Dashboard lights

[Mark2864]

Had a couple of bulbs not working, so I replaced them with LED’s. Just thought I’d share the parts info and results.
Mark

 

[nicksacco]

Nice touch!

 

[Arkterra]

How do you find the brightness at night? I've thought about replacing some of my dash lights with LED's but I don't want my dash to be distractingly bright. Does anybody know of an easy way to incorporate a dimmer into the dash lighting?

 

[Obo]

How do you find the brightness at night? I've thought about replacing some of my dash lights with LED's but I don't want my dash to be distractingly bright. Does anybody know of an easy way to incorporate a dimmer into the dash lighting?

Unless the LED state they are dimmable a dimmer won't work. You'll have full brightness until the voltage goes low enough and the LED's just turn off.

 

[Mark2864]

This is my first try with the LED’s. The blue looks excellent! They are not too bright at all. I bought some white ones too, but haven’t tried them yet. I didn’t change the bulbs in the idiot lights or turn signals because I didn’t see a need; just changed the back lights for the gauges.

 

[CYYJ]

How do you find the brightness at night?

Do come back and let us know what you think of the brightness level after you have done a long night ride out in rural (unlit) areas.

My big concern about replacing dash lights with LED bulbs on the ST 1100 is excessive brightness - I think Honda got the night light levels of the instruments "perfect" with the OEM incandescent bulbs, hence I don't think there is much to be gained by replacing them with LEDs. FWIW, I've only had one original bulb burn our in 20 years and 150,000+ miles.

Michael

 

[Mark2864]

Do come back and let us know what you think of the brightness level after you have done a long night ride out in rural (unlit) areas.

My big concern about replacing dash lights with LED bulbs on the ST 1100 is excessive brightness - I think Honda got the night light levels of the instruments "perfect" with the OEM incandescent bulbs, hence I don't think there is much to be gained by replacing them with LEDs. FWIW, I've only had one original bulb burn our in 20 years and 150,000+ miles.

Michael

I’ll let you know how they are at night on a longer trip. I rode to work last night, only for about 15 minutes and they looked great. The blue didn’t seem too bright to me so far. White might be too bright; I don’t know… The blue looks good and gives a modern look in my opinion. Of course it’s a personal preference.

I had 3 incandescent bulbs out, so my gauges were pretty dim before I put the LED’s in. I’m at about 119,000+ miles now.

 

[ST Gui]

Looks sharp. The even light distribution from LED bulbs is impressive particularly since the 1100 wasn't designed to use LED bulbs.

 

[Mark2864]

I think so too. The light comes around the back of the instruments nicely and evenly I think.

 

[ST1100Y]

My big concern about replacing dash lights with LED bulbs on the ST 1100 is excessive brightness - I think Honda got the night light levels of the instruments "perfect" with the OEM incandescent bulbs, hence I don't think there is much to be gained by replacing them with LEDs.

Not only this, LED's have a narrow, focused beam, so like with using those in taillights, you'll end up with a narrow bright spot surrounded by a vast dim area...
And for night vision I'd rather go with red or green anyway...

FWIW, I've only had one original bulb burn our in 20 years and 150,000+ miles.

Concur on the lifespan of the 1,7W incandescent bulbs (can't recall that I'd ever needed to replaced one of the indicator lamps BTW), and if one really goes I just replace all 4 while already in there, peace of mind for another decade...

 

[Larry Fine]

I think the indicator bulbs are rated at 14v.