Anybody running a led tail light replacement bulb? Need a recommendation. Picked up a set of custom dynamics led turn signal inserts for cheap. They are excellent. Looking for a brighter than stock tail light bulb to go with them.
I'm using the Custom Dynamics LED tail light and it works well. Have a friend that installed an LED bulb in the stock socket and I think it is actually less visible than stock. The LED is bright white and it looks like a white dot behind the red lens.
Quote from: Glide1962 on April 12, 2019, 04:03:18 AM
I'm using the Custom Dynamics LED tail light and it works well. Have a friend that installed an LED bulb in the stock socket and I think it is actually less visible than stock. The LED is bright white and it looks like a white dot behind the red lens.
I too believe the led is less visible especially during daylight
The $150 Custom Dynamics Pro Beam taillight is so bright, Stevie Wonder could see it. If you just want a bulb the Kury Akyn 2237 LED bulb is pretty bright.
Try a [super bright led bulb], they fit in the stock socket, Get the red one the white one turn the red lens to a pinkest color. There about $10.00. The amber ones work good with the amber lens. They show up in the day light to. The dynamics are super bright and good, and the Kury Akyn are over price for what you get unless you want the ones that are white and then turn amber for your front turn signal lights with smoke lens they work good.
Kury is very proud of their bulbs at 40 bucks each. That would be the same as CD led inserts. Looking at a 500 lumen bulb from superbright led .com, it's about 10.50, but it's long. I'll have to determine if it will fit inside the lense. A stock 1157 is 400 ish lumens, so this would be a noticeable improvement.
After looking at the stock bulb and lense these led bulbs that are brighter than stock, lumens wise anyway, appear to be to long to fit. Bummer. There's only about 1/4 of an inch of extra space beyond the stock bulb, that won't do it. I'll keep searching and report back if I find one that works.
The Kuryakyn fits
I always wondered about some kind of strobe light that would blink a few times and then come on,Kinda like you see on service type vehicles,Legal or not something that would Really get CAGES Attention,,,,,,😎
Quote from: IRONMIKE113 on April 14, 2019, 04:52:52 AM
I always wondered about some kind of strobe light that would blink a few times and then come on,Kinda like you see on service type vehicles,Legal or not something that would Really get CAGES Attention,,,,,,😎
There are a few products out there to do this, I'm pretty sure Kury makes one.
Ironmike0-The Kuryakyn Panacea was the original for that, several out there now
Quote from: IRONMIKE113 on April 14, 2019, 04:52:52 AM
I always wondered about some kind of strobe light that would blink a few times and then come on,Kinda like you see on service type vehicles,Legal or not something that would Really get CAGES Attention,,,,,,😎
The smart triple play module from custom dynamics will do that, and make your rear turn signals additional brake lights. It can do several different flash patterns. I've had one for a couple years. Works great.
Radiantz makes a great tail/stop light. It will strobe three times and then go to very bright red. I had one on a Road Glide and when I traded it I took it off and put it on my new Road Glide. After a while it looked like water might of got in and shorted out some led's. Called Radiantz and no problem getting a replacement. Since I traded my RG on a new RK I had to get a different style Radiantz tail light and I also got the halo front turn signals and the rear turn signals from them. The turn signals seem the same as Custom Dynamics which I had on my RG.
Bigs
I've got Radiantz turn signal led's on my bike,very bright. Afriend has their cyclops brake light on his '18 sgs, very cool and bright.
The Super Bright Bulbs are the same length as a standard 1157. The Kury Akyns are a little longer, but I haven't had a problem fitting them in a light yet.
Some good news. I ordered a pair of 1157 led front turn signal bulbs from JDM astar. They are called switchbacks. They are bright white running lights, then switch to bright amber to signal a turn. Pretty cool and cheap at 33 bucks a pair shipped.
I also ordered a pair of red 3157 tail light bulbs from the JDM eBay store. They look small enough to fit in the lense. At 14 bucks for the pair, if they don't fit i'll Put them in my truck. They should get here on Monday. I'll plug one in and report back. [attach=0]
Quote from: Cozz on April 18, 2019, 05:08:45 PM
Some good news. I ordered a pair of 1157 led front turn signal bulbs from JDM astar. They are called switchbacks. They are bright white running lights, then switch to bright amber to signal a turn. Pretty cool and cheap at 33 bucks a pair shipped.
I also ordered a pair of red 3157 tail light bulbs from the JDM eBay store. They look small enough to fit in the lense. At 14 bucks for the pair, if they don't fit i'll Put them in my truck. They should get here on Monday. I'll plug one in and report back. [attach=0]
Any problems installing the 1157 bulbs? I've been considering a pair of 1157 switchbacks for my Dyna bullet turn signals, but a lot of reviews mention that some bulbs have to be ground/filed down because they don't push in far enough for the twist lock to engage...
They went right in, no problems. Seem to be well made and pretty good quality. Time will tell.
Quote from: Cozz on April 18, 2019, 05:08:45 PM
Some good news. I ordered a pair of 1157 led front turn signal bulbs from JDM astar. They are called switchbacks. They are bright white running lights, then switch to bright amber to signal a turn. Pretty cool and cheap at 33 bucks a pair shipped.
Looks good, be a nice feature. Their site list 2 Switchbacks for 1157. Which Number did you get?
3020 SMD 1157 Switchback LED Bulbs for Limited Space Vehicle
3030 SMD 1157 White Yellow Switchback LED Bulbs
Also, what lenses you running on the marker/turn lamps?
Are you having any problems with the turns flashing fast, or have you installed some kind of resistor?
For those of you that have installed a LED taillight bulb, does your cruise control still work?
Jason
I got the 3020 limited space bulb, which maybe wasn't necessary. There's a lot of room left in the housing for a longer bulb. I'll try to get a pic posted of the bulb in the socket.
I've had the Kuryakyn Panacea taillights for at least 13 years, the lens has started to crack from the Phoenix heat but still works fine. May replace it as they are or sale now.
Pic of front turn signal housing with the 3020 limited space bulb installed. I do have the fast flash going on. I've got a CD load equalizer for that, haven't gotten to it yet. A cheaper option might be the led compatible turn signal flasher. I've not looked into that yet either.
Not much to update.
Ordered the wrong bulbs. Do NOT order any bulb with a CK in the number. Not a standard type of led. They blow fuses. Ordering the correct bulbs, will report back soon.
Nothing beats the BAL1 (Bright Ass Light). MSRP of around 300 but I think I've seen them down around 150 before.
How bad do you want to be seen?
Got the correct bulbs yesterday, so here you go. This particular bulb from JDM is 600 lumens, a stock bulb is 400 ish lumens. Got a pair from their eBay store for 14 bucks. Not sure if i'm Sold on it. Not as bright as the custom dynamics turn signal inserts, but not awful either. I'll see if I can find something around 1000 or 1200 lm. That should be pretty close in brightness to my turn signals and call it good. What do you guys think? this Pic is running lights.
This pic is brake lights
Hard to tell from a picture, but it looks pretty bright. I would have to ride behind you on a group ride to compare it others, but it looks like they stand out.
Rode behind a guy on a group ride with the Bright Ass Lights last night. Looks like his brake lights are always on, so as his bike goes in and out of my vision in a row of bikes, it makes me react when I don't need to. A little obnoxious.
The law reads that rear lights "cannot be glaring." I think those BALs border on that. Some of these new LED white license plate lights too.
I'll go out and take more pics when the sun sets.
Quote from: Hossamania on April 26, 2019, 03:00:15 PM
Hard to tell from a picture, but it looks pretty bright. I would have to ride behind you on a group ride to compare it others, but it looks like they stand out.
Rode behind a guy on a group ride with the Bright Ass Lights last night. Looks like his brake lights are always on, so as his bike goes in and out of my vision in a row of bikes, it makes me react when I don't need to. A little obnoxious.
The law reads that rear lights "cannot be glaring." I think those BALs border on that. Some of these new LED white license plate lights too.
There's 3 brightness settings for tail and about 30 patterns for stop. Some settings are for parade only and not DOT compliant
So...I ordered another type of JDM red tail light bulb, about 25% brighter than the last one. Not sure if it will fit in the lense, but it should be pretty close in brightness to the CD turn signal brake lights . Should be here in a couple days. I'll keep you posted. :up:
Update: the search is over. Found a red taillight bulb from the JDM eBay store that is very close to the brightness of the CD turn signal inserts. They rate it at 1250 lumens in white, 882 ish lumens in red. It just barely fit in the lense. They do have a similar bulb that is a little shorter, that would have been my next choice. This bulb, they show as being 1.6 inches. It clears by a millimeter or two. I bought a pair for twenty bucks. So there you have it. A cheap alternative to a very expensive led tail light. Is it as bright as a BAL, or other similar tail light? Probably not. It IS way way better than a stock tail light. I'll try to get some pics posted tomorrow.
:oops: Top tag window. I don't know what this light will look like shining on my tag. Maybe legal, maybe not. I don't ride at night so i'm not worried about it. Your results may vary.
One step further....
I'm going to try a couple different white led bulbs in the tail light. When I was researching all this, many sources said that too bright of a white bulb will look pink in a tail light. However, the custom dynamics ts inserts are very bright white, and they sit very close to the red lense, and do not look pinkish at all. I like my red bulb but i'm Sure a lot of you guys would rather have your tag lit up correctly. We'll see what happens.....
I tried a white bulb in the tail light. 1200 lumens ( so they say ) which should have been way brighter than my red one. It seemed that the red bulb was a touch brighter than the white, at least to me anyway. I'll keep my red bulb. Either way you go will be way brighter than an incandescent 3157. 1.6 " is the longest that will fit in the stock lense. If you pick one that is 800 or better lumens you will be happy with it. Class Dismissed :bike: