Gauge cluster light replacement

So I'm tired of looking at the ugly orangish color that lights up the tach and speedo on my 6th gen. I saw where some people changed out the gauge cluster lights to a blue color which looks pretty damn good. Has anyone out there performed that mod their self. And if so how does one go about doing that mod.

 

Yeah I think it would be a headache doing it myself. I found in previous threads a site called bluegauges.com all i have to do is remove the cluster and send it to them and for $60 they do the work. I might give that a try.

 

Was interested in changing out my guage lights also. Wondering if anyone has attempted this mod yet or is everyone just sending them off? Any input would be greatly appreciated.

 

When I bought my 5th gen this fall, one of the instruments lights to the inside of the tach was out. Went to the dealer and got the bulb and replaced it. Not too difficult, just a PIT to take the fairings, etc. off and the instrument cluster. Changing the bulb itself was very simple. It just pushes into place and then a wire connects to it (I think). Don't remember all the details, but the changing of the bulb was very easy....getting to it was a bit of work.

Here's a picure of the bulb and the Honda bag it came in.

Honda part number is 34909-KW3-003.
On the bulb itself it says:
STANLEY
12V1.7W.HD

 

For the gen 6 I'd suggest sending them out to have the led's changed.
I tore my insturment panel apart to investigate changing the led lights and discovered that they were tiny and the wires powering them were almost microscopic. Taking a soldering iron to the panel to change those teeny little lights would lead to disaster!
Go to Bluegauges.com and you'll find good info.

 

SUPER EASY. Just have to remove the front upper fairing which is time intensive somewhat. Then it's simple 180 twist of the bulb and changing them out. I bought my LED's from an online company that made leds fit the stock bulb sockets. SUPER BRIGHT LEDS home Here's some pics. The needle looks a bit funny, but at night, there isn't any difficulty reading any of the gauges whatsoever.



FOUND A PIC OF THE BULBS:

 

Just checked out Bluegauges.com and am pretty impressed with the cost, warrenty, etc. How difficult is is to remove my gauge? Payday is friday so I think I'm going to get my gauge off and in the mail so I can get it back and installed before the weather breaks. Thanks for the info.

 

gauges are easy to remove. Couple of screws and unplugging all the cables.


For 6th Gen:

$60 bucks ain't bad if they have to solder them in. The LED's themselves are dirt cheap, but if you don't have any FINE ELECTRONICS soldering experience, I wouldn't recommend it. Not even close to beginner level soldering if it's fine work. I don't know what the 6th gen PCB boards look like so I couldn't tell you for sure the exact difficulty.

For 5th Gen:

They're gold ol' light bulbs. Style 194. You can buy led replacements that fit the old bulb adapter. Piece of cake.

 

So, can we determine from this thread how many VFR owners it takes to change a light bulb?

 

Input on 98-01 Models

I can't speak for the 6th gen, but on my '99, I purchased great lamps of ebay, just search for "2X T10 194 WHITE LED Car Wedge Bulbs" and pick the white ones with the little silver heat sink. They are $6/pair with free shipping.
Installation procedure was as follows:
1. Remove mirrors
2. Remove all the bolts holding the nose fairing
3. Remove the nose fairing enough to let it rest on the front fender
4. Remove 3 nuts holding the instrument cluster to the stay.
5. There are 5 lamps behind the instruments and 2 behind the blinkers that are the same size. They just twist a quarter turn and then pull out.
6. Make sure you check each one as you put them in as LEDs have a polarity(?)

The difference it made to my gauges was fantastic and the blinkers are now VERY bright so much less chance of forgetting them on :thumbsup:

 

For those that are looking to do it themselves, there is a post on the "other" VFR forum with detail on what it takes to DIY. I really want to do it myself, but I have other things I want to do before I get to this.

Here is the link on VFRD - Blue Gauges For Less - VFR Discussion

 

will these work on the older Generations? cause I would love to replce the lights with blue ones and LEDs use less power and last 100 times longer..

 

The 4G is a breeze to change the bulbs.
1.) Remove mirrors and windscreen
2.) Remove "rubber" part of dashboard between nose fairing and dash
3.) complete (but narrow) access to the back of the dash.

I had to replace the center bulb this winter (that illuminates the left side of the tach).

I will caution, however, that these bulbs are NOT standard 194 bulbs. 194 bulbs are 5 watts, the bulb I removed was 2.7 watts. I imagine that if you had a higher wattage in there, that you might start melting things. This is not applicable to LED's, as they are much cooler.

 

There is no reason it shouldn't so long as you find the correct LED replacement for the bulbs that you have in your bike. I don't know what ones specifically are in each generation but as long as you get the same replacement model for whatever bulb you have, you should be good to go. The plug knows no difference whether it is LED or not, it just feeds power.

 

Another thumbs up for Superbrightleds.com, I used them for the LEDs in both my 83 and 86 'Ceptors with great results!

 

So, let me get this straight. The process is simple, if time consuming. That I can handle. But the $64 question is, does the 4th Gen use the same bulbs as the 5th Gen? And, if it doesn't, does somebody have the part number of the 4th Gen bulbs? As I understand it, there are 12 bulbs in the panel; 11 are identical, 1.7w I think and one is 4.5w for some reason. Thanks in advance for any help.

Oops. I have the part #. The bulb of which there is only one is 34901 SB0 671. All the other bulbs are 34908 MB9 871.

I looked on superbrights but they didn't recognise the part #

 

Allllll righty, then. Well, thanks to all the good advice, I was able to replace the offending bulb and all is sweetness and light...I can't believe I just said that.

 

How many bulbs are there and are they all the same kind?


Thanks in advance!