Topic: aftermarket lighting/signal options?

[jason41987]

i was wondering if anyone here personally uses any aftermarket LED turn signals or tail lights?.. my tail light lense is cracked and i dont have any turn signals, so i thought since LEDs last forever, they might be an upgrade

another question i have about that is do you NEED an electronic relay for the turn signals or is it possible to get a more traditional relay aftermarket, or tweak the one i have to use with LED signals?

[alancop]

I have led blinkers that I just got from Dimecitycycles.com. I love them, they are very bright. Yes, you have to have an electronic blinker relay as the led blinkers don't draw as much power as the incandescent equivalents.

[jason41987]

im familiar with them not drawing as much power, and the power draw is required to operate a relay, doesnt someone make a relay that works with a lower powder draw?

[LesterPiglet]

The electronic relay I bought from ebay looks the same as a standard one. It cost me 99 pence plus postage.

[jason41987]

do you have the link to such a relay?, i need to buy the relay and four turn signals, since i currently have zero i thought i might as well go LED... going to put an LED tail light on too i guess.. my tail light is cracked, and im going for a cafe look anyway so i thought i might as well get an LED tail light too

on the CB550, the forward turn signals mounted to the lower ends of the headlight ears, am i right?.. but the CB750 turn signals mounted to the sides of the headlight bucket... wonder why the CB550 signals are lower on a stock bike?.. just a design detail with no real reason?

[LesterPiglet]

Here you go, this one is square but it's the same size and fits inside the mounting rubber. First one I searched.

click for relay

[jason41987]

now i just need to decide if i want to get the LED turn signals that look like the originals, or get something newer and different

[bjbuchanan]

I went with cheap ebay carbon fiber knock off flashers

I used a round ll552 or something like that, its a two prong flasher.

The signals were like 9$ for four of them and free shipping. I'm gonna paint em black. They use small reg bulbs but are easy to see flashing

[jason41987]

yeah.. i was going for a custom cafe look, so thats why i was thinking of not going with the stock signals, but something different.. im changing the tail light out as well to something different.. might just shape the end of the tail section to have a cutout for a round LED tail light... ill have to get all the lights before i can rebuild the wiring harness which is why a new tail light and turn signals was next on my list.. need them before i can complete the next big project

[jason41987]

well, im about to order parts... but i had to stop for a moment... i do not have any headlight ears... im not sure i want to buy the originals, but will probably go aftermarket which leads me to wonder where i would attach the turn signals, can aftermarket turn signals be installed to the side of the headlight bucket?..

another question i have is about the side lights on the CB550... how important are they? to have on the bike? i assume they are turn signals that are viewable from the side?

[matt mattison]

well, im about to order parts... but i had to stop for a moment... i do not have any headlight ears... im not sure i want to buy the originals, but will probably go aftermarket which leads me to wonder where i would attach the turn signals, can aftermarket turn signals be installed to the side of the headlight bucket?..

another question i have is about the side lights on the CB550... how important are they? to have on the bike? i assume they are turn signals that are viewable from the side?
[/quote

Aren't those just reflectors?

[LesterPiglet]

As you can see mine hold the bucket on.  The others things you talk about are reflectors.



You can see the original mountings at the bottom of the fork ears.

[jason41987]

lester, is that a 550 or a 750?

[LesterPiglet]

77 CB550F2

[RAFster122s]

Late cb550 (77-78) had the fork ears with turn signals mounted low. The '74 used a smaller signal while 75-76 used the large signals with rounded domed back. Late bikes used the same style.
the early cb550 had the signals mounted at headlight level with reflectors lower on the sides of the fork ears.

I think they moved the signals farther away from the headlight to improve their visibility. I believe the size increase was in part to federal regulations on the area of the signal lense.
Early signals are not compatible with the later headlight fork ears as the ID of the tube is larger.

As has been shown & said, the aftermarket signals can be mounted to the headlight bucket. This might require mods to your bucket and ears and it is a non-reversible mod.

David