Instrument Bulb Replacement Hunt

Discussion in '5th Generation 1998-2001' started by Skifreak, Feb 10, 2013.

  1. Skifreak

    Skifreak New Member

    Country:
    United States
    Joined:
    Aug 16, 2012
    Messages:
    235
    Likes Received:
    16
    Trophy Points:
    18
    Location:
    Washington State
    Map
    Yeah. I found that you need to replace a bulb with an led that matches the lens color. Green led for the neutral light with a green lens, blue led for the blue high beam indicator. Otherwise funky colors result...
     
  2. nookiaz

    nookiaz New Member

    Country:
    United States
    Joined:
    Nov 2, 2012
    Messages:
    336
    Likes Received:
    2
    Trophy Points:
    18
    Location:
    Montreal
    Map
    Hey Silverbullet, them lights are bright! Don't they ruin your night vision ? :D
     
  3. silverbullet132

    silverbullet132 New Member

    Joined:
    Nov 24, 2011
    Messages:
    280
    Likes Received:
    0
    Trophy Points:
    0
    I guess I gotta grab a picture of it with the blue bulbs in lol.
     
  4. Motographer

    Motographer New Member

    Country:
    United States
    Joined:
    Aug 7, 2011
    Messages:
    202
    Likes Received:
    0
    Trophy Points:
    16
    Location:
    Nashville, TN
    Map
    Sorry to re-jack the thread, but if I don't want to drop $150 on an HID kit, what's my best option for readily q available replacement low-beam bulbs? Thinking about doing the se LEDs as Skifreak in the dash while I'm at it.

    And a bit of a left field question, but is it possible to replace the gauge faces in a '98 with the ones from an '00 or '01? The numbers and lettering looks SO much better.
     
  5. reg71

    reg71 Poser Staff Member

    Country:
    United States
    Joined:
    Feb 15, 2006
    Messages:
    9,756
    Likes Received:
    269
    Trophy Points:
    128
    Location:
    Atascadero, California, United States
    Map
    I would think so but have never heard of it done. I've never noticed a difference.
    oh, and I used those bulbs from the auto parts store that were slightly hopper about two or there years ago and they are still working.
     
  6. Scubalong

    Scubalong Official Greeter?

    Country:
    United States
    Joined:
    Mar 11, 2008
    Messages:
    9,239
    Likes Received:
    25
    Trophy Points:
    93
    Location:
    O.C Suck
    Silver star probably your best option not HID but bright and maintain the low and Hi function of your light. As for the cluster instrument I would guess they are interchangeable since they are 5th gen and
     
  7. Skifreak

    Skifreak New Member

    Country:
    United States
    Joined:
    Aug 16, 2012
    Messages:
    235
    Likes Received:
    16
    Trophy Points:
    18
    Location:
    Washington State
    Map
    Scuba long is right. The standard H4 bulbs from any generic auto parts store will fit the 5th gen VFR if you carefully trim the bottom two tabs off. Nice thing about the H4 is you can get them in a wide variety of brightness levels depending on how much you want to spend and how long you want the bulb to last. Not as bright and trick as HID, but cheaper, simpler and still brighter than stock.
     
  8. Motographer

    Motographer New Member

    Country:
    United States
    Joined:
    Aug 7, 2011
    Messages:
    202
    Likes Received:
    0
    Trophy Points:
    16
    Location:
    Nashville, TN
    Map
    Is there a reliable way to get the H4 bulbs to point the right way without buying the adapter rings?
     
  9. Skifreak

    Skifreak New Member

    Country:
    United States
    Joined:
    Aug 16, 2012
    Messages:
    235
    Likes Received:
    16
    Trophy Points:
    18
    Location:
    Washington State
    Map
    I just cut my tabs off with a pair of snips and they dropped in just fine. Left the top tab for alignment's sake. I think...It has been a while since I did it so I am trying to remember what the tabs looked like exactly.
     
  10. Scubalong

    Scubalong Official Greeter?

    Country:
    United States
    Joined:
    Mar 11, 2008
    Messages:
    9,239
    Likes Received:
    25
    Trophy Points:
    93
    Location:
    O.C Suck
    Cut the two on the side and keep the top to align with the slot at center of the housing
     
  11. Skifreak

    Skifreak New Member

    Country:
    United States
    Joined:
    Aug 16, 2012
    Messages:
    235
    Likes Received:
    16
    Trophy Points:
    18
    Location:
    Washington State
    Map
    Yep. Scuba long is right, as usual.
     
  12. duccmann

    duccmann Member

    Country:
    United States
    Joined:
    Oct 6, 2010
    Messages:
    9,214
    Likes Received:
    910
    Trophy Points:
    143
    Location:
    SoCal
    Map
    OK now that Im all jacked up on this thread...I want to do this on my 2002 in blue. What does it take to replace these and where do I get them ????? # of the bulb(s) ??
     
  13. mastergregor

    mastergregor New Member

    Country:
    United States
    Joined:
    Oct 15, 2012
    Messages:
    76
    Likes Received:
    0
    Trophy Points:
    6
    Location:
    Arlington Heights, IL
    Map
    A bit late with info, I installed this on my 98 VFR a while back:

    Amazon.com: HID Xenon Headlight Conversion Kit by Kensun, H4 Dual-Beam Bi-Xenon, 6000K - 2 Year Warranty: Automotive

    $80, singe HID bulbs, with a relay actuated shield for high beams. No delay timer, different temperatures available. Has been on the bike for the past 18 months, no issues so far.

    I actually liked this kit so much that I put it on my car as well. On the car for last year, no issues.

    Light output is 3-4x better with HID, and color and coverage are just awesome. Night riding is not as dangerous anymore, two bikes side-by-side on a highway will flood the entire road for 120 yards ahead - no more animal surprises :)
     
  14. Doodlesdaddy

    Doodlesdaddy New Member

    Joined:
    Aug 30, 2013
    Messages:
    12
    Likes Received:
    0
    Trophy Points:
    0
    I did the blue LEDs. Takes awhile, but easy

    [​IMG]
     
  15. Scubalong

    Scubalong Official Greeter?

    Country:
    United States
    Joined:
    Mar 11, 2008
    Messages:
    9,239
    Likes Received:
    25
    Trophy Points:
    93
    Location:
    O.C Suck
    Hehe :redface: that all I know......Thanks for your recognition :thumbsup:
     
  16. silverbullet132

    silverbullet132 New Member

    Joined:
    Nov 24, 2011
    Messages:
    280
    Likes Received:
    0
    Trophy Points:
    0
    Well the LED's I put in around the LCD just died a few days ago :(

    Not looking forward to pulling it apart again :p
     
  17. M Jay

    M Jay New Member

    Country:
    United States
    Joined:
    Sep 23, 2013
    Messages:
    42
    Likes Received:
    0
    Trophy Points:
    6
    Location:
    Seattle, WA
    Map
    I'm interesting in adding blue LED's to my dash. I was looking at the service manual and something isn't clear to me. I understand the front cowling has to be removed to get access. Are the bulbs accessible with just the cowling off or do you have to disassemble part of the dash too?
     
    Last edited: Oct 5, 2013
  18. nookiaz

    nookiaz New Member

    Country:
    United States
    Joined:
    Nov 2, 2012
    Messages:
    336
    Likes Received:
    2
    Trophy Points:
    18
    Location:
    Montreal
    Map
    Hope this helps :)
    http://vfrworld.com/forums/showthread.php/43794-HOW-TO-Upper-Cowl-Removal-on-5th-Gen

    Oh, 34468 Randy mentioned you should use red bulbs since red won't ruin your night vision. I remember my dad's '84 BMW had orange dash light. Maybe orange won't kill your night vision either.
     
  19. 34468 Randy

    34468 Randy Secret Insider

    Country:
    Canada
    Joined:
    Dec 18, 2007
    Messages:
    13,741
    Likes Received:
    1,557
    Trophy Points:
    158
    Location:
    Chilliwack, BC Canada
    Map
    Ya. I suspected amber lights may not cause loss of night vision but was not sure enough to comment on it. I know, back in the day when photography was done with film, at some point in the development stages, you could turn on a yellow light in the dark room an it would not adversely affect the light sensitive photographic material. But i think red is you best choice if you are concerned about this. Many are not obviously. If and when I replace mine, they will be red, except for the indicators, which may be amber.

    I recall when I first got my 03 Sierra PU, the high beam indicator was so bright, it defeated my ability to see with the high beams on. The dealership could actually tone that down with an adjustment but it was still too bright. Back in the early 60's, high beam indicators were red. So my dad says anyways. They should have stayed that way.
     
  20. EvilStig

    EvilStig New Member

    Joined:
    May 26, 2012
    Messages:
    119
    Likes Received:
    2
    Trophy Points:
    0
    Hey, yet another thread revival here (am I doing it right?)

    Anyway, Does anyone know the number of bulbs it takes to replace all the backlight bulbs on the 5th gen? I have one bulb out already and one more that's started to go and I can't read my speed at night, but I want to avoid taking it all apart twice, once to count the bulbs, and once to put them in.

    Second question, has anyone tried this with red or orange bulbs yet? I can't understand why anyone would want eye-bleeding blue wrecking their low light vision at night. My only concern with going red though is the green tinted gauges--I want to be sure they'll light up well enough to read, since green filters red. Orange may be acceptable too, just wondering what other colors people have tried. If I can't get a good answer on that I'll probably go white.

    Third, I've had good experience with SMD bulbs from superbrightleds.com, but I have to ask, has anyone who's tried these for this found them to be too bright? Are you getting the single LEDs with the reflector, or the 5 LEDs? Just wondering.
     
Related Topics

Share This Page