LED Lighting
 

Is anyone messing around with LED lighting on their GZ250?

Anyone interested in this sort of thing?

I want to add some additional lighting to my bikes as well as replace as many of the lights as I can with LEDs. They are much more durable, use very little power, and can be much much brighter than conventional turn signals and running lights. I know there are lots of companies out there that will sell me very expensive solutions for this like $95 brake light replacement. This is not what I'm looking for.

I was an electronics technician for 20 years. I can read schematics, use test equipment, and do precision soldering. I also have tools I know how to use. Making my own LED lighting or modifying something to work is not out of the question.

For example, I was in WalMart today and saw a small LED light that was designed to plug into a cigarette lighter that could easily be modified to work on a bike. The only real problem I saw with it was that it was bright yellow.

If any of you have done anything like this or knows of someone else who has rolled their own I would sure like to know about it.

If you have any ideas post them here and lets discuss it.

Only thing i did on the GZ was add some red LEDs under the chrome covers on the engine to light up the heads. I was going to get some LED bulb replacements off ebay (which really arent that much if you can find the guys who sell cheap). I want to replace the signals on my shadow with LEDs and will probably take that route (replacement LED bulbs).

Try a search at VolusiaRiders.com. It seems to me there was a fair amount of discussion on LED lighting there. I'm totally in a fog about anything electrical but it seems like there are quite a few folks at that forum that could help.

Cheers!

Thanks Bill I'm going to give them a look. I probably need to check out some of the KLR forums as well. Those guys are pretty creative. I saw one the other day with fuel cell mounted on the luggage rack so he could increase the range. Like 400 miles wasn't enough. :)

Why yes, I have, and I do! I purchased around 50 Blue leds (5000MCd brightness) direct from Hong Kong off of Ebay for super cheap. I have used them for many things, even the bike. I wanted to "light up" the engine bay and wondered for sometime how to do it. I had some ABS strips lying around and thought they would work well. I ran them down a table saw to make a channel up the middle to run the wiring, and drilled holes to poke the LEDs through, 4 per side. I then took a small swith and mounted it to a small square of thin ABS, and attached to a screw holes on the frame that werent populated.
It gives off a nice glow to the engine (the photos dont do it justice) , as well as on the road right around where the front tire meets the road.

http://upload4.postimage.org/1664968/leds1.jpg

http://upload4.postimage.org/1664972/leds2.jpg

http://upload4.postimage.org/1664974/leds3.jpg

http://upload4.postimage.org/1664976/leds5.jpg

http://upload4.postimage.org/1664977/leds6.jpg

Next, I want to change the rear brake light to brighter leds, possibly white behind the red lens. Then, I want to to accent the bike some more with more LED's and use a remote to be able to turn them on and off at will.

My two EBAY favorites. Ultra fast shipping to my door from China!

http://stores.ebay.ca/LCK-LED-LIGHTING- ... esstQQtZkm
http://stores.ebay.ca/Hkemart_W0QQssPag ... esstQQtZkm

The blue LEDs look great. Thanks for the links. Looks like a good source.

Theres always this place too ;)

http://www.customdynamics.com/index.htm

I just wired red LEDs along the chrome engine covers with some zip ties. Worked great on the bike. Didnt go too nuts, 2 per side. Nice glow but not to overbearing. My next venture is to get one of those kits on ebay that fade and change colors for the shadow :)

Dupo, replacing your regular signal bulbs with LED's may not work. If the signal flasher is not an electronic flasher or reasonable facsimilie then there will not be a load to make it function. What # is the bulb in the signal and the wattage ???

Not sure of the part number for your turn signals. But i do know they make direct replacement LED bulbs. Going to get some for my spirit in the spring actually.