jon haney Posted November 24, 2008 Share Posted November 24, 2008 I had a tail light bulb finally burn out on my 99 BB and thought, great, now I can get some of those LED bulbs. So I ordered one with the flat connector that has tail-light and brake-light capability. It fits in the slot, but won't lock in place because of the way it is made. Drag Specialties is the vendor. Are there any LED bulbs that will work in the stock tail-light? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TuffguyF4i Posted November 24, 2008 Share Posted November 24, 2008 Its really easy to make your own custom led bulbs. Buy some superflux leds, solder them to a board with some resistors, and you'll have an amazingly bright taillight for <$25. I retrofitting my front turn signals for about $8 each. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jon haney Posted November 25, 2008 Author Share Posted November 25, 2008 Nobody else? :icon_think: Judging from the lack of responses, I am going to assume there is no "plug-n-play" LED bulb. Crap! I don't need another project right now, so I guess I'll put a stock bulb back in. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John01XX Posted November 25, 2008 Share Posted November 25, 2008 Jon, Give Clear Alternatives a call at 866-CLR-LENS toll free I am pretty sure they have an LED bulb that will directly replace the stock bulbs Plug-n-Play John Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HamrTym Posted November 25, 2008 Share Posted November 25, 2008 Not sure which exact L.E.D. replacement bulbs you are trying to use, but a word of caution. IMHO, those LED's that are designed to replace factory bulbs suck. Most light fixtures use reflectors that are designed with incandescent bulbs in mind. Incandescent bulbs 'throw' light out in about all directions. That said reflector sends all that light out through ALL of the lens. LED's are very directional. Most light produced comes out in a narrow beam, the simplest way I can explain it. While those LED's can be extremely bright when looked at directly, they suck when offset. When placed in a reflector, the light goes straight out the back. All that lights up is this tiny circle of light about an inch or so in diameter. That big lens is totally wasted. Also, most of those replacement bulbs I've seen don't have much difference between running light and 'brake' light. Hard to tell when you are actually braking, particullarly in direct sun light. The bulbs that I'm referring to are the ones with a single board with LED's facing one direction. As of lately, I have seen some bulbs that have LED's mounted and placed facing multiple directions. Maybe those are much improved. Unfortunately, I have not seen them in use yet in a tailight. Or maybe I have and they suck just as bad. Something to ponder about. Of course, you can also put them in and have someone sit on the bike and work the brakes on and off while you stand a ways back and observe. If I had my heart set on LED's, I'd get a replacement fixture that is designed from day one with LED's built in, such as from a company like Clear Alternatives, or such, as John suggested. Good luck with your endeaver.. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jon haney Posted November 26, 2008 Author Share Posted November 26, 2008 Not sure which exact L.E.D. replacement bulbs you are trying to use, but a word of caution. IMHO, those LED's that are designed to replace factory bulbs suck. Most light fixtures use reflectors that are designed with incandescent bulbs in mind. Incandescent bulbs 'throw' light out in about all directions. That said reflector sends all that light out through ALL of the lens. LED's are very directional. Most light produced comes out in a narrow beam, the simplest way I can explain it. While those LED's can be extremely bright when looked at directly, they suck when offset. When placed in a reflector, the light goes straight out the back. All that lights up is this tiny circle of light about an inch or so in diameter. That big lens is totally wasted. Also, most of those replacement bulbs I've seen don't have much difference between running light and 'brake' light. Hard to tell when you are actually braking, particullarly in direct sun light. The bulbs that I'm referring to are the ones with a single board with LED's facing one direction. As of lately, I have seen some bulbs that have LED's mounted and placed facing multiple directions. Maybe those are much improved. Unfortunately, I have not seen them in use yet in a tailight. Or maybe I have and they suck just as bad. Something to ponder about. Of course, you can also put them in and have someone sit on the bike and work the brakes on and off while you stand a ways back and observe. If I had my heart set on LED's, I'd get a replacement fixture that is designed from day one with LED's built in, such as from a company like Clear Alternatives, or such, as John suggested. Good luck with your endeaver.. Well that settles it. I'm sticking with the stock bulbs. Thank you for those enlightening observations. I'm sure a lot of people reading this thread are going to be checking their LED tail lights to see if they are actually better than stock. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TuffguyF4i Posted November 26, 2008 Share Posted November 26, 2008 Yes, the plug and plays are limited by the size you can get through that buld hole in the back of the housing. Thats why i make my own. Only way to go. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hooplehead Posted November 26, 2008 Share Posted November 26, 2008 Stock 20bulb led replacement, plug and play $8 each at Autozone. They also have for turn signals, but you have to replace your relay with a digital. Under lights have integraded turn/brake led's. $20 off ebay, another $20 for bulbs. I also have turn signal led's mounted under the tail, it is visible at night on the swing arm. The brake light put off by these will put your eyes out at night. Pin points a bit, but gives that nice in your face blurr. During the day, not so much. Cant remember the part number, its on the package which number it repaces. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dehning Posted November 26, 2008 Share Posted November 26, 2008 I got a pair of these because they are touted as the brightest tail lights on the market: http://www.superbrightleds.com/specs/115x-xLX3.htm They don't fit in the stock fitting however, there is a metal clip type adapter that clips into the housing very securely (almost custom fit) that I got from Autozone for <$4 each that work perfectly. Once I had fitted them, I tested them and I gotta tell you, when you brake... the guy behind you will not be left in any doubt, the closest thing I can compare them to are the red lights on the new police cruisers. ...and don't forget about how fast LED's reach full brightness, at freeway speeds, it translates to well over a carlenth more warning for the guy behind you. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jon haney Posted November 28, 2008 Author Share Posted November 28, 2008 The '99 and later models have a different bulb socket that has the flat type connection. Maybe I should just convert to the old-style fender. I like the higher location of the seat-lock key. Probably won't work with the later model ECU though. Anybody tried a fender swap? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TOXXIC Posted November 28, 2008 Share Posted November 28, 2008 Check out www.ledtronics.com They just delivered amber 1157's to me for my clear front signals. Not cheap, but super high quality. I like their bayonette design. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mikesail Posted November 29, 2008 Share Posted November 29, 2008 I got a pair of these because they are touted as the brightest tail lights on the market: http://www.superbrightleds.com/specs/115x-xLX3.htm They don't fit in the stock fitting however, there is a metal clip type adapter that clips into the housing very securely (almost custom fit) that I got from Autozone for <$4 each that work perfectly. Once I had fitted them, I tested them and I gotta tell you, when you brake... the guy behind you will not be left in any doubt, the closest thing I can compare them to are the red lights on the new police cruisers. ...and don't forget about how fast LED's reach full brightness, at freeway speeds, it translates to well over a carlenth more warning for the guy behind you. I bought a brakelight LED from this same company ( superbright) a few years back. This model for my 03 bird had side facing LED's along with the straight back. It works very well in the stock reflector housing. It appears that they do not carry that model anymore though. I do like the company, as they give accurate dimensions so you can tell if the unit will fit, prices are good, and the device was pretty well made. I choose to replace only one bulb, and leave the other as an incandescent. My goal was to have two bulbs that were not likely to fail in the same manner, hopefully increasing the reliability of the system. After 4 years and 45k miles I just burned out the first bulb, the LED is still fine. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TuffguyF4i Posted December 2, 2008 Share Posted December 2, 2008 If you guys are interested, i'll post a "how-to" when i do my tail light retrofit with superflux leds. I should have it done in about 2-3 wks. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PlasticxxHead Posted December 5, 2008 Share Posted December 5, 2008 I think the led board idea is great, just need a bit more electronic know how.. Looking forward to seeing the tail light assembly.. looks like the front signals were a snap to take apart eh?? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
EVLXX Posted December 5, 2008 Share Posted December 5, 2008 If you guys are interested, i'll post a "how-to" when i do my tail light retrofit with superflux leds. I should have it done in about 2-3 wks. There's Interest here..... a nice write up with pictures, and part numbers would be awesome. Oh and I'm sure alot of poeple here would enjoy reading about your work, even if they don't do it themselves. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TuffguyF4i Posted December 10, 2008 Share Posted December 10, 2008 If you guys are interested, i'll post a "how-to" when i do my tail light retrofit with superflux leds. I should have it done in about 2-3 wks. I'm impatient! Ok,,i'll get together a "how-to" for an LED tailight conversion. I'll do it over Christmas vacation. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jon haney Posted December 11, 2008 Author Share Posted December 11, 2008 If you guys are interested, i'll post a "how-to" when i do my tail light retrofit with superflux leds. I should have it done in about 2-3 wks. I'm impatient! Ok,,i'll get together a "how-to" for an LED tailight conversion. I'll do it over Christmas vacation. Is this write-up going to cover both types of tail lights for the BB? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TuffguyF4i Posted December 15, 2008 Share Posted December 15, 2008 If you guys are interested, i'll post a "how-to" when i do my tail light retrofit with superflux leds. I should have it done in about 2-3 wks. I'm impatient! Ok,,i'll get together a "how-to" for an LED tailight conversion. I'll do it over Christmas vacation. Is this write-up going to cover both types of tail lights for the BB? I have a '99, its the two bulb 'stacked' formation. I replaced the lower bulb with a strobing led unit already. This will cover an LED conversion for the top bulb. However, with the method i'm using, you'll be able to do anything from a motorcycle led convesion to an auto. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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