Are there any brighter neutral light LED replacement bulbs?

[palace15]

I left stock bulbs in the actual indicators, I must admit I am not too impressed with the stop/tail LED, what is the one you reccommend?

[mattsz]

This has been asleep for awhile, but...

As for led indicator lights, there seem to be two different beam angle specs available on the BA9s lights - 32 degrees and 90 degrees.  Any strong arguments either way?

Can anyone comment on the brightness of the LEDs used to illuminate the speedo?  I want the indicator lights brighter, but I am happy with the OEM brightness of the speedo backlight.  Maybe I'll order a pair of "4s" and a pair of "s" bulbs for comparison.

I'm thinking about fitting LEDs in my pilot lights, but I sure don't like the bright blue-white light... I rather prefer Gremlin's approach of the old-fashioned-er dim incandescent look.  Maybe I'll get some LEDs and try coating them - I've got clear coat finishes with all kinds of amber tints to add...

[Arizoni]

I don't have any LED's installed on my bike but I think I would choose the amber for the pilot lights.  Amber or yellow is easily seen at a distance so oncoming traffic should be able to pick you out easily.
As for the 32 vs 90 degree angles, your tail light needs the 90 degree type to illuminate your license so your bike is legal.  The 32 degree lights are for the places where you want the beam to shine out of the light socket like the pilot lights and the speedometer.

[JVS]

I have a similar setup to singhg5's LED video clip as seen here. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hMCSEraYCxM

I reckon that the white LEDs are more effective and visible to traffic as compared to the amber/yellow ones. All the LEDs I have, pilot lamps, neutral, turn signal, high-beam are the 90º ones. They are great. All bulbs same as GSS's attachment in one of his posts on the previous page.

Here's another glimpse of them on my B5. Skip to the end of the video. They seem too bright in the clip. They do irritate the eye if you stare at them..90º. Very effective for being safe and visible to other drivers/cagers. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xxxxxxxxxxx (I did not have the headlight On here)

Oh and for the speedo, you should use the white LED, it does a good job of illuminating the dial. You can kind of see that in my video ^

[GSS]

+1 on the 90 degree illumination as well as the white pilot/tiger eye LEDs.  These are all amazingly bright. Superbrightleds have a new "brighter" 1157 that is on my list to try.  The two I had bought previously (listed on earlier post) were pretty dim.

[mattsz]

Ok, here's some other random observations.  Please comment / question / deride as you will...

I can't get my pilot bulbs out.  I tried with my fingers; the opening is too small.  I got a piece of vinyl tubing that looked like it should fit over the bulb to help, and I proceeded to push the bulb way back into the housing.  My tubing doesn't fit; now it's stuck back there and I can't get to it.  On the second pilot light, instead I tried to pull the rubber housing out, which worked fine until the wire came up tight and pulled the bulb way back into the housing.  Pushing the rubber housing back in place didn't bring the bulb forward, so now both the pilot bulbs are buried way back where I can't reach them and they probably won't be very visible.  I can't reach around from the inside of the headlight casing, what with all the wires and cables and speedo in the way... what's the best way to deal with those pilot bulbs - pull the speedo?

I can't get a look at the pilot bulbs' socket end (see previous paragraph  ), but the glass end is definitely not the same size and shape as the speedo backlight bulb.  Is it likely that they are both BA9 bulbs?  My parts catalog says the speedo indicator lights are BA9 (2 watt), the speedo backlight spec isn't indicated (3.4 watt), and the pilot bulbs are BA7 (2 watt).

The BA9 bulbs appear to have small sharp round "bayonets" that anchor the bulbs with a twist; the BA7 bulbs seem to have elongated smoother bayonets - do the BA7's anchor with a twist too, or do they just press fit?

The more I write, the more I think I will just double check my bulbs.  I'm thinking that if I remove my speedo, I'll have all the room I need in there to get to all the lights?  And, what's the trick for the pilot lights?

ps: I was poking around with these things this morning, and I got pretty cold pretty quickly - and no wonder... it's 6 degrees F out this morning, and 15 in my unheated garage!

[gremlin]

bulletwalla (ebay vendor name) sells replacement pilot light assemblies with differing color lenses.  They plug into the wiring harness inside the headlight assembly.  the best way to access this wiring is by removing the headlamp. 

[Bulletman]

Are there any brighter neutral light and turn signal indicator LED replacement bulbs?  They are hard to see in bright sunlight.

Hi Retrobikeguy,  I have gone through a complete retrofit of my LED lights on the C5    This involved a lot of agony, and trial n error. Likewise I spent a significant amount of time and the guys in the forum helped a lot   . It was well worth it and was a satisfactory endeavour . follows the link to the whole process. Goodluck.
http://www.enfieldmotorcycles.com/forum/index.php/topic,15211.0.html

[mattsz]

My headlamp is currently removed, and I agree that this allows easy access to the wiring.  But how do I get to the pilot lamp bulb housings?  Disconnect the wiring in the nacelle and remove them from the front?

[mattsz]

I pulled the speedo and gained all kinds of maneuvering room.  Got the pilot bulb housings free by feeding slack wire from behind and pulling the housings forward.

Regarding the "warning indicator assembly" (the unit where the ammeter used to be) - how the heck do I get the fuel/MIL/park lamps out of the housing?  I can't budge them, and I don't see how the housing comes out of the nacelle.  It doesn't help that everything is covered with a slick coating of ACF-50... yuck  .

My parts catalog is not accurate regarding the pilot bulbs - they are 2 watts, but they're BA9's, just like the rest of 'em here...

[barenekd]

THe difference between the "W" and "4W" LEDs is the number of actual LEDs in them. The "W" has one and is not brighter than the stock bulbs. The "4W" has 4 LEDS in it and is definitely bright enough to see in the sunlight! If you can't see that your turns signal are working, it's because you didn't look! I used the 90 degree ones. BA9S-W4-90-12V $2.98 at the time I bought them.
Get the white ones. The color comes from the lens cover in the speedo.
As for the pilot lights, I pushed the light socket out from behind. They are a snap to change then.
The MIL lights can be a bit of a bear. I used some long needle nose pliers to pull them out.
My tail light and and Jack's both are very good tail lights. At least as bright or brighter than stock. It is the 1157-R19W6 bulb. 19 red and 6 white LEDs

[mattsz]

Bare - there seems to be some kind of rubber boot covering up each of the fixtures, and between them and the oil on them, I can't grab hold without slipping.  I couldn't get the indicator lights out of the speedo without some serious prying with a screwdriver.  I'm afraid I'll break something with these leverage tools!  I guess it couldn't hurt to wait until it warms up a little bit, like something above 15 degrees F...

[barenekd]

The speedo were the easiest ones for me! Take a hair dryer out if you want to warm stuff up. Might help!
Bare

[mattsz]

Bare -

In another LED thread (http://www.enfieldmotorcycles.com/forum/index.php/topic,15211.msg163508.html#msg163508) there was a discussion about left and right flashers not working properly, and Gremlin provided the circuit diagram for how the indicator bulb relies on the unlit bulbs for grounding:

http://www.enfieldmotorcycles.com/forum/index.php?action=dlattach;topic=15211.0;attach=15981;image

And he illustrated how to utilize diodes to allow the LED replacement bulbs to work:

http://www.enfieldmotorcycles.com/forum/index.php?action=dlattach;topic=15211.0;attach=16061;image

It appears to me that in order to replace the indicator bulb with an LED, the diode scheme must be implemented, regardless of whether the factory turn signal bulbs are retained or they are replaced with LEDs.  Yet you appear to state that you made a direct indicator bulb replacement without adding any diodes.  Singhg5 has a video where he also apparently makes a direct indicator replacement without adding any diodes.

Do I need the diodes or not?  What am I missing here?

[GSS]

You do need the diode otherwise you will see the opposite side lights blinking faintly due to the common circuit.