LED Dash Lights

[tlangman4]

I begin the process of dismantling the front fairing of my new-to-me 2000 R1100RT to repair shark-fin damage from previous owner. While the unit is off, I’ve decided to update the dash lighting to LED. I have found the proper replacements thanks to another post on this fabulous forum; I would like to get them ordered asap.

From the looks of the dash, I am guessing I would need approximately 14 to complete the process, that sound about right?

Also, I believe I read somewhere that the dash light for the charging unit needs to stay incandescent and should not be changed to LED. Is someone able to verify that? Also assuming that bulb to be the one with the pic of the battery on it..? Just double checking…

Last item; I also recall reading somewhere that one can change the wattage for that little incandescent bulb for the charging unit from the stock 1.5 to a 3, which then had some affect on the charging process.
Did I get that correct..??

Thank you!

 

[pauls1150]

On airheads, the GEN light must be incandescent, and a 3W bulb changes the charging characteristics (for more juice at lower revs? check the SnowBum page)... but I really don't recall if this applies to the oilheads at all...

 

[20774]

Per Snowbum's page, the early /5 Airheads used a 4 watt bulb, but then later went to the 3 watt bulb. He says that the 4 watt bulb has a lower resistance and allows for effective/usable charging to begin at lower RPMs. This was somewhat important for the lower alternator output of 180 watts early on...best to get what you can out of it as soon as possible. He says the difference is very slight and probably not noticeable.

 

[pauls1150]

A few years ago, RogerC60 said that the charging light must be a filament in the oilheads.

 

[20774]

I found what Roger posted, Paul. You're correct! Maybe the only thing similar between an Airhead and Oilhead?

Tach/Speedo lamp replacement w/LED's? '99' R1100RT

Got deep into the winter time bike work and decided to replace the Tach & Speedo lamps with LED's. Believe I've identified the four needed for the displays but after successfully extracting the housing for the speedometer came up against a BRICK wall getting the Tachometer out. Haven't broken...

forums.bmwmoa.org

 

[pauls1150]

2 wheels made for fun...
Looking at Doug Raymond's schematic for my 1150 (V3.3, 9/17/2014), the incandescent charging light is an integral part of that circuit too.
If one really wanted to go to a lot of effort, I guess it could be a LED plus a resistor in parallel...

 

[20774]

If one really wanted to go to a lot of effort, I guess it could be a LED plus a resistor in parallel...

Snowbum mentions that as well on his site!

 

[paul_f]

If one really wanted to go to a lot of effort, I guess it could be a LED plus a resistor in parallel...

Paul, am I not correct in assuming that changing any bulbs on our Oilhead’s dash requires a lot of effort? It appears to me that one would have to disassemble the dash to replace any bulb. Is it actually possible to.get our hands behind the instrument cluster to remove and replace a bulb?

My ‘98 Oilhead has 257,000 kms with only one bulb burnt out, a rather good lifespan for the original bulbs. (Fortunately I seldom ride at night and the GPS shows me the speed that the dead bulb can not. )

 

[pauls1150]

It's pretty (darned) tedious; I've never done it, though. But I can show you an abbreviated preview -

 

[paul_f]

Actually the changing of the dash bulbs looks quite simple from the R1100 diagram. I imagine that the gas tank, Tupperware, wiring, handle bars and instrument cluster might complicate the procedure.

Being extremely proficient at making difficult tasks worse, I will continue using the GPS for nighttime speed and delay changing any bulbs until the bike has need for major work by a mechanic. When that time happens, all bulbs will changed, regardless if they appear to be functioning fine.