LED indicator bulbs - WAS "Clear rear indicator lenses for X8/Xevo??"

[loonymoon]

As Smurph noted today when following me (and I've thought this for a long time) the red rear indicator lenses on the X8 and XEvo make the indicators look pinkish which is really not easy to define in daylight though they do look more amber at night.

I wondered if it's possible to get clear lenses for the X8/XEvo rear lights indicator but haven't seen them anywhere. Does anyone have any ideas? Either where I could get them from or for possible alternatives??

[Dave Milnes]

Try red bulbs rather than clear.

[loonymoon]

The indicator bulbs are amber - wouldn't red bulbs make it fail an MOT? Perhaps I wasn't very clear - I meant changing the lenses over the indicators to clear not the rear lights I meant rear Indicator light lenses, I've edited my original post.

The indicators are currently two amber bulbs on each side shining through a red lens. So on a bright day they look kind of pinkish and they're not all that obvious. They show up amber OK at night though. I'd rather the lenses were clear as I'm not overly keen on the look of all the red lenses on the rear anyway!

[Dave Milnes]

Right I thought you meant the lenses were just a little pink rather than red. If the indicators are already amber lamps there's not a lot that can be done unless brighter amber bulbs could be used.
What type are they on the Xevo?

[loonymoon]

They're just glass bulbs 12V 5W bayonet type. Presumably they could be replaced with LED ones - but I'd prefer LED's that are multidirectional as I beleive it's harder to see uni-directional ones from the sides. I'm going to have a quick look now but if you have any suggestions, I'd gratefully hear them!

I can't find clear indicator lenses anywhere, though the early X8 promo pictures do show an X8 with clear rear indicator lenses.

[loonymoon]

Just found these amber  LED bulbs:

from THIS
 SITE

I can't find any multi-directional ones, but as there's two bulbs on either side which are staggered with presumably some kind of reflector on the bike side this might be OK?? The bumf on the site says "Far brighter and with a far wider light span than standard indicator bulbs."

[Dave Milnes]

I would have thought this tower type would be better as it radiates the light all round.

[loonymoon]

I looked but didn't find them. That's the sort of thing I was looking for. Just having a look on that site now, bit confusing where did you find that one? Do they do them in amber??

EDIT: Ah ha, found this one:



http://www.ultraleds.co.uk/u38218a-wide-angle-indicator-bulb-pair-p-1843.html

Ouch £15.31 a pair and I need two pairs.... hmmmm. Might try the other type first and then come back to these if I don't think the spread is good enough. the others are £11.95 for two pairs!!

[Dave Milnes]

You get what you pay for though with LEDS. Cheap isn't always best value, but it's a gamble as to whether it'll make much difference so...
You could just get one pair and do a back to back comparison before ordering another pair, plus you need ballast resistors too, one for each side.

[loonymoon]

Ahh ok thanks I'll have a look for the resistors. From the sites it looks like you just plug them in but I see now (on an ebay guide of all places) that if I did that then the relay will probably think the bulb has blown because it takes less power and flash fast... ah.

It looks more complicated than I first thought then.

Are these any good? They don't look too difficult to fit.

Actually the same shop has the all round LED indicator bulbs at a better price - £8.99 for a pair. Might go for that, plus the resistors are these bulbs the right type to replace the standard bulbs? my manual doesn't give a bulb type!!

[Dave Milnes]

All you do with the resistors is wire them across the two wires behind either front or rear of the indicators, wherever is easiest to get at. One is required even if all you are changing is one bulb per side, although once fitted you can go completely LED without needing any further ones. They get a bit warm when the indicators are on for a while but tywrap fasteners are OK to clip them up somewhere.

[loonymoon]

Thanks Dave for all your help (yet again). I've ordered a two pairs of LED indicator lamps from ebay (the ones with 37 LEDs at top and sides) and two of the resistors.

[Dave Milnes]

Bummer... I just thought of something. The Xevo uses a normal flasher relay not a digidash controller so you could simply have replaced the relay for ones that use LEDS. Simpler than messing with resistors. Motrax make them for many different bikes with 2 pin 3 or 4 pins so whatever matches yours would do, they are generally a standard design and most bike dealers sell them.
Might be worth picking one up locally and keeping the resistors. Someone with an X9 may need them sometime and you could sell them on the forum.

[loonymoon]

I did actually see replacement LED indicator relays on a site somewhere as well!! Ah well.

Presumaby there's just one relay controlling all the indicators (front and back)? So if I replace the rears with all LED's but don't replace the fronts might that mean that if I replace the relay and a front indicator bulb blows I won't get the fast flashing?

[Dave Milnes]

Not sure. I think they will still respond as per normal as long as there is at least 1 LED per side. I know they do not like having all the bulbs changed back to standard.
There is just the one relay normally and the switch both completes the circuit and determines which side circuit is connected. The hazard switch overrides it and connects both together.
To avoid interfering with the loom on the X9 I have added both the resistors and bleepers inside the mirror stems so they can easily be got at.

[loonymoon]

Hmm. I'm not planning to replace the front indicator bulbs with LED's as I think they're fine as they are (standard amber lenses) and they show up fine against the blue.

Is the relay easy to get to? I have no clue about bike wiring!!

Perhaps I'll just use the resistors anyway as I'll have them, they look easy enough for an electrical numpty like me to fit (with the help of my technically savvy other half!).

[loonymoon]

The LED lights and resistors turned up today. I might have a go at fitting them tonight, I'll try to get some before and after pics/video to compare and see if they're any good.

I'm going to fit the bulbs and see what they look like before fitting the resistors.

If i do fit the resistors and then sometime in the future decide to go back to normal bulbs is it just a case of unclipping the connectors and taping the wire where they were connected with electrical tape or will the wire be too damaged for that??

[Dave Milnes]

Just bare and splay/flatten the ends of the resistor wires and nip them in the spade connectors at the back of the bulb holders then it's non-destructive. All you do then is 'unplug' them when not required without leaving any damaged wiring to repair. Not the purist method but it has it's advantages and better than scotch-lok connectors.

[loonymoon]

Thanks Dave I'll see how it looks when I get to it. Hopefully it'll be easy to do as you suggest... slight problem may be that there will be two bulb holders each side as there's two bulbs under each indicator lens, but I only bought 2 resistors (one for each side) so I may not be able to do it that way.

[Dave Milnes]

1 resistor each side will do for any number of LED bulbs so if you fitted the resistor to the easiest lamp to access it will be fine. Try both the bulbs in the same side then you can see the comparison by using the hazards.

[loonymoon]

Ok that sounds easier then!

Yes I was going to do one side, take some pics/video with the standard bulbs first, then put the LED's in try without the resistors and then with. when I'm happy I'll do the other side.

One of 3 mods I want to do to the scoot- already got the heated grips, the next thing is the horn but I'm going to get the mechanic to do that at the first service, just because i can't be bothered to remove the tupperware!

[loonymoon]

AAAAAAARRRRRRGGGGGHHH!!! 

Flippin' Piaggio crappy manual.... it's the wrong type of bulbs!!!!!! All that was written in the manual was "ALL GLASS 12V 5W" which to me and going by the fact that they looked like normal indicator bulbs suggested they WERE standard indicator bulbs.

I got the rear indicator pods out no problem, but it looked like this (i.e. no spade connectors).



It was then that I had a better look... no way the bulbs I bought were going to fit. Tellingly on the back of the indicator pods was written W5W..... ARRRGGGH So why the ..... didn't Piaggio put that in the flippin' manual then!!  

Actually what they are is a white W5W on the rubber bung thing which then shines through an amber glass globe and then the red lenses.... no wonder the indicator illumination is pathetic. From the outside the amber globe looked like a normal indicator bulb.

Just to illustrate that point here's a video and a couple of photos of the indicator on the XEvo (it's the same on the X8 though I'd never investigated it this far). So as you can see on a bright day with reflections etc, the already pathetic indicators are rendered virtually un-noticible.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IY7_3e-1q2Y









Hmm now I have two packs of LED indicator bulbs going spare.... I'll have to contact the ebay seller and see if they have any W5W LED equivalents!!

While I had the light cluster off I took the opportunity to note down the type that the other bulbs were. The brake bulbs were R10W and the tail lights were W3W.

[Dave Milnes]

You could splice in the resistors where that white connector is.
So the bulbs are wedge type then? Like the X9 front sidelights. In that case you want these babies...
http://www.ultraleds.co.uk/501194t10-mini-light-tower-leds-amber-p-1549.html
Getting amber LEDS in this style is harder. You can get ones twice as bright in white, but they may not fit inside the little coloured caps.

[loonymoon]

Sorry just still annoyed that Piaggio don't think it's a good idea to put what type of bulb is needed in the manual... hmmmmm. The actual job of fitting the resistors (if needed) looked quite easy once I'd opened it up!

I've just contacted the seller of the LED's I bought to see if they have any W5W equivalents (doesn't look like they do) and to take the others back.

[creamcrackered]

or you could concider taking a customising route?

search for '12v amber led lights' or '12v Yellow led lights' on Ebay, to see the various options.

perhaps use the 15 led flexible strips and fashon them around the corners of the 'tuperware' just under the original lens, or use additional marker lights.

very simple to wire in as you simply connect them across existing lamp, current drain is minimal so won't noticeably affect existing flasher relay operation.

regs
Alan