timmythecop Posted October 16, 2011 Share Posted October 16, 2011 I am (slowly) working on secret project X. That is, I am making a 70's VFR, sorta. See one of my "other bikes" is a GS 850. These bikes were loved by the sport touring set in the 70s and 80s for much of the same reasons we love our VFRs. So anyway, one of the things I am doing is hanging a set of Bates saddlebags on it. You can see here that there are two reflector thingies on the back. They are like empty marker lights and the lenses screw off to reveal a shallow area behind with a flat piece of metal in there. I plan on using the top ones as additional brake lights, and the botom two as turn signals. I want to use LEDs in there because space is limited. Now, because I am not familiar with LEDs, I was wondering if anyone knows of a good source for LED componants. The wiring will be very straight forward but I dont know where to find a cool round, flat fella and/or if there are varying brightnesses for each application. I know I can use Ebay, but that brings a flood of crap for a Honda Civic and useless turn signal bulbs. Any help? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DDO-VFR Posted October 16, 2011 Share Posted October 16, 2011 That's a pretty wide question. A little background: LEDs have a characteristic forward voltage drop of 2.5-3.0V (the high efficiency white type) and have a power limit of 1 watt, which translates to about 300mA of current. To be used in a 12V system you need to limit the current/power with a resistor. If you use 1 LED and resistor (you'll need about 50 ohm/5W and a modest heatsink/cooler for the LED), this will result in a lot of wasted power and a really hot resistor. Better to put 3 LED in series and use a 50 ohm/1W resistor. The lightbulb replacement LEDs have already put the right amount of devices in series/parallel along with the limiting resistor, that is one reason they are 'kinda bulky'. As far as buying individual LEDs and resistors, try DIGIKEY.com. They aren't the lowest price in the world, but you can buy onesy twosey's and they deliver. Of course if you have no technical background (as in electronics) I may have just wasted a couple of minutes of your time. Brian Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SEBSPEED Posted October 16, 2011 Share Posted October 16, 2011 www.superbrightleds.com Dealt with them numerous times, always a good experience and they have a metric tonne of LEDs. What is the diameter of the base that you'd like the LEDs to fit in? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SEBSPEED Posted October 16, 2011 Share Posted October 16, 2011 These beehive marker lights might be a direct replacement? http://www.superbrightleds.com/cgi-bin/store/index.cgi?action=DispPage&category=TRUCK&Page2Disp=/specs/bhpc.htm#photos Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SEBSPEED Posted October 16, 2011 Share Posted October 16, 2011 Maybe disassemble these? http://www.superbrightleds.com/cgi-bin/store/index.cgi?action=DispPage&category=TRUCK&Page2Disp=/specs/msm.htm#photos Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
timmythecop Posted October 16, 2011 Author Share Posted October 16, 2011 Of course if you have no technical background (as in electronics) I may have just wasted a couple of minutes of your time. Brian I did mention this was for a GS850, right? You sent me information in regard to the Space Shuttle. What I need is a 2 inch wafer with as many LEDs as will fit and a pigtail. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SEBSPEED Posted October 17, 2011 Share Posted October 17, 2011 Find what you were looking for yet? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
timmythecop Posted October 17, 2011 Author Share Posted October 17, 2011 getting close.......... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tightwad Posted October 17, 2011 Share Posted October 17, 2011 How bright do you want them to be? I built a 650 lumen flashligh that uses 1W LEDs that are on a star heatsink. I have used the crappy 5mm LEDs for things as well...the difference is night and day. It doesn't sound like there is a socket in there, you just want a 2" round circuit board with LEDs? I would go with Superbright LEDs in that case. You have to figure out how many LEDs you can fit, then use this link to determin the needed resistors and how to wire them: http://led.linear1.org/led.wiz. You need to know the forward voltage (3.5V is common) and milliamps (20ma is common). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
timmythecop Posted October 3, 2012 Author Share Posted October 3, 2012 funky, no? It now wears aluminum 17" hoops at both ends and beefy 41mm forks Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member Contributer Dutchy Posted October 3, 2012 Member Contributer Share Posted October 3, 2012 Risen from the crypt......... ;-) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member Contributer bryan217 Posted October 3, 2012 Member Contributer Share Posted October 3, 2012 I don't remember seeing this thread when you first started it, but thanks for bringing it back from the dead. Now I have an excuse to post this pic. I've been seeing this GS850 around work lately. I work at a college and my guess is it's some student's dad's that was sitting in the garage for a while. It's only got about 6k miles on it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
timmythecop Posted October 3, 2012 Author Share Posted October 3, 2012 The GS850 pretty much was the first ever"sport touring" bike. They have a reputation just like VFRs for being bulletproof, too. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member Contributer Willy Posted October 3, 2012 Member Contributer Share Posted October 3, 2012 Nice bike Timmy. Not exactly the same bike but I still have a memory flash of a banana yellow GS750 Super Sport at the dealer that I lusted after when I was a kid. Man did I ever want one. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member Contributer swas Posted October 4, 2012 Member Contributer Share Posted October 4, 2012 Have a look at Deal Extreme's range http://dx.com/ All listed in US dollars, which means a discount for us, tee hee. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member Contributer dalesvfr Posted November 8, 2012 Member Contributer Share Posted November 8, 2012 Mr. Cop - who made that fairing - Vetter? It's incredible. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member Contributer rdguy Posted November 9, 2012 Member Contributer Share Posted November 9, 2012 What I need is a 2 inch wafer with as many LEDs as will fit and a pigtail. There's bunches of trailer clearance lights in LED these days. Prolly simpler than making your own, and no math . http://www.etrailer....s-hs-Round.aspx Glenn Mr. Cop - who made that fairing - Vetter? It's incredible. Hannigan? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SEBSPEED Posted November 10, 2012 Share Posted November 10, 2012 Hannigan fairing & it's a big one! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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