Lighting upgrades for 1994 R1100RS

[Ralph1212]

Hi,

 

I've thinking of replacing the standard OEM headlight bulb, taillight bulb and directionals with LED bulbs.  Does anyone have experience with these bulbs?

 

Thanks,

Ralph

[dirtrider]

1 hour ago, Ralph1212 said:

Hi,

 

I've thinking of replacing the standard OEM headlight bulb, taillight bulb and directionals with LED bulbs.  Does anyone have experience with these bulbs?

 

Thanks,

Ralph

 

Morning Ralph

 

Some experience,  enough to say that you need to do a lot of research.  Not all LED headlight bulbs work good as most LED bulb light output is  a direct forward light output & your bike's older headlight design is designed to use the internal reflector to focus & aim the light output. With LED you can get bright but not always bright in the frontal areas where you need it.

 

Unless the LED bulb is DOT approved (which I highly doubt) then they are illegal to use in the U.S. Not that a LEO will give you a ticket but if you get in an accident (like vehicle turns in front of you)  then using illegal  lighting can be used to put some of the blame on you  due to  illegal light confusing the other driver.

 

On the brake & tail light you need to pick an LED that outputs the light in the correct direction, again due to direct light output not using the internal reflector. In most cases you also need to source the LED output color to match your lens color as conflicting LED color vs lens color can filter out some of the light output in certain wave lengths.

 

If you do decide to go with LED tail/brake lighting be sure to test it in the direct sun light as some of the available LED lighting appears extremely bight at night but can't be seen worth a darn in bright sun light.  

[Lowndes]

Ralph??  You again!!

 

I've replaced all the incandescent bulbs in ALL my bikes with LED bulbs.  The biggest problem with most is just getting to the bulb.  They are all standard bulbs except for a Honda ST1300 where you have to remove two tabs from the mount for some reason.

 

SuperBright has a very good bulb finder that includes bikes.  It will show you all the bulbs in your bike, give you a large selection on most, and a lot of education on everything LED and LIGHT BULB, types, mounts, sockets, dimensions, etc, etc.

 

https://www.superbrightleds.com/

 

For headlight, brake, and turn signal bulbs I want the brightest, most lumens, available.

 

For the brake, tail, and turn bulbs get red or amber LED bulbs for your red and amber lenses.  

 

The only bulb you don't want to replace is the "GEN" warning light on the dash panel.  Putting an LED in there will cause the alternator to NOT function.

 

The color of the light is measured by the temperature in Kelvin.  This is not "how hot the bulb gets" just the spectrum of the light.  Much info on that on SuperBright, too.

 

SuperBright also has a very small programmable controller ($7 ea) for LED's.  I put them inline with my brake light for awareness with other drivers with their noses in their cell phones.

 

https://photos.app.goo.gl/3Pddb3Ky67ekwLfG6

[RogerC60]

SuperBright lists an H7 headlight bulb for my 1150RT. I tried it but the heat sink was too big; the back headlight cover wouldn't close. I bought a different set of H7 LED bulbs from Amazon. These have fans and the back part of the bulb is small enough that it doesn't interfere with the headlight housing cover.

 

The key to getting good beam using an LED bulb in a reflector housing is to use a bulb with LED chips placed such that they closely mimic the wire filament of the incandescent bulb. That means having a very thin center strip on which the LED chips are mounted, and the chips being located at the right distance away from the mounting collar on the bulb. In addition, the bulbs I bought can rotate in the mounting collar, allowing for fine adjustment of the beam pattern. I now have LOTS more light than I got from the wimpy H7 incandescent bulb, and I have a good beam pattern with a pretty sharp cutoff at the top and very little (if any) blotchiness or bright spots.

 

[Miguel!]

Headlight: I got the Cyclops 10K. My local independent BMW mechanic recommended it. He services all the local CHP (California Highway Patrol) and municipality BMWs. Says they have worked well and no complaints. I went with it 6 months ago and no problems. 10K lumens, pretty white, 5600 Kelvin color. Available on Amazon, $79 and other places. H4 Easy install. 38 Watts on both low and high beam. There are only four LEDs and arranged pretty much like a incandescent filament so reflect much the same way in the headlight housing. Here's a link to the comparison to Sylvania Silverstar halogen bulb. Pretty similar beam pattern. I was reluctant because it had a fan. Fans are generally unreliable but I put my faith in the mechanics experience.

 

Front turn signal bulbs: I also replaced them with an LED with Anteline amber 1600 lumens. They fit in the turn signal housing on the R1100RT. Combined with a signal minder, I run them as running lights. 

 

Rear turn signal and brake housing: It was replaced by the previous owner with the Hornig LED unit. Works fine and is bright enough I think. Again, the signal minder turns these into running lights and provides a flashing sequence when the brakes are applied. Note that at least on the R1100RT, the signal minder reduces the brightness by 30% in running light mode and evidently there's no way to change this.

 

Best

Miguel

[Ralph1212]

Thanks guys!  I’ll check out those recommendations.  

 

I live in northern NJ and the deer here can get pretty active between dusk and dawn; like vampires, and just as deadly if you have an encounter at speed.  Based on what I’ve read about headlight beam distance, distance traveled per second, and average reaction time, it’s probably a bad idea to travel an unlit road in these parts any faster than 30.  Also, the drivers here can be quite oblivious, with the occasional roadrager.

 

Have any of you added supplemental lighting on your bikes?

 

Ralph

[Miguel!]

5 hours ago, Ralph1212 said:

 

Have any of you added supplemental lighting on your bikes?

 

Here's a recent thread and I bet there are many more in the archives. 

 

Best 

Miguel 

[oldie]

I replaced front signals with leds c/w resistors but when i tried to replace the rears with leds  (no resistors yet) they will not even light up ,no hyper flash, just nothing, any ideas.

2000 R1100RT

oldie

 

 

 

 

 

 

Edited July 6, 2019 by oldie
more info

[dirtrider]

10 hours ago, oldie said:

I replaced front signals with leds c/w resistors but when i tried to replace the rears with leds  (no resistors yet) they will not even light up ,no hyper flash, just nothing, any ideas.

2000 R1100RT

oldie

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Morning  oldie

 

LED lights are polarity sensitive, do you have them wired in the correct polarity? 

 

Otherwise you need to explain the rear installation in way more detail. Like what did you install, how did you connect it/them, does your installation require resistors, etc.

 

 

[oldie]

Good morning, It's only after i read a reply that i realize how little detail i have given. A little background, i have owned the bike from new and have done no wiring modifications.  Basically I'm just doing a bulb swap, out with factory halogen signal lights, in with LED bulb into standard 1156 socket signal light on bike. The front  went fine, insert new bulb attach the resistor and they work. The rear light unit comes off in one piece ( signals,brake, license) , i pulled out one halogen and inserted one LED and nothing, did not flash, did not work, when i first started doing  the front ones, just inserting an LED bulb, it lit up but with hyper flash ,there have been no wire changes from factory stock  . At this point i have not yet hooked up a resistor(only got 2 from original purchase)  but i did try an LED from the front to make sure i did not have a dud LED. Because Zenon depot does not currently have the same resistor that i used in the front i have been on line trying to find two , and stumbled across a site that suggested i could not run front and rear LEDs on the bike so i am wondering if the original relay might have an issue with the extra LEDs. Big picture....bike runs great and if i am unable to make this work then i have 2 replacement LEDs. this is not critical just a head scratcher.

Thanking you in advance

oldie

 

[dirtrider]

3 minutes ago, oldie said:

Good morning, It's only after i read a reply that i realize how little detail i have given. A little background, i have owned the bike from new and have done no wiring modifications.  Basically I'm just doing a bulb swap, out with factory halogen signal lights, in with LED bulb into standard 1156 socket signal light on bike. The front  went fine, insert new bulb attach the resistor and they work. The rear light unit comes off in one piece ( signals,brake, license) , i pulled out one halogen and inserted one LED and nothing, did not flash, did not work, when i first started doing  the front ones, just inserting an LED bulb, it lit up but with hyper flash ,there have been no wire changes from factory stock  . At this point i have not yet hooked up a resistor(only got 2 from original purchase)  but i did try an LED from the front to make sure i did not have a dud LED. Because Zenon depot does not currently have the same resistor that i used in the front i have been on line trying to find two , and stumbled across a site that suggested i could not run front and rear LEDs on the bike so i am wondering if the original relay might have an issue with the extra LEDs. Big picture....bike runs great and if i am unable to make this work then i have 2 replacement LEDs. this is not critical just a head scratcher.

Thanking you in advance

oldie

 

 

 

Afternoon  oldie

 

That helps a little but still some gaps in the info that we need.

 

Where are the resistors for the rear supposed to install? I presume they are parallel (load)  resistors not series (dropping) resistors. In any case please explain where/how they are to be installed?

 

If you had  the rear light assembly removed then make darn sure that the connectors are plugged completely together as well as make sure that you didn't inadvertently  push a terminal out of place when re-connecting.

 

Did you change the rear turn signal bulbs  'only' or change the brake light also?  If both the brake light & turn signal are now LED then do none of them work or only some?  (rear brake light shouldn't need an additional load resistor)

 

If only the turn signal bulbs then you might still need the added rear  resistor circuit load to get a flash  as maybe the front LED even with added resistor load might not be enough to make the system flash with an unloaded rear LED bulb.   

[oldie]

Due to a lack of diagrams when i bought the lights ,Google search had me add the two resistor wires to female disconnects and reconnect to male spade connectors on the socket. The resistor wires show no difference as far as polarity. I am only changing the rear signals to LED, brake and license plate bulbs remain halogen and still work even with a halogen signal  bulb removed . The terminals on the connectors are fine so i am  guessing i will remove one of the installed resistors and temporarily insert it in the game to see if this solves my problem . One way or another you will be kept in the loop.

Thnx

[dirtrider]

5 minutes ago, oldie said:

Due to a lack of diagrams when i bought the lights ,Google search had me add the two resistor wires to female disconnects and reconnect to male spade connectors on the socket. The resistor wires show no difference as far as polarity. I am only changing the rear signals to LED, brake and license plate bulbs remain halogen and still work even with a halogen signal  bulb removed . The terminals on the connectors are fine so i am  guessing i will remove one of the installed resistors and temporarily insert it in the game to see if this solves my problem . One way or another you will be kept in the loop.

Thnx

 

Afternoon  oldie

 

It sort if sounds like you are trying to add the resistors is series (that is usually not the way to add resistors when installing LED bulbs). You do not want add 'resistance' to the circuit, you use the resistors between power & ground to add LOAD to the circuit to make the LED have the power draw of a conventional bulb. (possibly I'm just mis-reading your posting above) 

[oldie]

I spliced the load resistor's wires in so that it connects ACROSS the positive and negative wires of the turn signal bulb.

[dirtrider]

1 hour ago, oldie said:

I spliced the load resistor's wires in so that it connects ACROSS the positive and negative wires of the turn signal bulb.

 

Afternoon  oldie

 

OK, that is correct as that adds load to the circuit.

[Selden]

I have a 1999 RT, which is close enough in time to your RS that it should be comparable. Several years ago, I replaced the headlight bulb with a HELLA 100/55W H4 bulb and an Eastern Beaver high capacity wiring harness. The wiring harness is important for two reasons: 1) it supports a higher current to the bulb and 2) a lower current passes through the headlight switch, which is notorious on these bikes for burned contacts. The difference in high beam output is quite noticeable. Sticking with an incandescent H4 avoids the possible beam pattern issues for an LED in a light assembly designed for incandescent.

 

I have LED brake lights bulbs, which aren't all that much brighter, but have a faster on/off time. Still using incandescent turn signals, because I don't want to bother with replacing the turn signal relay. As long as you are replacing things, consider LED replacements for the instrument cluster bulbs. The envelopes on the incandescent bulbs darken over time, and LEDs should provide a noticeable difference. Sorry, I don't remember which type of wedge base these tiny wheat bulbs have, but someone here will probably remember.

[dirtrider]

17 minutes ago, Selden said:

I have a 1999 RT, which is close enough in time to your RS that it should be comparable. Several years ago, I replaced the headlight bulb with a HELLA 100/55W H4 bulb and an Eastern Beaver high capacity wiring harness. The wiring harness is important for two reasons: 1) it supports a higher current to the bulb and 2) a lower current passes through the headlight switch, which is notorious on these bikes for burned contacts. The difference in high beam output is quite noticeable. Sticking with an incandescent H4 avoids the possible beam pattern issues for an LED in a light assembly designed for incandescent.

 

I have LED brake lights bulbs, which aren't all that much brighter, but have a faster on/off time. Still using incandescent turn signals, because I don't want to bother with replacing the turn signal relay. As long as you are replacing things, consider LED replacements for the instrument cluster bulbs. The envelopes on the incandescent bulbs darken over time, and LEDs should provide a noticeable difference. Sorry, I don't remember which type of wedge base these tiny wheat bulbs have, but someone here will probably remember.

 

 

Afternoon Selden, oldie

 

Do not install an LED in the dash generator light socket, that will not pass enough current to properly excite the alternator rotor after engine starting. 

 

With an LED generator light the alternator will be really slow & sluggish to start charging  so right after engine start where you need the best spark & best fuel injector spray you don't get it as both the injectors & coil will be  operating at a lower system (non charging) voltage.

 

In fact remove the stock 1.7 watt  generator light bulb & install a 3 watt backlighting bulb in the generator light socket. This brings the alternator on-line & charging even quicker so gives a better cold start idle right after starting. (there was an old BMW service bulletin on doing this)  

[Selden]

Thanks. Fascinating tip. Are LEDs OK for the other indicator lights?

[dirtrider]

9 minutes ago, Selden said:

Thanks. Fascinating tip. Are LEDs OK for the other indicator lights?

 

Afternoon Selden

 

As far as I know they are, I haven't installed any on my own bikes but others have & they seem to work out OK.

[oldie]

 OK first things first, I would like to thank all who replied to my post, more thoughts on the subject usually aid in resolution. Back to my story, hooking another resistor into the game failed to yield positive results in fact i went backwards, neither lights worked, so with the big picture in mind, i give up ,i have working LED bulbs in the front and regular bulbs in the rear. I'd rather ride than repair.

Thanks

[Selden]

1 hour ago, oldie said:

 I'd rather ride than repair.

 

Bingo! I have lost track of the number of times I have buggered something up while trying for perfection.