The poor guy wouldn't notice until he directly touched any of the earthed parts (brake/clutch lever, etc.). 

olev, try asking a workshop that exchanges front windshields, they very often have small remains of the black glue they're using for this purpose. That stuff is fantastic.

[BrianS]

... Installed a 12v system .... and switch on handlebars which i modified to include pilot light.

Hi Gavin - that looks really neat - very clever mod! Have you a close up photo and where did you source such a tiny pilot light please? Any more info/instructions would be appreciated as I am keen to have a go at doing that myself.

Brian

[mikeb]

Brain this is an old thread so I'll start a new one re LED indicators with some pics of my efforts: http://www.a7a10.net/forum/index.php?topic=11396.0

[BrianS]

Hi Mike - thank you for doing that.

I had checked Gavin's profile and he had logged in just a few days ago so I was hoping he would see my post despite being a relatively old thread 

Cheers

Brian

[Gavin]

Hi Brian. A bit stunned and staggered mate... but thanks for asking... here we go... please bear in mind that I did this well over 6 years ago so the detail is just a tad fuzzy.

I think I used a 3 pin flasher unit and ran a wire from the 3rd pin (pilot) to the switch. The attached photo shows the small led I used. I purchased these from Jay Car... any electrical come hobby type place would stock them I guess. I think I bought 10 for $1. So if I made a few mistakes I was well covered.

I then attached one side to the pilot lead and the other to the left hand indicator lead, turned the switch on, if it worked, fine, if not I swapped the led "tails" round... I am no expert with electrical stuff... (Limiting myself to a particular confession here, hereby saving days of writing).

When I was happy that it worked, then I used the appropriate sized drill to make the holes, took a bit of clear sealastic to use as glue and seal and then had a ball trimming and soldering wires and tails to get em all to fit in the switch and not short each other out. By now you have correctly assumed that I did the same for the right hand indicator.

I wish I could be of more use to you. But roughly speaking it was as simple as that.

After 6 years of riding they still work really well. However I have found that I also rely on the front indicator itself to let me know if the indicator is on. These are the ones that have enough "Face" showing along the top so that i can see the top part as I ride.

[BrianS]

Thank you very much indeed for replying Gavin!   

Sorry to have stretched your memory cells but that is really useful information and such a clever little mod

Cheers

Brian

[bsa-bill]

perhaps someone with a better memory than mine will comment here, wasn't there or is there still a convention with leds/diodes the one leg of the lead that is longer is the positive lead ??

[BrianS]

Correct - see https://www.westfloridacomponents.com/blog/led-basics-how-to-tell-which-lead-is-positive-or-negative/