The front and rear blinkers can easily be snapped off in a major crash or even a minor bump in the road. When you get up your motorcycle, at first glance you might think, "Thank God nothing happened! However, if you look closely at the ground, you will find cracked lenses, scraped or shaved body parts, etc. In the end, you may want to replace the parts. This is the time when you want to install special parts that are different from others by custom use! What a great idea! Here, let's try to install LED indicator lights on a modern model CB1300.
- Replacing 4 indicators is not the end of the story for modern custom parts.
- Modern circuits with different wiring specifications
- Modern specification of terminal connection
- Front blinker wires are integrated into the headlight case.
- Blinker relay like CDI unit
- After installation, check the operation
Replacing 4 indicators is not the end of the story for modern custom parts.
In this day and age, multi-lamp indicator and tail lights with high-intensity LEDs are the norm, and the kit from Posh Faith, which has an established reputation for LED indicator lights, also included a special indicator relay. With this kit, the CB1300's stock functions such as hazards and front small lights can be used without modification.
The indicator relay also evolved greatly with LED support. Even for the normal bulb blinkers, the manufacturer's genuine parts have evolved, and this type of CB1300 had a completely special product built-in. The package specification is almost the same as the manufacturer's genuine relay, so to speak, it is like the genuine CDI unit of Super Cub. With the stock relay, even if LED blinkers were installed, they would not flash.
Modern circuits with different wiring specifications
The wiring color of Honda's flasher (indicator) is uniformly controlled by orange and sky blue in the late 50's. Since LED lamps have polarity, two wires must be switched when they are not lit. That's why there is a connector in the middle.
Modern specification of terminal connection
Start replacing the blinker body from the rear side. When I followed the wiring of the blinker body, I found the wiring terminal protected in the rubber holder inside the seat cowl. The blinker on the left is orange and the one on the right is sky blue. After fixing the body of the LED indicator to the body of the motorcycle, I temporarily inserted the wiring connector. At this stage, there is no need for the LED blinker to blink.
Front blinker wires are integrated into the headlight case.
Let's remove the headlight rim fixing bolts and take a look inside the headlight case. This mess is not much different from the past and present. Let's replace the front blinkers one side at a time, plug in the wires, and see if the LED lights up (or just glows) when the switch is turned on. The washer to fix the indicator is different for front and rear indicators. The round washer with a tongue is for the front body.
If the polarity of the LED is different, the blinker will not light up. In such a case, let's try to change the wiring at the giboshi terminal part. If it lights up by changing the wiring, there is no problem. After replacing the front and rear blinker, it is time to replace the relay itself.
Blinker relay like CDI unit
The indicator relay is located on the front left side of the seat cowl inside the bulge. To avoid damaging the stock part, we loosened the seat cowl and lifted it up. The blinker relay was pulled out along with the rubber mount holder, the coupler was pulled out, and the relay was replaced.
After installation, check the operation
After installing the indicator body, wiring, and replacing the indicator relay, it's time to check if the LED indicators are working properly before tightening the headlight and tail cowl. Let's start with the operation check. The front body is compatible with the small bulbs, and the rear is normal. The flashing hazard lights were also working perfectly.
- Point 1: Unlike old motorcycles, LED indicators to require "LED compatible indicator relays".
- Point 2: Instead of checking the operation after all the installation work is completed, the body is installed separately before and after, and the lighting is checked each time.
- Point 3: When removing the headlight lens, be careful not to move the angle of the body so that the optical axis does not deviate.
LED (light-emitting diode) is a high-performance component that consumes far less electricity than heat-generating bulbs and almost never runs out of bulbs as long as it is installed properly. They began to be used in automotive parts in the late 1980s, and at that time, many of them were used in high-mounted lamps, which were called the "third light" among tail lamps for four-wheeled vehicles. Since then, technological innovation has progressed, and in the modern age, many lamps have been converted to LEDs, and this wave has also swept over motorcycle parts. The most attractive feature of LED is that it can be designed compactly and has a large degree of freedom in terms of design. Another advantage is that the design of lights is not affected by the standard size of the bulb. Nowadays, there are many unit-type tail lamps and unit-type headlights for both motorcycles and automobiles. Although they have high brightness and light intensity, they also have the characteristic of being difficult to produce an optical axis. For this reason, the adoption of LED bulbs for headlight bulbs was delayed, but today, LED bulbs are appearing in standard general-purpose bulbs such as H4 bulbs, and they are becoming possible to pass vehicle inspections.
In a heat-generating bulb, electricity flows after switching, and it takes a small amount of time for the filament to start shining and reach the specified brightness. LED bulbs, on the other hand, light up the moment the electricity flows, and their response time is by far the best. It's not just a simple difference in brightness. Instead of a lingering glow, the glow has an overwhelmingly quick response, making it a product that is well suited for sporty driving.
