LED Dash bulb upgrade:

[dseric]

Hello from across the pond. I have a '98 TA import and thought I would share an upgrade. I had a burnt out bulb in the dash so decided to switch to LEDs for lower power consumption and longevity. Here is the pics from my '98 TA:

The bulb on the left of center has the shield removed as it is a different size bulb and lower output.


Bulb shields were bent out a bit more to allow more light from the bulbs.


The final result. As bright if not a tad more than stock. Saved about 15 watts. Sorry for the blurred image.


These are the bulbs I used from www.superbrightleds.com:

&

Eric

[Sharribee]

Hi Eric, welcome to the site, I was just thinking on my way home tonight in the rain and the dark how I wish my dash lights were a bit brighter. Looks really good did it take you long to do and how difficult was it ( although I will probably delegate the job to my hubbie )

[dseric]

Thanks. It wasn't too difficult. You just have to feel comfortable taking the dash apart. The speedo and Tach come out easily once the dash is off the bike. Then you can bring it inside to work on. Just be careful not to get the gauges dirty as they are usually sealed from dirt. Let me know if you need help when the time comes. Took me about 3 hours but that was with experimenting with different bulbs and bending the shields just right.

Eric

[Sharribee]

Cheer Eric I may well aks you for advise if I decide to go for it

[Austin]

I changed my clocks bulbs to some time ago. On a 650 I just plugged the (3) LEDs in. I made a mistake though and bought blue bulbs thinking they would complement my blue bike. Trouble is with a black background to the clocks they are just not bright enough and unless it is pitch black with no street lights and nothing coming the other way I cannot even tell how fast I am going let alone see anything else.

I will swap to white bulbs when I get round to ordering them and may take Eric's tip of bending the light shields (if the 650 has any) to let more light through.

I also bought an LED to replace the sidelight bulb in the headlamp but that failed after just a few days - too much heat from the dip/main bulb and an LED for the rear light - except I hadn't realised it is a non-standard bulb. Instead of the usual bayonet fit 21w/5w stop/tail bulb it is a massive push fit bulb like the clock lamps. I haven't found an LED equivelant yet, but my son now has an excellent LED rear light on his moped.

[dseric]

Let me know when you change your bulbs on your 650. Take some pics if you can as I'd be curious as to what the clocks look like on the newer models inside and if they still use the shields.

It's too bad you found out the blue was too weak. Would have been a neat effect.

I did find somewhere online of a glass sidelight bulb made with LEDs to take the heat from the main bulb. Can't seem to find it right now. On my '98 the taillight bulb is standard but most of the LED replacements are just not bright enough.

Eric