light reflector

[TxVenture]

I am wondering if it is possible to take the taillight and add reflective material inside the light housing and if possible would it make the light appear brighter to people following me??

Any thoughts?

 

Don H.

[mbrood]

Even aluminum foil is bound to help but you might take a look at a stronger bulb... 2357LL?

[a1bummer]

Don't know if this info will help ya... but LED lighting is getting brighter and cheaper these days. There are some that should be brightrer and consume less power that stock bulbs. I beleive superbrightleds.com has some good deal on them.

[Gearhead]

I beg to differ on the LEDs. They are still dimmer and much more directional than incandescent bulbs. They have potential, but it requires a WHOLE BUNCH of them and the light fixture really has to be designed for them to work right. This is because the reflector inside a standard fixture is ineffective with LEDs due to the fact that they don't put out any sideways light. I tried some bulb replacements that had some LEDs installed radially in addition to those facing straight out. I hoped these would give it significant sideways lighting so the reflectors would work - they didn't and the light was horrible. There are available for some bikes a big ol' board of LED's that either covers or replaces the ENTIRE reflector which does a nice job then of illuminating the whole lens. They are expensive.

 

2357 bulbs will give you a little better brake light brightness; no different on the tail light. Personally, I think the big honkin' tail light on the Venture is darn bright already! If you want more, you might consider separate LED fixtures mounted on the trunk, bags, etc. View them before you buy, though, because some LED fixtures are MUCH brighter than others, and again, they are directional so consider the angle of your mounting surface. We have a local truck stop here that has a huge display of them.

 

Finally, if you do install LED bulb replacements in your tail light, the blown bulb indicator in the CMS will activate due to the low current draw. However, if you replace one bulb and leave the other incandescent, that will not happen. The light will appear asymmetrical, though.

 

Jeremy

[friesman]

I beg to differ on the LEDs. They are still dimmer and much more directional than incandescent bulbs. They have potential, but it requires a WHOLE BUNCH of them and the light fixture really has to be designed for them to work right. This is because the reflector inside a standard fixture is ineffective with LEDs due to the fact that they don't put out any sideways light. I tried some bulb replacements that had some LEDs installed radially in addition to those facing straight out. I hoped these would give it significant sideways lighting so the reflectors would work - they didn't and the light was horrible. There are available for some bikes a big ol' board of LED's that either covers or replaces the ENTIRE reflector which does a nice job then of illuminating the whole lens. They are expensive.

 

2357 bulbs will give you a little better brake light brightness; no different on the tail light. Personally, I think the big honkin' tail light on the Venture is darn bright already! If you want more, you might consider separate LED fixtures mounted on the trunk, bags, etc. View them before you buy, though, because some LED fixtures are MUCH brighter than others, and again, they are directional so consider the angle of your mounting surface. We have a local truck stop here that has a huge display of them.

 

Finally, if you do install LED bulb replacements in your tail light, the blown bulb indicator in the CMS will activate due to the low current draw. However, if you replace one bulb and leave the other incandescent, that will not happen. The light will appear asymmetrical, though.

 

Jeremy

 

I know that Leds arent the whole solution, but has anyone tried wiring in a few LEDs around the existing bulb inside the tailight? To me this might be the best solution, no extra heat or current draw, but some extra needed light.

 

Brian

[timgray]

Actually proper LED tail lights are far brighter than any bulb. Problem is you gotta spend $25.00 to $40.00 each to get them. superbrightleds.com has a 5 watt unit that will absolutely beat any 1157 bulb in brightness and is not directional (BA15 5-Watt LED 15mm Bayonet Base Bulbs) In fact I have a set of their LED's in my bikes fog lights. Dropped the wattage draw on the bikes electrical system from 70 watts to 10 and I get people complaining about how bright they are. I have a full set, but I have to replace my blinker modules and wire up a system to fool the lamp out indicators on my bike before I can use them. I use them in my car and it's like I turn on red fog lights to the rear when I hit the brakes.

 

 

Note, the really low grade LED bulbs have separate little led's and are directional ,but those are not the real stuff, do not ever buy those for anything but show or indicator or marker lamps. the little 196, 4 led bulbs work well for markers.

 

Finally, to make the tail light brighter, I'd paint the "reflector" part inside with chrome paint or for a more even light a bright white. the dingy grey that my 83 has as the inside reflector certianly is not making full use of the light.

[Tom]

I have the LED tailight panel(Yes Red LEDS) with clear lens and people swear its so bright they think I have my brake lights on....till I hit my Brake lights,then the world behind me really lights up,BUT some people do not like clear lenses.

[hipshot]

Don.

i don't know for sure, but i would think that if you covered the inside "reflective" surface, with "a/c/ duct tape", the aluminum type, you might get a lot more reflection, at a very low cost.

just a thought!

just jt:backinmyday:

[friesman]

I have mounted this LED spoiler on my 85, i lowered the height a bit and i think it looks good and it raises the brakelight up to a nice eye level height. It can be installed to modulate the light on braking or to be a regular brake light. For about 35 bucks I thought it was a good deal. I would have posted a pic but my bags are out getting paint and that led bar is getting painted to match also

 

I realize that I lose the luggage rack on top but i would rather be with out my luggage rack than my legs.

 

http://www.mutazu.com/products.php?s=prod_image.php&menu=DMY%20Trunk%20Series&cat_id=1&product_id=20&img=LED%20spoiler%201.JPG

 

Brian

[jeeper0202]

i got one of those spoilers ,, and i love it .. realy makes your bike look different ... here are some pics tell me what you think... i got a 06 midnite:Venture:[ATTACH]29475[/ATTACH]

 

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