LED Conversion

[Malkozaine]

So I am doing a LED conversion on the bike and had two questions.  First, is there anything I should be worried about?  I know when I did it on my Magna it was highly recommend to change out the Regulator Rectifier to a Mossfet one cause Honda liked to use a kinda crappy one on the Magna's.  Second, does anyone know a good LED Bulb for the inner tail light?  Also what LED bulbs are good for the Speedo, Tach, and LCD?  Save for the headlights since I have to wait on shims(damn you Honda) I already have the turn signals and brake lights swapped out.

[RWhitehouse]

Superbrightleds.com has been my go-to on automotive led's for a while. They have good selection and good quality products. I've experimented with some of the el cheapo LED bulbs off ebay or amazon and they've universally been garbage. Dim, poor connector fit, and they usually start flickering or die very quickly.

For red/amber lights, get the LED bulb to match the color. I.e, for the tail/brake get a RED led bulb, not a white. White LEDs behind a colored lens tend to "wash out" the lens color, same for amber running or blinkers- get amber bulbs.

I also toyed around with the wedge bulbs for the gauge backlighting. I believe they're a #74 wedge base (very common for automotive gauge/interior/idiot lights). The above site has them in a variety of brightness and colors. Don't go straight for the highest power- your gauges will be WAY too bright at night, annoyingly so. The color also affects relative brightness. White is obviously the brightest, then greens and blues, then reds and purple. I tried some red LED bulbs I had left over from my Vmax, and while they were good in that bike, I found them a bit too bright for my taste in the Valk's gauges. Ended up putting the stock bulbs back in for now.

With idiot lights it's generally plug and play, although when there's only one blinker indicator like the Valk has, since the LED is a diode, generally one direction blinker will quit working as the indicator is part of the circuit- and incandescent bulbs don't care which way the power flows. You can make the LED work but you need to get creative with the wiring- prob easier just to leave a standard bulb for that one. Again, for best results match the LED color to the lens color- get a green one for neutral, blue for high beam, ect.

[Malkozaine]

Yeah I used them for most of my bulbs that I have so far.  Will both 74 wedge they have for the cluster fine?  I know space can be a tad limited.

[gordonv]

If you change out the turn signals, they may not work. You need a load on them for the signal to flash.

[RonW]

If leds are installed in all 4 turn signals, you'll end up with cross feed where both sides blinkers flash when either side's blinkers are activated (4-way flashing). If only the front or rear signals, then you won't get 4-way flashing but you'll get hyper-flashing. Easy fix, just upgrade the stock flasher relay to an electronic flasher to resolve the hyperflashing issue.  The solution for 4-way flashing is to wire in a *metric diode kit* into the turn signal idiot light on the dashboard. 2 different problems, 2 different solutions.

I know when I did it on my Magna it was highly recommend to change out the Regulator Rectifier to a Mossfet one cause Honda liked to use a kinda crappy one on the Magna's.

Obviously, you won't need to replace the R/R on a Valk since it has a full size alternator. Incidentally, the *inferior RR* came factory installed on all metric bikes equipped with a stator/RR charging system (false alternator) regardless of brand. Around 2007-2008, Honda or Yamaha started installing mosfet RR's on their sportsbikes. This started the trend of buying up used mosfet RR's to install on cruisers and earlier sports bikes that weren't outfitted with the better mosfet RR's. As you would expect, the supply ran out quickly on eBay.

[Malkozaine]

If leds are installed in all 4 turn signals, you'll end up with cross feed where both sides blinkers flash when either side's blinkers are activated (4-way flashing). If only the front or rear signals, then you won't get 4-way flashing but you'll get hyper-flashing. Easy fix, just upgrade the stock flasher relay to an electronic flasher to resolve the hyperflashing issue.  The solution for 4-way flashing is to wire in a *metric diode kit* into the turn signal idiot light on the dashboard. 2 different problems, 2 different solutions.

I'll have to check but I know I have all four changed and no issue with the lights.  I also made sure to change out the Flasher Relay.
I know when I did it on my Magna it was highly recommend to change out the Regulator Rectifier to a Mossfet one cause Honda liked to use a kinda crappy one on the Magna's.

Obviously, you won't need to replace the R/R on a Valk since it has a full size alternator. Incidentally, the *inferior RR* came factory installed on all metric bikes equipped with a stator/RR charging system (false alternator) regardless of brand. Around 2007-2008, Honda or Yamaha started installing mosfet RR's on their sportsbikes. This started the trend of buying up used mosfet RR's to install on cruisers and earlier sports bikes that weren't outfitted with the better mosfet RR's. As you would expect, the supply ran out quickly on eBay.

[Bagger John - #3785]

Radiantz LED tail light circuit board assembly.

Four LED replacement bayonet turn signal bulbs in appropriate colors (must use red in rear if also using them as running lights). I think I used Joker brand but may switch to another (brighter?) setup at some point.

For the wedge-style bulbs...SuperBrights or similar of the same base and size. I replaced the Tourer's I/S trunk lights with dual-circuit bulbs. The instrument bulbs (white LEDs) were an AutoZone find and work very nicely.

I added an electronic flasher w/ rate control to my I/S when I converted it, and as I recall I didn't have to do anything with a blocking diode array.

One of the things I've been looking at is to replace my I/S fog lights with a set of these. I figure I'll be the pioneer and take the arrows...and if doable I'll write up a how-to:

[The emperor has no clothes]

Radiantz LED tail light circuit board assembly.

Four LED replacement bayonet turn signal bulbs in appropriate colors (must use red in rear if also using them as running lights). I think I used Joker brand but may switch to another (brighter?) setup at some point.

For the wedge-style bulbs...SuperBrights or similar of the same base and size. I replaced the Tourer's I/S trunk lights with dual-circuit bulbs. The instrument bulbs (white LEDs) were an AutoZone find and work very nicely.

I added an electronic flasher w/ rate control to my I/S when I converted it, and as I recall I didn't have to do anything with a blocking diode array.

One of the things I've been looking at is to replace my I/S fog lights with a set of these. I figure I'll be the pioneer and take the arrows...and if doable I'll write up a how-to:

I've been searching for LED's for the fog lamps. I'd be very interested in how they work out.