Instrument Panel Lightbulb Replacement

[marsdog]

I got it working. I think the connection isn't made until the holders are placed tightly back into the tach. I was unsure if the bulb was in correctly, so I rotated one and it sparked and burned out my nice blue LED! The good news is that now I have blue LEDs all around, except the tach which is blue on left and the original white on right. I was going to order one more blue to replace the one I burned, but the blue and white lights, combined with the red zone on the tach, creates a very cool blue, white & red effect! I just might keep it! I'll post pics later!

[marsdog]

Here's the shots. I really need to ride at night to see if I like this. The blue looks cool, but I mainly wanted legibility at night. Note the tachometer, blue LED on left, OEM white bulb on right.
Before:


After:

[ekyang]

Took delivery of my '04 R1150R 3 weeks ago and the bike needed updates in the form of dash lighting (speedo/tach/clock) all looked a little dim with their stock bulbs. Here's what the disassembly looked like along with close ups of my stock bulbs. The Tach/Speedo take 4 wedge bulbs (stock bulb had the markings of a Toshiba A12V1.7W while the clock bulb was marked as a 12V2WHungary216T). Wedge bulbs measured approximately 17mmx6.5mm (3/4" x 5/16") while the clock bulb measured (19mm x 6.5mm) and was later identified as a BA7 Midget Flange Based Bulb via the folks at Superlumination. I ordered a set of 4 wedge Samsung Matrix and the BA7 Superstar for my clock.

The speedo/clock/tach lighting can be accessed by removing the 3 Torx screws securing them on the backside:
and then wriggling out the dials from the front:

Closeup of clock backside:
Clock bulb:
Bottom of clock bulb:

Backside of the tach:
Wedge bulbs used for speedo and tach:
Wedge bulb close up:

Once I get my new bulbs in I'll post pictures of the results with the new super white bulbs.

[tiPirate]

This is on my list of "to-dos" for my 11R. Looking forward to seeing your finished results.

I'll likely do orange or red for night-vision's sake.

[ekyang]

This is on my list of "to-dos" for my 11R. Looking forward to seeing your finished results.

I'll likely do orange or red for night-vision's sake.

I had read in one of the other forums that depending on the bulb, the red came across as somewhat pinkish. And the orange would be a nice throwback to the BMW cars from the late 90s/early 2K. Ultimately I went with super white because I wanted maximum brightness and high contrast i.e. so the redline on the tach doesn't get washed out by another color and I can see what speed I'm going since the numbers on the dials are pretty small . Also the super white would hopefully help increase the visibility of the clock bulb.

[gregor]

Thanks for the head up about the torx access covers. How do you access the bulbs when those covers are removed? OK just seen those pictures above.

BTW I suspect Photoshop on that Zumo. Maybe 142kph but things just get too unstable at 100mph plus. Whoops what a giveaway.

[ekyang]

Alright got my new bulbs in the mail from the folks at Superlumination.
Replacement LEDs for the Tach/Speedo wedge bulbs:
Closeup of LEDs for Tach/Speedo:

Replacement LED for the clock bulb:
Closeup of clock bulb LED:

A couple of notes on the install. In order to facilitate access to the rear of the speedometer you need to disconnect the speedometer cable where it connects to the front wheel. Otherwise you have no clearance to access the speedo bulbs. Close up of speedo cable disconnect:

Once you're gotten the speedo clear you can access the bulb sockets:

The new LEDs in their speedo wiring sockets:

Insert the new LEDs back into the speedo as indicated by the 2 holes below the fingers:

Now reinsert the speedo back into the housing and taking care not to bunch up the rubber gasket surrounding the trip meter - if you bunch it up it'll affect its ability to keep out dirt/dust/water: Location of the 2 speedo bulbs as indicated by the fingers:

Moving back to the clock bulb, the clock bulb socket actually has a connector that at least for my bulb, had to be pressed down VERY tight in order to secure the new LED bulb. The fit was extremely tight but I finally got it in without busting the LED glass.


Now insert the bulb back into the clock:

and take care to make sure that you line up the knob for the clock adjuster with the back of the clock correctly.


After re-aligning all of the dials so that nothing is off kilter use your Torx wrench to screw back the rear covers:
this is the tool that I used in order to not have to take off the headlight housing since a longer screwdriver style tool would bump into the headlight.


After putting everything back, I turned the ignition to on:


Clock looks good, not sure why the speedo and tach didn't turn on. I don't recall the speedo and tach lights not turning on when you move the key although I did notice that the new LEDs were unusually loose in the OEM wiring sockets. Will contact Superlumination to see what the issue is.

[ekyang]

Alright - took everything back apart (I'm getting pretty good at this) to troubleshoot the LED's not lighting up. I pulled the bulbs out and turned them around 180 degrees and voila - they lit up. Apparently the bulbs are unidirectional in their polarity - I just happened to put all 4 LEDs in "backwards". What are the odds? Anyways-put the key in and tested them to make sure they lit up:



Looks good - only problem is that the bulbs still do not seal well into their wiring sockets.

The bulbs sit so loose that I accidentally dropped one LED each into both the tach and speedo respectively and had to fish them both out:




Took the bulbs indoor to do a quick measurement check - turns out the new LEDs bulbs utilize a base that is 4mm in width vs. the stock wedge bulbs at 5mm. Top view of bulbs inserted into measurement holes:


The folks at Superlumination recommended two options:
"It is possible that the twist locks holding them in your car are slightly sprung. You may be able to adjust those using a small tool. Be careful not to cross connect the two sides while moving the metal prongs in the housings.
If you can replace the twist lock bases in your vehicle, we have the #24 twist locks for $.59 each on our website. http://autolumination.com/images/auto_b ... der_wm.jpg
Another option is to use a bulb with a plastic base like the #24 superstar with a cover: http://autolumination.com/images/auto_b ... s_w_wm.jpg
http://autolumination.com/74.htm"

Now having spent $4.99 a bulb I wasn't about to spend another $4.99 per bulb for another set of 4 with a plastic base, and I wasn't too keen on having to cut and replace the stock wiring ends with new wedge lock bases. Spoke to a buddy of mine who recommended that I use a thin solder to bulk up both sides of the LEDs to the 5mm width as an alternative solution. Looks like I'll be heading to Radio Shack today to get me a soldering gun with thin solder. "Stay on target. Almost there, almost there..."

[ekyang]

Alright - went to my local Radio Shack and bought me a cheap soldering gun and some expensive silver based solder (supposedly a better conductor).

I let the soldering iron heat up to its operating temperature and added a very thin layer of silver solder to the conductive strips on both sides of each LED.


Used a very small amount of solder to beef up the fit:



Plugged these back in and voila! No slipping into the speedo/tach no more! These had a fantastically firm fit in the OEM wiring sockets and lit up no problem.

[ekyang]

A look at the finished product with superwhite LEDs:

Speedo close up:

Clock close up:

Tach close up:

[tiPirate]