Baal
Well-known member
- Joined
- Oct 22, 2009
- Messages
- 1,246
I managed to find a set of LED rear turn signals from an 1125 on clearance at the local dealer. Normally, they're $50 a side, but I got the pair for about $45. I don't know how that compares to aftermarket signals; I don't really care, because I like stuff that fits.
I suspected that I'd need to do something to make these work. I'd read in the past that resistors were needed to add enough load to the circuit for the flasher relay to work properly. Without that, the signals blink too fast, like a car does when one signal bulb is burned out. Sure enough, I got home, dry wired it up, and I got a fast blink. So, I did a little research and discovered the flasher unit that ASB sells. Instead of being an old style thermal relay, it's electronic, and will blink at the proper rate for either bulbs or LEDs or a combination (which I had, since I only planned to change the rears). The benefits of a relay vs wiring resistors into the circuit of each signal are that 1) It's way simpler, 2) You're not adding anything, you're just changing out the OE flasher for this unit, and 3) you don't have to deal with the heat that resistors develop in use.
Well, all due respect to ASB, but I didn't figure they'd gone out and had a relay made custom for Buells with LED signals, so I started looking for cross references, OR for someone who had solved this riddle before. I got pointed to the EP35 relay (made by Tridon and others), and available at NAPA for $12 and change including tax. So off I went this AM. When I got back, I dry wired it again, and discovered that I had a bad flasher, so off I went again, this time to Advance Auto, where a slightly smaller unit (with the same PN) was $14 total.
Here's the relay:
Out of the package:
The OE relay has a hanger tab built in to attach to the stud from the instrument cluster behind the flyscreen. This one does not, but it has two tabs that form a channel for a hanger to insert into. Good luck finding a hanger though. I cut a 21mm X 80mm strip of metal from a paint can lid that the parts place was kind enough to give me. I folded it double (so if you have thicker metal, you only need 40mm long) and it makes a nice friction fit into the channel on the top of the flasher. I drilled a 13/64" hole for the mount, and reattached it with a star washer. This is thinner metal than the tab on the OE flasher, so I wanted to give it some support, and encourage it not to come loose:
Bracket:
Mounted on flasher:
I also needed some 20ga male bullet connectors to splice onto one side of the leads from each signal. Seems that the leads from the OE signals are both male, but the 1125 had one male and one female. No biggie, there's another $3.
The rest of the installation is pretty easy. Remove the old signals, and pull the wiring out the holes in the tail section. Thread the new wires before you crimp on the new bullet connector, mount the new signals, attach the new connectors, plug and play.
Results:
I thought about shortening the stalks, but decided against it. A wider profile is a little more conspicuous. I also angled the signals up slightly. The LED light is pretty directional, and I wanted the "hot spot" to be pointed towards motorists behind me.
So, that's what I did when I should have been either riding the thing, or trimming the bushes.
I suspected that I'd need to do something to make these work. I'd read in the past that resistors were needed to add enough load to the circuit for the flasher relay to work properly. Without that, the signals blink too fast, like a car does when one signal bulb is burned out. Sure enough, I got home, dry wired it up, and I got a fast blink. So, I did a little research and discovered the flasher unit that ASB sells. Instead of being an old style thermal relay, it's electronic, and will blink at the proper rate for either bulbs or LEDs or a combination (which I had, since I only planned to change the rears). The benefits of a relay vs wiring resistors into the circuit of each signal are that 1) It's way simpler, 2) You're not adding anything, you're just changing out the OE flasher for this unit, and 3) you don't have to deal with the heat that resistors develop in use.
Well, all due respect to ASB, but I didn't figure they'd gone out and had a relay made custom for Buells with LED signals, so I started looking for cross references, OR for someone who had solved this riddle before. I got pointed to the EP35 relay (made by Tridon and others), and available at NAPA for $12 and change including tax. So off I went this AM. When I got back, I dry wired it again, and discovered that I had a bad flasher, so off I went again, this time to Advance Auto, where a slightly smaller unit (with the same PN) was $14 total.
Here's the relay:
Out of the package:
The OE relay has a hanger tab built in to attach to the stud from the instrument cluster behind the flyscreen. This one does not, but it has two tabs that form a channel for a hanger to insert into. Good luck finding a hanger though. I cut a 21mm X 80mm strip of metal from a paint can lid that the parts place was kind enough to give me. I folded it double (so if you have thicker metal, you only need 40mm long) and it makes a nice friction fit into the channel on the top of the flasher. I drilled a 13/64" hole for the mount, and reattached it with a star washer. This is thinner metal than the tab on the OE flasher, so I wanted to give it some support, and encourage it not to come loose:
Bracket:
Mounted on flasher:
I also needed some 20ga male bullet connectors to splice onto one side of the leads from each signal. Seems that the leads from the OE signals are both male, but the 1125 had one male and one female. No biggie, there's another $3.
The rest of the installation is pretty easy. Remove the old signals, and pull the wiring out the holes in the tail section. Thread the new wires before you crimp on the new bullet connector, mount the new signals, attach the new connectors, plug and play.
Results:
I thought about shortening the stalks, but decided against it. A wider profile is a little more conspicuous. I also angled the signals up slightly. The LED light is pretty directional, and I wanted the "hot spot" to be pointed towards motorists behind me.
So, that's what I did when I should have been either riding the thing, or trimming the bushes.
