Switchback indicators

Hi Guys, after a laborious few weeks of trial and error I have finally installed Switchbacks on my St1300, now if like me you have no idea what they are, they are bulbs that will light white light, but when your indicator is turned on the White light stops then flashes Amber.
now I'm more than happy to post up any info you want to install these, including where to source the bits, which is a mixture of eBay and Amazon, but it's a whole lot cheaper than some places advertise
Clear indicator lenses ?30
bulbs ?15
Indicator sockets ?4
cable and Crimps ?2
just ask and I'll post up anything you need to know

I saw those on Ebay and wonder how much trouble they would be and how good they really worked. How bright are the white lights? And do they make mush of a difference.

They do make a difference, firstly they make the bike look wider and let's traffic see you earlier. I would say they are easily brighter than normal side lights and so are the indicators. The wiring is easier than you think. You only need to pick up a live from your side lights, the bulbs do the rest

Glencmp said:

Hi Guys, after a laborious few weeks of trial and error I have finally installed Switchbacks on my St1300

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You should have posted your intentions. Many of us have installed them and might have saved you a bit of time trials and tribulations. But you might post your choices as some of ours might not be available on your side.

Paul st1300 said:

I saw those on Ebay and wonder how much trouble they would be and how good they really worked. How bright are the white lights? And do they make mush of a difference.

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Little to no trouble at all as far as the installation goes. Swapping out the amber lenses for clear is a matter of removing three screws from the back of the lens in the mirror cover. Since they're cheap Chinese manufacture the slots for the socket tabs usually need to be dressed a little with a small knife or file.

Once they're in the LEDs are a direct replacement for the incandescent bulbs. Out go the old/in goes the new.

LEDs draw less current than incandescents. They'll flash much faster than normal because their lower current draw won't cause the OEM flasher to work properly. Some people actually prefer the faster blink rate but your MOT might not agree.

You can either wire a supplied resistor (6 Ohms/50W) in parallel with each LED or better yet replace your OEM flasher with an electronic one. It'll flash normally with any combination of bulbs in the signal/emergency flasher circuit. I think that's better than resistors.

Then your done. Glen's mention of sockets and tapping into a live wire only applies to non-North American bikes as they don't have the three wire sockets we do.

There are a lot of threads about switchback bulbs and for our bikes it's pretty straight forward. A little time consuming but not at all difficult. Get all the pieces together and it's a one-beer two-hour job.

The lights are whiter than our OEM headlights and position lights (look at my avatar) and the turn signals are bright enough. There's the added benefit of them being 'dark' in between blink cycles where normal turn signals would have the running lights on throughout the blink cycle. Plus the bike takes on a more modern look to most of us.

Hi ST Gui I couldn't put it any better, but I keep forgetting many of you are just over the pond, so if the UK guys need any help just shout, I think the biggest problem is just getting the bits as the Guys over the water get so much more bits than we do in the UK, I may have to move over

Hi all,
I have a ST1100 and live in Ireland, so normal operation of the lights is just the headlight on when lights are on (no constant indicator lights on, like in USA).
However, I would like to wire my ST1100 up so the turn signals/indicator lights are on constantly with the lights and then flash when I switch on the relevant turn signal/indicator, basically make my ST1100 a USA spec bike for the turn signal/indicator operation.
Anyone know how much work would be involved for this ? I guess a couple of relays are needed and a live from the main light wiring...or something to that effect?
Colm

Sorry folks, just found the answer to my question in this thread:
https://www.st-owners.com/forums/showthread.php?151313-Converting-any-2-wire-turn-signal-into-Running-Turn-lights/page2
:bow1:

I have directed a few UK ST1300 members to this vendor. He sells a complete switchback conversion kit for the UK ST1300. He is a UK vendor and ships for free to UK addresses. I did not look to see if he has an ST1100 kit but contact him and ask. He also used to sell the parts individually- at worst maybe he can supply you with what you need to make the conversion.

Andrew Shadow said:

I have directed a few UK ST1300 members to this vendor.

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Andrew am I missing the link?

Apparently it is I who missed the link- I forgot to put it in!

Here is the current ad- Honda ST1300 Pan European Clear Turn Signal / Indicator / DRL Switchback Kit.

Disregard the 679.99 GBP price- it is a typo. The original ad was 600 GBP less. See it here.

Any UK member reading this should give him a call and let him know about the price error- sure must be hurting business.

79:99 is the price showing now on Ebay

He has corrected the listed price to 79.99 since I posted the above.

OMG, this guy must own the LED shop. I dont know if this was posted before but this is the first time I have seen it. WOW.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=alMZRnOkpkc

Glencmp said:

They do make a difference, firstly they make the bike look wider and let's traffic see you earlier. I would say they are easily brighter than normal side lights and so are the indicators. The wiring is easier than you think. You only need to pick up a live from your side lights, the bulbs do the rest

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I saw a set of these by company called fireflies here in the US priced really reasonably around 30 bucks want to know what you guys know about these and if they're worth getting.

Drakker said:

I saw a set of these by company called fireflies here in the US priced really reasonably around 30 bucks want to know what you guys know about these and if they're worth getting.

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Welcome to the forum.

FyreFlys are what was first being recommended by the person who put a lot of the information about this farkle together way back- Switchback LEDs.
They are still available- 120 LED Dual Color Switchback 7443 7444 Turn Signal Lights & Resistors #F9
They are what I have had installed for several years and I have not experienced any failure with them. I find that the amber turn signal is a little weak however.

Another member used a different brand and was very pleased with the brightness of both the white and amber. Maybe you can hit him up for an update about the longevity of them- Auto Ec LED Lights.

Adding resistors to load the flasher after installing LEDs which reduce the load is silly, not to mention electrically inefficient and wasteful. It'e much easier to unplug one flasher and plug in another than it is to wire in a pair of resistors. I don't get it.

I used the original FireFlys mentioned in Andrew's link and am very happy with them. They used 60 white and 60 amber leds. I don't think those are available anymore. I've only seen 30/30 but since I have mine I haven't looked closely.

It's possible newer LED tech has made 120 LEDs unnecessary. Anyway I've ordered from FyreFlies twice and found them to be a reliable vendor.

Larry Fine said:

Adding resistors to load the flasher after installing LEDs which reduce the load is silly,

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Only to somebody how knows better. Since every vendor under the sun includes resistors someone lacking a little guidance would tend to use them. To them it would seem logical not silly.

And while I knew a resistor in a heat sink to boot was/is a waste of energy it's only through this forum that I found there were LED compatible flashers. I never knew the old bi-metallic jobs were replaced with electronic flashers and that some were compatible with LEDs and some weren't.

Glencmp said:

Hi Guys, after a laborious few weeks of trial and error I have finally installed Switchbacks on my St1300, now if like me you have no idea what they are, they are bulbs that will light white light, but when your indicator is turned on the White light stops then flashes Amber.
now I'm more than happy to post up any info you want to install these, including where to source the bits, which is a mixture of eBay and Amazon, but it's a whole lot cheaper than some places advertise
Clear indicator lenses ?30
bulbs ?15
Indicator sockets ?4
cable and Crimps ?2
just ask and I'll post up anything you need to know

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I mate how do you wire them in ive got the lenes wat do I need cheers pan st1100

terry said:

I mate how do you wire them in ive got the lenes wat do I need cheers pan st1100

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You might want to send him a message to get his attention because he has not been on this site for ten months.

terry said:

I mate how do you wire them in ive got the lenes wat do I need cheers pan st1100

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We can help you. Do you have the European kind where the front turn signals do not light up as running lights?