Bright Gauge's Remedy (color change)

[COP RUNNER]

this mod sounds pretty interesting, i would like to see some pics too!

i START AT THE BEGINNING OF THIS THREAD , THERE ARE PICTURES POSTED OF THESE LIGHTS IN EVERY COLOR ! ... AND HERE'S A LINK TO AN AWESOME THREAD BY " YUKONERDAVE " THAT SHOWS YOU EXACTLY HOW TO DO IT ! .. http://www.vmaxforum.net/showthread.php?t=8887

 

[ninjaneer]

i START AT THE BEGINNING OF THIS THREAD , THERE ARE PICTURES POSTED OF THESE LIGHTS IN EVERY COLOR ! ... AND HERE'S A LINK TO AN AWESOME THREAD BY " YUKONERDAVE " THAT SHOWS YOU EXACTLY HOW TO DO IT ! .. http://www.vmaxforum.net/showthread.php?t=8887

@vmaxflame. COP RUNNER showed us this mod some two-three years ago. when you read through the two threads you'll notice the evolution of which bulbs to use--from the traditional, wire-filament with colored-glass to LEDs with high mcd ratings. [if anyone wants, i have a set of four blue wire-filament that texmax gave me when i first tried out the mod. PM me with a mailing address if you want them. FCFS]

this mod sounds pretty interesting, i would like to see some pics too!

i remember trying to figure out which color to go with, and how tedious it was clicking through the two threads hunting for the pix. so i collected a representation of them all into one post. sorry, but am too lazy to figure out which pix are of wire-filament and which are of LEDs--didn't think it mattered anyway, just the color change is worthwhile. happy modding.

 

[COP RUNNER]

i I'M NOT QUITE SURE HOW YOU WERE ABLE TO POST ALL OF THOSE PICTURES TOGETHER , BUT THATS FRIGGING AWESOME ! .. AND THANK YOU ! .. unk:

 

[Auggie_1970]

Those green lights look sick, f'n awesome. Think thats the route i'm going

 

[COP RUNNER]

Those green lights look sick, f'n awesome. Think thats the route i'm going

i WELL , GET GOING " BRIAN " . :confused2: . :rofl_200:

 

[dannymax]

Those green lights look sick, f'n awesome. Think thats the route i'm going

Thank you sir!! :worthy:

 

[RaWarrior]

Who used the UV purple ones? It's a cool color but honestly it looks like you can't see half the speedometer, they're not very bright. Were they the HP3s?

I'm in a toss up if I want to upgrade the LEDs in my speedo from the plain 74x red ones I originally put in there. It's currently a pretty soft glow but the numbers are readable all the way around. Seems from the pictures the HP3s give a more "even" light than the single diode ones that kind of concentrate the brightness at the top and bottom.

On the other hand, I don't want the speedometer to be obnoxiously bright and be annoying at night.

 

[RaWarrior]

Well, I did upgrade the 74x to 74HP3s in the speedo and it's much better now. It's an even, all over light, instead of concentrated at the top and bottom. Brighter, but in no way "too bright" or distracting at night.

I also replaced the HP in the tach to an HP3, which also works a bit better, in that case the HP3 wasn't really brighter, just more even.

I'd suggest (at least if you're using red), to go with HP3's all around.

 

[gamorg02]

i may have to change mine, theres the definite, not all over lighting factor on mine.

 

[tugla]

ya get all four the same you wont regret it man. i got red in one bike blue in the other, both look awesome!!!!!!

 

[vmax2extreme]

@vmaxflame. COP RUNNER showed us this mod some two-three years ago. when you read through the two threads you'll notice the evolution of which bulbs to use--from the traditional, wire-filament with colored-glass to LEDs with high mcd ratings. [if anyone wants, i have a set of four blue wire-filament that texmax gave me when i first tried out the mod. PM me with a mailing address if you want them. FCFS]




i remember trying to figure out which color to go with, and how tedious it was clicking through the two threads hunting for the pix. so i collected a representation of them all into one post. sorry, but am too lazy to figure out which pix are of wire-filament and which are of LEDs--didn't think it mattered anyway, just the color change is worthwhile. happy modding.

I have the red on my 2005, but I have to admit, that green is wicked!!! I cant wait to do these custom accent lights now. If they work out, I am going to market them here for everyone being its low cost BRIGHT as heck accent lights not sold in the USA!!! Details to come......

 

[06Vmaxfan]

I just did my 2006 gauges in red led's. If I knew what it was going to look like before I did it I would have left it stock. I know their are pics on here but you have to see things like this in person to see the true results. My problem is that the red light cast on the black speedo numbers makes the numbers harder to see. They seem slightly blurry and with the factory lights the numbers are crystal clear. Also I now get moisture on the inside of my gauges and I did not before. Here are some comparison pics I took that I did not see on other post's. These were taken on my I-phone so not the best but you can see the differance in the brightness between factory bulbs and led since I used the same camera under the same lighting conditions for every pic.

Factory bulb

LED

The speedometer looks very bright compaired to the other gauges but in person the speedometer is only slightly brighter. I think this has to do with the speedo being much larger so the camera catches more light making it look much brighter.

 

[COP RUNNER]

i I AM VERY SORRY THAT IT DIDN'T WORK OUT FOR YOU ! .. :confused2:

 

[COP RUNNER]

i THE MORE I THINK ABOUT THIS , IT MAKES ME CRAZY , THE BULBS HAVE NOTHING TO DO WITH HOW THE SOCKET SITS IN THE HOUSINGS , THEREFOR , THE SOCKETS WITH NO BULBS IN THEM AT ALL WOULD STILL MAKE A SEAL , SO I HAVE NO IDEA WHY YOUR GAUGES WOULD FOG UP . .. AND THE DIFFERENT BULB IDEA IN GENERAL WAS BECAUSE THE STOCK BULBS WERE JUST WAY TO BRIGHT AND IN MY FACE AT NIGHT ! . IN MY OPINION , THEY COULD BE MUCH DIMMER , HENCE CAME THE DIFFERENT BULB IDEAS THAT DEVELOPED AS THIS THREAD PROGRESSED . .. I HAVE RED COVERS THAT YOU COULD PUT ON THE STOCK BULBS , IF YOU PM. ME YOUR ADDRESS I WILL MAIL SOME TO YOU , " NO CHARGE " ! .. THE ONLY DOWN SIDE IS THAT IN ABOUT 7,000 MILES THE HEAT FROM THE INCANDESCENT BULBS COOKS THE PIGMENT OUT OF THE COVERS AND THEY WOULD NEED TO BE REPLACED AGAIN ! .. :confused2: .. LET ME NO IF YOU WANT TO TRY SOME !

 

[RaWarrior]

I had noticed the factory green "gels" that slip over the bulbs had been kind of "cooked" over time also....right around the base they were a lot greener than around the upper/hotter part of the bulb.

I never noticed it made the black lettering tough to read. With the regular 74 LEDs in the speedo, the numbers toward the center were kind of tough since it wasn't bright enough. After switching to 74-HP3s in the speedo, the light is much more even and a tad brighter. Maybe red isn't the color for you...the greens are considerably brighter than reds and would have more contrast to the black lettering.

In theory red would be best at night, since it doesn't affect your night vision. The tank-HUD green color does look sweet though.

 

[midmoraider]

Vmax06fan, which leds did you use for the speedo? If it was the HP3's you might try the 74x or 74HP instead. I used the 74x and it's a nice soft glow that doesn't seem to wash out the numbers. Just a thought.

 

[KJShover]

THE BULBS HAVE NOTHING TO DO WITH HOW THE SOCKET SITS IN THE HOUSINGS , THEREFOR , THE SOCKETS WITH NO BULBS IN THEM AT ALL WOULD STILL MAKE A SEAL

This is true, the bulb fitting should still make a seal without a bulb of any kind in it. As far as instrument fogging, it might be possible that the bulb socket didn't get installed fully and worked itself loose.

 

[Rand-5107]

All the cities in the snow belt, that switched their traffic light bulbs to l.e.d. Were suprized to find that the l.e.d.'s didn't put off enough heat to melt the snow off the lens's. Lots of wrecks followed. Probably not enough heat to prevent condensation in the gauges.

 

[COP RUNNER]

All the cities in the snow belt, that switched their traffic light bulbs to l.e.d. Were suprized to find that the l.e.d.'s didn't put off enough heat to melt the snow off the lens's. Lots of wrecks followed. Probably not enough heat to prevent condensation in the gauges.

i "LOL""LOL""LOL" , ME AND " DANNYMAX " WERE TALKING ABOUT THIS VERY THING LAST NIGHT ON THE PHONE ! .. unk:

 

[COP RUNNER]

i I DO AGREE THAT THE GAUGES ARE FUZZY WITH THE RED LED'S , BUT I RIDE WITH A SMOKED BLACK SHIELD , EVEN AT NIGHT , SO I CANT READ THE " ACTUAL " NUMBERS ON MY GAUGES ANYWAY , BUT I CAN SEE THE NEEDLES AND I NO THAT ON MY SPEEDOMETER , THAT 9:00 POSITION IS 25 MPH AND 12:00 IS 75 MPH AND IF YOU FOLLOW THE NEEDLE FROM ITS CENTER TO THE TOP LEFT CORNER OF WHERE YOUR MILES SHOW , THAT IS 50 MPH , SO I JUST FIGURE OUT HOW FAST I'M GOING FROM USING CALCULATIONS FROM THOSE FACTS , AND THAT ON MY TEMP GAUGE WHEN THE NEEDLE IS AT 3:00 MY FAN SHOULD ALREADY BE ON AND A 1/4 INCH HIGHER ITS GETTING HOT , AND AS FAR AS THE TACH. , THAT LITTLE ******* THING IS USELESS AND NOT EVEN WORTH A MENTION HEAR ! .. TO ME ITS NO DIFFERENT THEN HAVING ONE OF THOSE WATCHES OR CLOCKS WITHOUT NUMBERS ON THEM , JUST MARKS , AND YOU STILL NO WHAT TIME IT IS ! .. :confused2: