LED Tail light/turn signal replacement bulbs!

Whoa! That's bright ! Good job man! And hopefully those cagers won't slam on their brakes in a panic & cause an accident when your brake light starts flashing !

 

Okay so the Cable N Wireless amber 5050SMD LED bulbs came in, and they're SUPER DIM. Maybe 1/5 the intensity of the stock incandescent bulbs. Give those ones a pass.

Also if you put them in the 7443 socket facing one way, they don't light up at all, and actually somehow act as a NOR gate for the signal to the rear lamp if installed in the front socket. (don't ask me how. It's super weird.)

I'm tempted to buy an amber set from superbrightleds but the cost of 4 bulbs from them is just too damn high. Will wait and see what the el cheapo white ones I bought are like once they come in.

 

REVIEW of turn signal bulbs:

bulb 1: stock -- base rating (100%)
bulb 2 (white) -- (80%): From "MIC TUNING" 2 pcs Car/Truck/Vehicle T20 7443 White 54 SMD 3528 LED Tail brake stop LED head Light Bulb - Compatible Bulb Model(for reference only):7740, T20, 990, 991, 992, 992A, 7440A, 7440LL, 7440NA, 7441, 7443, 7443R, 7444, 7444A : Amazon.com : Automotive
bulb 3 (Amber) -- (20%): From "Cable N Wireless" Cable N Wireless 2 Pcs 7443 T20 High Intensity 12V 13-SMD Stop Backup Blinker Corner Indicator Turn Signal 5050 LED Light Bulb Pair (Amber Yellow) : Amazon.com : Automotive
bulb 4 (Amber) -- (110%): From SuperBrightLEDs 7443 LED Bulb - Dual Intensity 18 SMD LED Tower | S series | Specialty & Automotive | Universal LED Bulb Finder | Super Bright LEDs

The $10/pair white LED bulbs (2) worked far better than expected, and I would actually recommend them for anyone looking to do a simple LED light mod. They will set you back only $20 for a set of 4 turn signals. The color temperature is much cooler than the standard bulb, and as such they will look more of a neon yellow than amber through the amber LED housings, though maybe you like that look. They're 80-90% as bright as the stock bulbs, but a little less impressive through the amber housing. I probably wouldn't recommend them for brake lights since too much light would be lost through the red housing, and they'd come out looking violet. Also since they're not quite as bright as stock, and the brightness of your brake lights is your first line of defense against getting rear ended, use your own judgment.

The $8/pair amber LED bulbs (3) were terrible. Far dimmer than the stock bulbs, and not very bright when flashing either. It would be hard to see them in full daylight. Not recommended.

The $18/EACH (40/pair after shipping) amber LED bulbs (4) performed the best, although outside of their housing, they weren't much better than the $5 LED bulbs, and the difference wasn't that spectacular overall. If you're looking for the best, these are them, but it's really up to you whether you think the price premium over the white bulbs is worth it. I think it is. The Amber color is much more vibrant, especially through the reflector, and they're very bright. The running light (low) setting is dimmer than the stock or white bulbs, but still quite visible in the amber housing The Flasher (high) setting is as bright or brighter than the stock bulbs, and due to its amber color can be used in a clear housing if desired, and in the stock housing will look brighter than the white bulbs, as less light is blocked/lost through the filter. They will set you back about $80 for a set of 4, or $120 for a set of 6 (The red ones I do recommend for brake lights, as mentioned earlier in the thread).

Video comparison of the different bulbs, in order:
http://herpnderp.info/LEDmod2.mp4

TL/DR: These $10/pair chinese bulbs are shockingly good on a budget, and these $40/pair premium red/amber bulbs are a pricey but solid upgrade from stock. Either is recommended depending on your preferences.

 

Posting so I remember to come back here tomorrow and figure out what size would work for my 3rd gen...

 

I bought the 7443-R45-T in red for my Brake/Tail Lights, fit fine, work great. At 24.95 each, I wasn't going to use them for the turn signals!

http://www.superbrightleds.com/search/led-products/7443-r45-t red/

 

you only need the digital flasher on the VFR or any bike that has dual flasher indicator in the dash like the VFR . Now I have a older Yamaha XJ600 that has a single flasher indicator in the dash then you need the load resistor and diodes. But for the VFR you do not need load resistors . I have done my 2007 VFR with no problems .

 

For the brake light I ended up going with the same bulbs as Allyance above.

Also a whelen.

 

Any of you guys use vleds.com? I think these are the right part numbers for the brake lights for the 5th gen. http://www.vleds.com/7443-21-red.html But I don't know which to get, the Standard or the CK? I don't have a tool to check the grounds. Please let me know. I have a Hawk GT and we use a different bulb style but all of us have ordered from vleds and they are sure an improvement from stock bulbs on the Hawks so I can vouch for the quality and brightness of this brand. Let me know if you guys can tell me if the VFR uses the Standard or CK style wedge.

Art

 

Hi, I'm pretty sure it's standard. Never heard of this CK thing. The bulbs should be 7440/7443 compatible. TBH I'm a little skeptical of that style bulb because of the coverage pattern of the LEDs. The large block of heat sinks without LEDs on them would leave a great spot for the bulb to eclipse the reflector. Just something to think about. If you buy them, take pictures and let us know how they work.

 

I am not sure what the inside of the housing of the tail light looks like. But we on the Hawk GT forum have the 1157 style of this bulb and it is a great improvement over stock with running and brake lights. I will pull the trigger if you explain what the eclipse issue you are talking about. Will definitely post pic and or vid if I can figure out how to. They really are an improvement on the Hawks.

Art

 

I mean there's a large chunk of bulb that doesn't have LEDs on it, so depending on the shape of your reflector and housing, it could block visibility of the light reflecting off the reflector on the other side from where you're viewing it.

LEDs are kinda hit or miss in tail light housings because LEDs project light straight out in the direction they're pointing, resulting in a bright spot, but darkness all around it, while incandescents cast light all around, including back into the reflector, which then bounces off and gives you a much larger illuminated area to see. The reflectors are shaped specifically for incandescent, not LED, so the more the LED bulb can make use of the reflector, the better.

 

These....not so much~



220 lumens

 

No, it still applies, because there's no LEDs pointing back at the reflector. If you're looking at it, you'll see the bulb fine, because it's covered in bright points, but for best visibility you really want the reflector to light up because it's a much bigger surface area to see, and is therefore much more visible and eye catching from far away or different angles. Those bulbs may or may not work well for it, and it depends entirely on how well they light up the reflector.

I've actually had poor luck with those style bulbs in the past, because of the unsatisfactory output of those 3528 SMD LEDs. (They're tri-color LEDs and only 220 lumens when putting out white--substantially less when only putting out red, and the 3528s I've used were pretty underwhelming). I had better luck with the bigger 5050 SMD LEDs, like these: http://www.superbrightleds.com/more...led-bulb-dual-intensity-18-smd-led-tower/635/ YMMV though.

I just stuck one of these under the tail though and it's brighter and more visible than anything you can stick in a tail light housing.