Reserve Lighting Unit (RSU) Bypass 1988 Venture Royale

[VerntureVet]

The title says (RSU) that was a typo I should have put (RLU)

 

Other posts covered this but a picture says 1000 words.

 

To bypass the RLU on the my 1988 Venture Royale I unplugged the wires and soldered them together as shown in the picture.

 

This will give you a functioning low/high beam and will also push power to the High Beam indicator when you have High beams on.

 

The extra wire left on the plug would goto the Headlight Out indicator on the dash and is no longer needed. As the best indicator of a burn out headlight it lack of illumination on the road.

 

Tie Together the Green/White + Blue/Black + Blue/White

Tie Together Yellow/Green + Blue/Red

Tie Together Black + LightGreen

 

This will allow the High Beam light to work and let the light dimmer on the handle bar change from between Hi and Low Beam

 

The Yellow wire if for the White Head Lamp Out Indicator and is no longer useful.

Edited September 25, 2015 by VerntureVet

[KIC]

What is the purpose of the RSU and why by-pass it ?

[Flyinfool]

I think he meant RLU hence Reserve Lighting Unit.

The purpose of the RLU is to monitor the headlight. If the low beam bulb is on and it burns out it will switch to the high beam, likewise if the high beam is on and it burns out it will switch to the low beam. This is so that when you are cruising down the highway at 70 at night and THE headlight burns out, the world does not go direct to black. The RLU also turns on the white headlight indicator on the dash to make sure you know that it has activated. The reason that you have to bypass it is that it uses amp draw to determine if the headlight burned out, if you install modern lighting that uses less power, the RLU can decide that it is a burned out bulb and switch to the other beam, but then tat will also be lower power so it will switch to the other beam. You will end up switching back and forth very fast and can damage your new modern light.

 

The RLU is completely separate from the jumping of the dash display, that is a separate and redundant method for the bike to tell you that your headlight is out. The lack of illumination on the road method does not always work during the day.

[VerntureVet]

FlyinFool Nailed it. I installed an aftermarket LED headlight and the RLU had a fit so it had to find a home in my miss. parts box. On a side note I was getting a non stop CMU warning for the Headlight and the brake light when it was working. After bypassing the RLU I had almost 2 amps less draw on the battery. Changing to LED head light gave me almost another 3 amps less draw. changing the marker/turn lights to LEDs dropped it by 3-4 more + almost 1.5 amps when blinker or tail brake light was on but cause a rapid blink so installed load resistors to slow it down and lost some of the gain. This will work until I solder up a low power solid state blinker relay replacement.

 

As it sits with the MOD about I have dropped idle battery draw by 8-11 amps.

 

I am also working on replacing my dash lights with LEDs by using $1 cigarette lighter usb adapter and LED and a 1/4 watt resistor.

[Flyinfool]

I just replaced the dash lights with 12V 194 replacement LEDs even the stock dimmer still works. No need for all the extra parts.

[cimmer]

What color of bulb did you use for the dash lights if you dont mind me asking.

Thanks

Rick F.

[stanG]

The picture is great... but you can't really tell exactly what the color codes are. Can you post the list?

[VerntureVet]

@stanG Flyingfool used off the shelf 194 LED replacement bulbs Most auto parts stores have them ranging from $2-$9, big department stores like k-mart or wal-mart also have them. Its the easiest way to replace them and Flyingfool said the stock dimmer still works. try Super Bright LEDS they have lots of other colors the stores may note have.

 

Myself I built a driver unit out of a few cheap cigarette lighter usb chargers from the $1 store, a project box, some LEDs from DigiKey, and some 100ohm resistors. The only advantage I guess my setup has is the I am able to control how many amps the bulbs draw as a total package, I got to puick colors I wanted like red, blue, white, purple, yellow, and green, and with a future addition of a cheap PLC I can program the strings.

 

I have all the dash lights, Running lights, Tail/brake Light, turn signals, and over 50 accent lights all over the engine and bike. All costed me under $30 and a few days wiring. I have a test button on the box that lights up all the lights. with all over them on the total draw is only 2.4 amps and I can light up the engine, wheels, fenders, and road in any color I want.

[cowpuc]

Wondered if we could get this thread moved to the read only tech section after we are done playing in this sand box? LOTS of good info here!!

Thanks Vern for posting this up!!

[Freebird]

If somebody will write it up into a single tech article, I will be glad to.

[Flyinfool]

Number ONE rule of thumb with LED lights, ALWAYS match the color of the LED to the color of the lens or desired output. It does not work well to put a white LED behind a red or amber lens. Most of the LEDs brightness is wasted since all of the light energy other than the lens color is absorbed by the lens and never will be seen.

 

I did a thread on LEDs on my bike. Here is the post listing what I used.

http://www.venturerider.org/forum/showthread.php?77042-MORE-lights&p=757849#post757849

 

All of my LEDs came from Super Bright. None of what I used is available "Over the counter" at any local stores. There is a HUGE difference in brands of LEDS as far as quality and brightness. If an LED is bright they will list the lumens because it is a selling point, cheap dim ones usually do not list the light output.

 

It has also been determined that some of the cheap over the counter LEDS will not work for the turn signals because of how they are constructed.

[Flyinfool]

If somebody will write it up into a single tech article, I will be glad to.

 

Only problem is there are brands involved, it can get almost as bad as oil or tires, when ever brands must come into the discussion. Of course I think my preferred brand is best.......

 

Some of the info in this thread did drift a bit off topic where it changed from the RLU to LEDs.

[VerntureVet]

@Flyinfool We can just consider it a General Lighting modification Thread for now. If you forward me the place and brand of LED you used I will compile all the data into a single Lighting Mod post covering RLU removal LEd headlights, LED dash lights, led marker/turn and LED brake lights.

 

Now the reason I got LEDS from DigiKey is that I know for a fact that I can run KingBright 3mm 470NM leds far past there rated lifespan even over driven. Meaning if an LED is rated for 3.2 volts/20mA and you drive it from a 5V source you only need a 1/4 watt 100 ohm resistor to get its rated brightness. I have run Kingbright LEDs over driven with a 50ohm 1/2 watt making it insanely brighter and 49 of 50 outlasted 10000 hours. I still have the array I built 3 years ago over driven and I use it as a night light in my shop. Still has 48 bulbs running.

 

On the flip side if you under drive a LED it is likely to last well past its rated life. Picked up a LED 194 from the auto parts store today to check them out. the seam to have xenon LEDS and are supper bright. after ripping it apart I was very disappointed the see them to have used 5 LEDs in parallel with no load resistor. I assume they used 3-3.5volt leds to give them an operation range of 12-14 volts You end up with an inoperative or crazy fast flasher. So you have to install a load resister to slow them down. Now your right back to the same amp draw as a standard bulb @ 15x the cost counting the bulb and load resistors. This is a poor design and I asume they do it this way to make them cheaper. Anyhow without going into electronics 101 When I am done the flasher relay will be history also taking even more load off my battery. You can drive multi LED arrays with a simple transistor blinker or 555 timer chip. When all is done a single 1x2x4 project box will house all my lighting controls and total power draw with everything on should be less than 1 amp or ~2 amps with the 50 accent and show lights running.

 

The total conversion less a Headlight

Should cost less than $50.

Last longer than off the shelf plug and play LEDs bulb replacements.

Offer expansion for show lighting and sequence programming.

Allow for simple brightness control and blinker rate without adding heavy draw load resisters.

Allow for almost endless color combinations.

 

I am not against off the shelf bulb replacements totally. But what is the point in getting an LED blinker to save power (IMO the only good reason to change them to LED) and then add the saved power draw back with a load so they blink right.

 

For the non blinking lights on the bike. Cheap construction and poor design motivate me to do it like a true electronic engineer would.

Edited September 22, 2015 by VerntureVet

[Great White]

You can also use an "electronic" flasher unit.

 

Basically, the flash function is independent of the load.

 

I used one on my 98 K2500 when I converted to LED.

[Flyinfool]

@ventureVet

All the info of what I used is in the link I posted above.

 

As far as the flashers, The LEDs I used are significantly brighter than the incandescents they replaced, that makes them well worth it. Yes I used load resistors on them so there was only a small power saving. BUT how much time are your turn signals actually illuminated? 2 or 3 minutes per hour of riding, Maybe? Makes their current draw nearly insignificant.

 

It appears that you are an Electrical Engineer. I am a mechanical engineer that messes with electronics as a hobby and am still quite limited in my electronic abilities. I have found that the average person on this site has difficulty hooking up a load resistor without help. Not to imply anyone here is dumb, electronics just ain't everyone's thing.

[stanG]

Not to rain on your parade of discussion of LED dash lights and such but I was referring to the photo of the wires soldered together from the reserve lighting unit. The color codes of the wires. As for replacing all incandescent bulbs with LED... been there, done that. ALL the bulbs on my bike are LED.

[VerntureVet]

@stanG

 

I updated the OP to include wire colors sorry I missed that in my LED rant.

 

Tie Together the Green/White + Blue/Black + Blue/White

Tie Together Yellow/Green + Blue/Red

Tie Together Black + LightGreen

 

This will allow the High Beam light to work and let the light dimmer on the handle bar change from between Hi and Low Beam

 

The Yellow wire if for the White Head Lamp Out Indicator and is no longer useful.

[Flyinfool]

@stanG

 

I updated the OP to include wire colors sorry I missed that in my LED rant.

 

Tie Together the Green/White + Blue/Black + Blue/White

Tie Together Yellow/Green + Blue/Red

Tie Together Black + LightGreen

 

This will allow the High Beam light to work and let the light dimmer on the handle bar change from between Hi and Low Beam

 

The Yellow wire is for the White Head Lamp Out Indicator and is no longer useful.

 

The yellow wire for the Headlight indicator on the dash can also be reappropriated to use as an indicator for any other electrical stuff on the bike.

I have my headlight setup an a switch so that it does not turn off and on when I hit the starter. Saves wear and tear on the headlights starter circuit, I have a HID headlight. I put a bright red LED behind the white headlight lens wired so that it is on if the headlight is off, in the daytime I was occasionally forgetting to turn on the headlight after starting.

[syscrusher]

I would experiment with a wire-wound potentiometer (reostat) to see what sort of load is really required to get the flash frequency calmed down.

It may be that a smaller load would work, saving power.

I think it's worthwhile since your blinkers are operating often when you're at a stop light and the generator is making reduced output.

[Flyinfool]

The power draw of the blinkers is not that big of a deal. First while operating, the bulb is only lit 50% of the time. A typical stoplight is about 1 minute, a really, really long one might get up to 2 minutes, so you are looking at the blinker bulbs being on for a max of one minute and only on very rare occasions. There will only be one side of the bike being lit at any one time. For the amount of power that may get pulled from the battery, the charging system will replace that in a lot less time than it took to drain it once you get going. the charging system may even be back to charging during the off cycle of the flashers.

If you have done LED turn signals you probably had also done other LEDs for running and brake lights, That may well save enough power that you will still be charging just fine while idling with the signal on. I know that since I went all LED/HID with load resistors on turn signals, that even idling with the brake and turn signal on the voltage stays solid at 14.0.

 

I also have never heard of anyone killing a battery by having the stock incandescent bulbs and running the turn signals at a light.

[syscrusher]

But what if they have a heated vest with heated gloves and a high output sound system blaring?

 

No, I agree with you but still I do wonder if the typical 6 ohm load resistors are overkill and a much smaller load would still work.

I haven't put any LEDs on this bike except for one of the tail lights.

I did only one because the led I had laying around was no where near as bright as the incandescent in there.

I have a weak tail light if the incandscent fails now.

 

Do you have an led you recommend for the tail light?

[Flyinfool]

Sure do.

Go back up to post #11

 

I have found a huge difference in brightness and quality of LEDs.

 

If they ain't bragging by telling you the light output, it is because they are embarrassed to bring it up.

[VerntureVet]

 

Do you have an led you recommend for the tail light?

 

http://www.seoulsemicon.com/_upload/Goods_Spec/HR335.pdf

 

I have 15 of these in a tail light with an additional 15 for the brake light driven off of a $1 store 5V USB charger. When shining onto the red tail reflector they are very noticeable in the day time and almost too bright @ night.

 

To will need to mount them to a circuit board or something suitable. I used 1/4in Delrin and epoxy

 

I just happened to have all the bits laying around but the total cost would have been around $4

[Geobob]

Hello Guys.

 

Once again its wrenching season and this year we are replacing breaks. In the process I took everything off up front to clean and inspect and deal with my RLU. So far that sounds simple enough after the video and the info here but what got my attention is the idea of "over powering" my LED head light. I installed the LED headlight last year and while it is better, it is not outstanding. I thought about replacing it with one from Superbright but thought I might want to just try cranking this one up first. I did some searching on the web and so far I am not finding the information I thought might be right here.

 

Am I just looking at the wrong thread?

 

stanG

 

I updated the OP to include wire colors sorry I missed that in my LED rant.

 

Tie Together the Green/White + Blue/Black + Blue/White

Tie Together Yellow/Green + Blue/Red

Tie Together Black + LightGreen

 

This will allow the High Beam light to work and let the light dimmer on the handle bar change from between Hi and Low Beam

 

The Yellow wire if for the White Head Lamp Out Indicator and is no longer useful.

[cowpuc]

I had one of the LED headlight bulbs with the little fan on the back of it given to me a couple years ago (friend in the hood felt sorry for me riding next to his new HD, his new scoot came with those SUPER bright HD LEDS and he said: "That old beat up Yamaha's headlight is like riding by a birthday candle, try this = Happy Birthday" as he handed it to me.

I did the RLU jumper by using the pigtail off an old RLU so I could easily snap my RLU back in if I decided I didnt like the LED. Have been running the LED for a couple years now and REALLY like it. As you stated, the LED is by no means up to the standards that a full LED swap complete with LED bucket would be. I am pretty sure this is due to the fact that the "mirror" reflective interior of the stock 1st Gen is not meant to reflect LED light like one designed for an LED bulb but,, it is much better than stock IMHO. If you toss a volt meter on the + lead hitting the LED and are reading +12 there, I think that is the best your going to see. I am not sure how you would go about increasing the voltage to the headlight and not sure it would be a good plan anyway.

On a side note, the way mine came out after jumpering the RLU is that the White headlight warning light on my dash is now the high/low beam indicator. I think back when I did the jumpering I read that this is a normal outcome. I didnt do any addition figuring or dismantling of the dash to swap leads around in there to get it back to "normal" as I am old and lazy but I am sure if a person wanted to do the work, even that little outcome could be changed fairly easily. I did get kind of tired of seeing that white light staring at me so I dimmered it down with a hunk of plastic off something while we were out CTFW half way across the States and glued the plastic down with a dab of E-6000 and, as far as I know,, the dimmer screen is still on Tweeksis..