Front Indicator Lights - Options?

[al_roethlisberger]

OK, now that we seem to have a number of craftsman very active in the forum, and the membership has grown to be fairly broad.... I thought I'd ask if anyone has thought about modifying the front turn signals such that they are more integrated into the fairing on the LeMans?

 

Although I have to admit that this is a minor thing, and the OEM signals aren't all that bad looking, something more integral to the body would probably look a bit more sporty, and less of an afterthought.

 

If you take a moment to inspect your fairing, you'll see that where the signal mounts is an indentation and crease that could potentially house a streamlined signal quite effectively, as opposed to the current stalk arrangement.

 

I've seen this exact application on similar bikes such as the Yamaha FZ-1(Fazer 1000) and it's fairing, but it was a low-volume custom application made by an FZ-1 afficianado. I suspect that this would have to be the case for the V11 as well.

 

Anyway, with all the talk of "stealth" mufflers, new streamlined tail-pieces, etc.... has anyone given any thought to this yet as it falls into this same realm.

 

...thought I'd just ping everyone.

 

al

[dlaing]

I tried these

http://www.airtech-streamlining.com/miscai...urnsignals.html

on my R90S fairing (RIP).

They stick on with doublesided adhesive tape and stick out a little too far.

If they could be surface mounted they would look great.

Another problem is that they are only bright in one direction.

I suspect there will be more and better choices for LEDs in a few years.

HP makes LEDs that are assembled into truck lights that have a wider brighter light.

Perhaps you could make your own LED lamp out of a nice looking surface mounted marker light.

I also like the marker lights on late model VWs.

[jrt]

What did Joe Camarda fit onto his bike (Joe, you listening?)? Those little bullets are cool.

There's a picture under the 'muffler choices' thread (pg 4). Of course, its only the rear turn signals that are shown- what's up front?

 

Cheers,

Jason

[al_roethlisberger]

Another problem is that they are only bright in one direction.

 

...you are absolutely correct, and that is the major problem(other than impedence mismatches that cause the flasher to go nuts ) that many of these "cheap" aftermarket LED auto/motorcycle marker lights have. By nature, LEDs tend to be somewhat unidirectional in their distribution of light, and although they are often much brighter than an incandescent on-axis, off-axis they are very dim and sometimes nearly invisible. This is why in my humble opinion, aftermarket LEDs are often poor replacements for incandescent signal and brake lights, and I've tried many. In the end, the incandescent was more visible from all angles.

 

However, much of this is the fault/responsibility of the lens as well. For OEM LED applications, one often finds that the arrangement of the LEDs and the lens is much differenct than one would find for an incandescent application, and hence works well. The problem really arises when one tries to retrofit a housing/reflector/lens housing designed for an incandescent with a generic LED replacement.

 

Most of those aftermarket LEDs just are not really designed to work well in this application.

 

That being said, there are ways to solve this. The best is to design the housing and lens for an LED application from the start, or design the LED replacement properly if making a "conversion."

 

Your comment about visibility have been a challenge for many folks trying to make quality and functional aftermarket LED replacements for sure.

 

As I mentioned, there was a fella... and I'll try to touch base with him to get some pointers... that spent many months researching and building prototypes for the Yamaha FZ-1(Fazer 1000) until he had a lens/LED combo that looked OEM and worked well.

 

Anyone else give this any thought up to this point, or even care?

 

al

[al_roethlisberger]

OK, I found him.... here's an example of his efforts:

 

Rabeet's LED Indicator Lights

 

Here's a photo of them on an FZ-1:

 

Pat's FZ-1 with flush LED indicators

 

I'll ping him for more details.

 

al

[dlaing]

Those look great!

Looks like he put many hours into them.

I like the idea of casting the LEDs in clear resin.

For the tail light I was thinking of drilling many holes in my OE reflector and mounting LEDs in the holes. The parabolic shape would help the angle issue.

I already tried making my own 1157 LED bulb, but got frustrated by the dimness of the LEDs that I purchased for it. I used 24 LEDs ($30 worth) and with the brake on it was about as bright as a 10 watt bulb....

These are kind of cute...

[dlaing]

For the tail....

[al_roethlisberger]

...just curious if in the last 6-ish months anyone has seen anything new on this topic??

 

i.e. any aftermarket units show up since then?

 

I have yet to see any, although all-in-all I think the LeMans/Sport is blessed with some relatively attractive OEM stalk/lights, so it's not such a major thing

 

One a number of more pressing and complicated operationally oriented projects are complete, I'm still thinking about taking a stroll through my local "TAP Plastics" and seeing what my mind could dream up

 

al

[Guest vagene]

On another thread, somewhere, the following url was offered as a supplier http://www.frogspecialties.com/, it was either Carl or Al. I don't like the idea of a flush mount, not sure they are visible enough, there seems to be enough choices to do this, but has anyone tried? The Rear View Turn Signal Mirror looks promising. They make three bolts patterns with the distance between the holes 2", 1.17", and 1.55". I measured the lemans and it looks to be between 1 1/8" and 1 1/4", so I am planning to follow up with them tomorrow. What I do to cover up the holes in the fairing, when I remove the existing signals/stalks is another matter perhaps a reflector of some sort or some moto guzzi emblem. I will post an update once I order and install (or not). Would also like to hear thoughts about the flush mount, just does not seem to be visible enough to me.

[al_roethlisberger]

I like the idea of the Frog Specialties signal integrated mirrors, but the one photo provided doesn't really look like a quality piece of kit. Perhaps it's just a bad photo??

 

If they provide you with any additional photos of the mirrors installed, please feel free to post them though.

 

 

On the visibility issue for integrated side marker/signals, no doubt it would be a challenge to make them adequately visible. However, as an example of a successful attempt, one need only look to the Honda VFR(Interceptor 800) of '98->'01. If something similar, albeit a bit slimmer, were to be made to fit within the cutout where the current stalks mount, I think it could be equally as functional.

 

Who knows though. It's definitely a low priority for me, and just yet another project to consider

 

al

[mikie]

The owner of Frog Specialties is a friend of mine, and I've used a lot of his products on various bikes. With respect to the turn signals, whenever I've mounted them on a bike, they looked great!!! Unfortunately, I often got comments from riding buddies that they weren't very visible when turned on, so I frequently coupled them with hand signals. If you're into the pose factor, though, you can't go wrong with any of these.

[al_roethlisberger]

Check out the new mirrors on the '04 Aprilia Mille

 

 

I wonder if they would fit on a LeMans(bolt spacing, angle, etc), and if they angular styling would look good or not... hrmmm

[al_roethlisberger]

...and as an aside, check out the rear-view of the '04, nice, very clean