Quote:
Originally Posted by Lap202
Very crisp looking dash! Does using LEDS for your indicator lights make them significantly brighter or cause any issues as in being too bright at night?
Was considering using a bright LED for my turn signal to draw my attention to it if I leave it on (my week of driving hasn't built the automatic turn signal off habit )
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The high beam indicator seemed brighter to me, but I didn't use it much before the swap, so it might be the same. Other than that, there seems to be minor or no difference (but the high beam indicator is really the only one on solid for any real length of time).
On the 500, the illumination bulbs are 194 (T10), while the indicators are T6.5, so they're inherently a bit smaller too. I also got mostly end-firing ones (three LEDs on the end, with a couple stuck down on the sides) since you're looking right at end of the bulbs in this dash setup. Something like
this single 5050 end-firing one might be even better.
Keep in mind that LEDs produce light in a different way from bulbs too. If you can, it's better to use an LED colored to match your indicator lens rather than a white one. But if your LED color doesn't match the lens color (like my orange-ish turn signal lenses and my yellow-ish amber LEDs), you might end up filtering out most of the light.
Here are a couple pics (slightly different resultant lighting settings from my phone's automatic operation) with the indicators swapped to LED also. The previous pics still had the stock incandescent bulbs.
Depending on the LED's design, you can put a glob of hot glue on top to diffuse the light a little. I think I may have gone back and done that to the high beam indicator (I thought about it, and I've used that trick on other LEDs before, but I don't remember if I actually did it here).
Because it takes less power for the LEDs to light up, the Neutral indicator will actually flicker as I shift between 1st and 2nd. It was a bit distracting at first, but it's a good indicator that you've hit first while downshifting (helpful if you miscount or lose track of your gear shifts). When I'm downshifting for a corner, it's a great indicator that I missed 2nd, without having to bounce the shifter off the bottom of 1st or find out the hard way when I let the clutch out. A poor man's really limited gear indicator, if you will.
As allanoue said, using LEDs in your actual turn signals will require a new flasher relay, because the low load of LEDs is closer to a dead bulb than a working one, so they'll hyperflash.
Also, the 250 uses a single turn signal indicator for both sides. It works by running a leg to each side's + wire. When one side's signal is turned on, power flows from that side and grounds through the other side. The stock bulbs' high resistance keeps them from lighting up, but efficient LED signals will usually be lit up by this little bit of power coming through, resulting in 4-way flashers from activating either side's signal. This is fixed with a diode kit, which converts the indicator to a dedicated ground and + from each side through diodes, so no power can bleed over to the other side.
Since the stock indicator bulb works by flowing power in opposite directions depending on which side's signal is on, an LED indicator bulb (which is inherently polarized) won't work. One side won't light up the indicator at all, and the other side will work and pass power through, leading to the 4-way flashing. You need to first install the diode kit (to give you distinct + and - wires for the indicator) if you want to use an LED indicator bulb.
I see the rudimentary single indicator as a cheap-out on Kawasaki's part, and suggest everyone install a diode kit. It will work fine with all stock parts, and then it will keep working fine when you go and do **CrAzY mOdS** like switching from bulbs to LEDs. Bikes with individual indicators for each side are inherently immune to this issue.