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YellowDog
7th January 2012, 19:38
I'm looking at replacing my sidelight standard bulbs with more visible LEDs.

There seems to be rather a lot of them out there and now the 'NextGen' stuff is about, it just gets more confusing.

Can anyone tell me if a 5W forward pointing LED is going to be better OR too bright when compared woith the standard 1W or 2W offerings?

Comments on your own experiences will be very much appreciated.
DMNTD
7th January 2012, 19:47
I'm looking at replacing my sidelight standard bulbs with more visible LEDs.

There seems to be rather a lot of them out there and now the 'NextGen' stuff is about, it just gets more confusing.

Can anyone tell me if a 5W forward pointing LED is going to be better OR too bright when compared worth the standard 1W or 2W offerings?

Comments on your own experiences will be very much appreciated.

Yes it will be better, no questions. I have had mine change for the past 10+ bikes and they are noticeably easier to spot for oncoming vehicles.
Some have failed due to either vibration from the motor/heavy landings :shifty: / or simply being cheap.
I choose to utilise blue ones which the Police have had no issues with especially when I point out that I'm doing it for visabiliy/safety.

Will I continue to use them? 100% yes
banditrider
7th January 2012, 21:03
Go for the 5w ones. I put some 2w ones in last weekend (cause they were cheap and I wanted to experiment): http://banditrider.blogspot.com/2012/01/first-farkle-of-year.html
YellowDog
7th January 2012, 22:58
Go for the 5w ones. I put some 2w ones in last weekend (cause they were cheap and I wanted to experiment): http://banditrider.blogspot.com/2012/01/first-farkle-of-year.html

Thanks DMNTD, thanks BanditRider.

The 2W lights in your link do look pretty damn good :yes:
Gremlin
8th January 2012, 02:08
Only gotcha is if you have clever electronics in your bike :facepalm:

My BMW detects loading on circuits, and as soon as I replaced the standard bulb with an LED one, it threw error codes saying the bulb had failed. So (and I've yet to get around to it) I have to get CANBUS compatible ones, that trick the computers into thinking it's drawing enough power...
YellowDog
8th January 2012, 07:48
Only gotcha is if you have clever electronics in your bike :facepalm:

My BMW detects loading on circuits, and as soon as I replaced the standard bulb with an LED one, it threw error codes saying the bulb had failed. So (and I've yet to get around to it) I have to get CANBUS compatible ones, that trick the computers into thinking it's drawing enough power...

Yes, good point. I did read that. The NextGen lights claim to be able to kid the ECU.

I may start with some cheapies to see what happens.

Do the Police subsidise such purchases? They should really, as they'll be able to see you sooner and catch speeders before they slowdown :laugh:
Gremlin
8th January 2012, 18:33
What type of bulb do you need... got some wedge style (w5w 12v from memory?) ones here. 5 LED chips on it, super bright, that you can try out if you like...
YellowDog
8th January 2012, 19:14
What type of bulb do you need... got some wedge style (w5w 12v from memory?) ones here. 5 LED chips on it, super bright, that you can try out if you like...

Bought some this arvo from SupercheapAuto thanks. Will see how they go when I get a moment and find my screwdriver.