LED indicator bulbs

The Sock

The Sock

Hero member
Location
London, England
I'm considering fitting LED indicator bulbs, on my '76 180°.
As space in the headlamp shell is at somewhat of a premium I'm concerned about whether the CF12 2 unit will fit, being 32 x 32 x 31mm against the 30 x 17 x 17 of the old mechanical unit.
Anyone out there gone down this road?
Comments welcome.LED Flasher Unit.jpg
 
move it out of the headlamp shell, and atatch it under the seat which is what BTZ models had, and still not enough room in the headlight.
CLEM
 
When LED bulbs first came out, I have a vague memrory of a simple inline thingamajig (resistor in parallel or sumfink) being used, which enabled the use of the standard flasher unit? It basically made the falsher unit see the expected current and flash at the correct rate.
 
Hi Hamish, is the goal to save a bit of electrical power, or, get the nice quick/sharp 'on / off' (which is attention grabbing and a great thing I feel).

If the goal is to save power, then the resistor thing is a dead end road.
 
Haggis said:
Hi Hamish, is the goal to get the nice quick/sharp 'on / off' (which is attention grabbing and a great thing I feel).
Click to expand...
Yes, I don't want the CANBUS ones just the 3.4W amber lamps.
The double diode to stop the current going through the warning lamp to light the other side is already in hand, thanks Paul.
 
The Sock said:
I'm considering fitting LED indicator bulbs, on my '76 180°.
As space in the headlamp shell is at somewhat of a premium I'm concerned about whether the CF12 2 unit will fit, being 32 x 32 x 31mm against the 30 x 17 x 17 of the old mechanical unit.
Anyone out there gone down this road?
Comments welcome.View attachment 65315
Click to expand...
You've probably got this sorted by now but as a new member I'm doing some catching up. I thought to pass on the following relay details which I have tried and tested on my 1980 3CL. The Motogadget relay fits with room to spare in the case of the old relay that vibrated itself to destruction. Works well for me. Will fit in your headlight shell as its no bigger than anyone of the connectors in there already. My penny worth. https://www.motogadget.com/shop/en/m-flash-blinkrelais.html
 
Thanks Charley,
I've ordered a Kellerman relay. They're a very reputable company and the relay is small and solid state.
Out of interest, what LED lamps did you use?
 
At this time I have not changed to LED for the indicators and the conventional bulbs flash nicely. Regularly and even.
I have however changed the pilot light bulb in the headlamp to a high output LED bulb from Paul Goff in the UK, a very good source of LED bulbs.

6V & 12V LED Indicators

LED Flasher unit,6V LED Flasher unit,LED Indicators, Car LED indicator bulbs, LED indicator bulbs,LED Trafficators,LED winkers, Motorcycle LED indicator bulbs, 6V LED indicator bulbs
www.norbsa02.freeuk.com
 
Charley said:
I have however changed the pilot light bulb in the headlamp to a high output LED bulb
Click to expand...
Does it work in both directions?

The way Laverdas are wired, current through that little pilot lamp flows in different directions depending which side the indicators are flashing. LEDs are polarity sensitive and only permit current to flow one way. For an indicator pilot light in the dash of a Laverda, you need two LEDs in parallel, but connected with opposing polarity. That way, one lights up with left indicators and the other with right indicators.
 
Dellortoman said:
Does it work in both directions?

The way Laverdas are wired, current through that little pilot lamp flows in different directions depending which side the indicators are flashing. LEDs are polarity sensitive and only permit current to flow one way. For an indicator pilot light in the dash of a Laverda, you need two LEDs in parallel, but connected with opposing polarity. That way, one lights up with left indicators and the other with right indicators.
Click to expand...
Good morning Dellortoman,
I read your text with interest as it backs up my knowledge, not extensive, of LEDs and Laverda wiring and for that I thank you.
One of the reasons I read old posts is for little gems of information which you and other more Laverda savvy people post.
To be clear, the relay I used was used as it is solid state, small, available at short notice, affordable and as an aside will work with LEDs which is why I posted for The Sock as it may have been of interest to him due to his relay size requirements and its compatibility with LEDs which I understood was a possible future change from standard he wished to consider.
I have kept the standard tungsten bulbs as I do not have an issue with them. In fact the opposite, I have read and been told, by people who have first hand experience with LEDs and their own bikes, of difficulties with LEDs sufficient to reinforce my belief that the original set up is perfectly functional if correctly maintained.
I will also add another plug for Paul Goff as he has a very good stock of good quality LEDs along side many motorcycle related electrical components and is very willing to help anyone with difficulties or queries they my have with charging, function etc. issues.
 
Dellortoman said:
Does it work in both directions?

The way Laverdas are wired, current through that little pilot lamp flows in different directions depending which side the indicators are flashing. LEDs are polarity sensitive and only permit current to flow one way. For an indicator pilot light in the dash of a Laverda, you need two LEDs in parallel, but connected with opposing polarity. That way, one lights up with left indicators and the other with right indicators.
Click to expand...
Or use a single LED in conjunction with a bridge rectifier.

cheers,

bazzee
 
Fitted the Kellerman unit, comes complete with a feed for the indicator warning lamp, this morning, along with four LED Amber indicator lamps. Works with incandescent lamps, too.
Pretty straightforward to fit and somewhat smaller than the old clockwork flasher unit, leaving more room in the headlamp shell.
All good, and farewell the high-speed frenzied flashing of old.


Kellerman Flasher Unit.jpg
 
bazzee said:
Or use a single LED in conjunction with a bridge rectifier.

cheers,

bazzee
Click to expand...
Barry, now that is being a bit too clever, large grin here. Saw the same thing on a high quality dial back timing light, there was no polarity for the 12Vdc power connection, threw me for a moment.... bridge rect on the input to control board, nifty. LEDS have a reverse breakdown voltage, can be quite low for some variants. Found that LED stop and tail light "lamps" lasted about a day on an RGS ( lots of secondary vibration ), pulverised to bits and led rubble lying on the bottom of the red cover. FWIW. NARVA were the worst even the old style filament failed quickly, rubbish quality ( spot the Oxymoron....not me...the words...wry smile ).
 
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