Helloo! I've stumbled upon your forum whilst researching my project below. Whilst 'Googling' I've seen quite a few different 'takes' on how to do this, a lot of them seem to be very 'back street' and potentially dangerous, so I thought I'd come and ask the pro's .

I was considering a new rear brake/side lamp as my FZ6 Fazer is a bit dated (especially when following newer bikes).

I fancy doing something different - without having taken the unit off, I gather there's two 'live's' (for the brake and main lights) with one ground. I'm thinking about drilling the reflector and fitting my own red LED's in addition to the current bulbs - two sets for each light source. Possibly a cluster around the centre of the reflector with a larger cluster around the outside of the reflector for the brake lights (higher intensity LED's) - wire these in parallel with resistors & a couple of diodes and surely that would be it?

My knowledge in this area is very sporadic having done lots of electronic work at college many years ago - Obviously this knowledge diminishes over time so you may need to be gentle with me.

My thinking is to use a smaller 5mm LED (So I don't completely ruin the reflectors reflection) upgrading to high intensity versions for the brake light cluster. If I can set these up to operate on the assumption of say an 14v circuit then I'll cover my bases on the variable output from the bike from high revs/fully charged battery conditions.

Can someone please pull apart my plan and help me put a solution together

Many thanks

Tim

 

A LED has a quite narrow angle that let light out compared to a incandescent lamp. This will result in a narrower visibility field for your lights. In traffic this may cause hazardous situations. Leave your lights as they are. In CE region (Europa) such changes as you want to do is not allowed. If you are stopped in a road control with such DIY lights. You may risk a driving ban until the lights are set back to proper condition

 

Hi, Thank you for your reply

This is why I was going to keep the existing bulb mounted. I can freely add various items to both the side light and brake light circuits externally with aftermarket additions (and still be within the MOT regs) so assumed that I could do this modification without too much of an issue.

 

Yes and no I think. All automative light must have the UNECE "e mark" or "E mark" If not they are not road legal

 

Not in the UK I'm afraid - you can 100% use none E marked lights on motorbikes. You made me question myself so I've just googled to make sure.

http://mot.fasttrackmotorcycles.co.uk/25/motorcycle-mot-checks-lights-and-signals/

There's a good few other sources confirming.

 

Sorry, bad example. If you scroll down that link, there's plenty of E marked queries.

Here's the UK MOT requirements detailing everything on the lighting system.

https://www.gov.uk/government/colle...ehicle-approval-msva-forms-guides-and-manuals

 

Don't be surprised if this thread is closed by the Mods, as vehicle modifications are contrary to the Terms of Service of this site (check the link at the foot of this page).

 

While I do not recommend DIY projects of vehicles (unless you are ready and willing not to drive them very soon), your assumption is essentially correct. A few things to consider though. Your car/motorcycle's battery runs at a variety of voltages based on how charged it is. While this may not be a problem for powering your LEDs, when doing calculations it is a good idea to use the highest voltage possible so you are sure the LEDs will not have an excess of current. As for the brake lights, your idea of having two sets of LEDs should work just fine, though they do have LEDs that have multiple leads (similar to RGB LEDs) that are all the same color. These LEDs give a dimming effect without the need for a PWM. Essentially they give you the ability to have one LED that functions as a group of two or three would, with the ability to light them all at once or in any combination. Unfortunately, the name of this type of LED escapes me at the moment. That all the advice I can really give other than being careful that these LEDs are not hindering other vehicles ability to see you and that these LEDs are not too bright.

 

there are led replacements for motorcycle lamps. check on some of the motorcycle user groups, and bike parts places, like bellacorse.com and bikebandit.com

 

Not real sure what you're expecting, but why can't 2 high density LED's be wired in series, with an isolating diode inbetween, and a single dropping resistor at the anode of the stack. Then the brake ground can be connected to the middle of the series. Normal running lights the LEDs are in series and half bright. When you step on the brake, you short out the second LED, sending the full current thru one, resulting in full brightness. Simple, cheap and effective, me thinks.

 

Some LED turn signals will not work correctly due to a difference in load, but they do make replacement relay circuits for some too.

I don't see why you could not enhance the lighting by adding more as long as they don't blind other drivers. Adding a sequence of LED's to a turn signal might look cool and make the bike more visible.

I saw a sequential signal for bikes the other day if you want me to see if I can find it. It was on the Talking Electronics site.

 

It's surprising how much mileage you have gotten with this thread.

Sorry, it has to be closed for contravening with the Terms of Service for All About Circuits.

You can post your question at other sites that do not prohibit discussion of automotive modifications.