Here's a quick DIY for those of you who would like to use the less expensive, much brighter 1157 LED tail / brake bulbs commonly found on Amazon. Those $100 big round LED boards sold specifically for HD's are junk in comparison. And $100+ - really???

**Note that there are NEWER generations of LED bulbs out now that are ridiculously bright, using much larger high output chips, projector lenses, heat sinks and current driver IC chips. these are some serious bright *** LEDs** Plus the cost has come way down thanks to places like Amazon. these are nothing like the pep-boys variety. **

This only applies to bikes with the two single tail / brake / turn buckets on either side of the rear fender rails. Pretty much all of the newer non-touring bikes, FXS, FXD etc. The example bike below is my Breakout.

The main fitment issues are: 1. depth of the housing and 2. narrow opening of the hole for the bulb. the newer LED bulbs all have thicker bases which hit on the opening and won't let you insert the bulb far enough to lock it in.

About 10 mins per side with a dremel rasp tip and you're good to go- However - some of the LED bulbs are too long or plain too wide, so I have found one (through trial and error) that works well and fits with minor modding. Plus, you can go back to a filament bulb any time and the modding remain hidden behind the bulb.

The bulbs used are these on Amazon- [LINK REMOVED]Amazon.com: JDM ASTAR Super Bright 5730 Chipsets 1157 2057 2357 7528 LED Bulbs with Projector,Brilliant Red--2yr Warranty Included: Automotive

[[EDIT May 11, 2016]] I removed the above link because these bulb fail prematurely - they need a larger tail light enclosure to keep the LEDs from overheating and burning out the IC chip. I am now using a different brand of bulbs which appear to do better. it is hard to have "ultra bright" led's running without sufficient cooling in the small taillight buckets. $14 / pair! these have slightly lower output led chips but are still way bright.

See pictures of them installed on my bike on page 3 of this thread: https://www.hdforums.com/forum/softa...l#post15135806

Anyway, a lot of these LED bulbs do not fit or do not have good difference between tail and brake brightness, so you have to be careful which ones you buy. The max bulb dimensions for our housings are 18mm wide by 49mm long - you can go a few mm longer on the bulb and be ok but not any wider.

Basically- you must slightly widen the opening for the bulb base a couple of mm for any of these to fit. this does not prevent using a normal bulb later and the mod is pretty much invisible. you will use a dremel with 1/8" rasp tip, medium speed, to enlarge the opening by 1/16" inch all around and 1/4" deep. it takes 10 mins per side to do being careful. It is easier with a flex attachment on the dremel. you may need a small knife or pick to get any plastic burrs out of the bulb socket or the bulb lock channels. you will use the head of the bulb to check your work and tell you if you are done. Easy peasy - enjoy!

 

Awesome mod. I will give this a try. Thanks for the post!

 

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So here check this out I just pushed the bike outside and took some pics. this is in full sun, tail light only, no brake light. these are the same bulbs I have posted above.

The third picture below is in my carport - check the red light throw on the ground behind bike! that is just tail light.

The light is actually VERY red. It is so bright it is washing out my iphone camera and it shows up in the pics more orangy. But it is purely deep red light not a hint of orange. I guess overall you could say it is on par with the newer Mercedes LED tail lights as far as output. Seriously though.. way way brighter. I have clear lenses too. they would be about as bright with red lenses and not quite as bright with smoke lenses.

 

Nice work. Thanks for sharing

 

I went through he same process in the Summer of 2013 with my Breakout, except that the only LEDs available were from SuperBrightLEDs. Though I did a post about it then, I didn't think too many people would want to modify their lights, especially on a fairly rare (at the time) bike. Here's a few pictures of the ones I used - lens removed for the pix, and older pictures - head-on and comparing LED & non LED running lights

 

Thanks for posting your info- so you are one of the original pioneers for this mod, nicely done

Actually there some other newer HDs which use the same L/R tail bullet lights and 1157 bulbs, so it's not just specific to the B.O. anymore - Oh and the newer gen LED bulbs now available, they are WAY brighter (using higher output chips, projector lenses and actual IC driver circuits) so the difference versus filament bulbs is ridiculous.

 

These are the good aftermarket lenses by Biker's Choice- They have honeycomb engraving which is designed to disperse LED lights better. They also make a circular design lens, and it is for LEDs as well. They are not expensive and well made. These lenses will actually make your LED bulbs shine wider and brighter, they are direct replacements for HD lenses # 68973-00, 68559-07, etc.






Links below for reference to parts- always search online for the best deal and availability

Smoke lens, honeycomb design:
http://cycleplicity.com/products/138520-.aspx

Clear lens, honeycomb design (I use these on my BO):
http://cycleplicity.com/products/138517-.aspx

Smoke lens, circle design:


Clear lens, circle design:

 

[QUOTE=LA_Dog;14647450]Here's a quick DIY for those of you who would like to use the less expensive, much brighter 1157 LED tail / brake bulbs commonly found on Amazon. Those $100 big round LED boards sold specifically for HD's are junk in comparison. And $100+ - really???

Did your mod require load resistors?

 

[QUOTE=JHP;14649484]Good question- short answer, no. My turn signals flash at the normal rate. My turn indicator up on the dash does flash rapidly now. but that does not bother me.

if you want to have the dash indicator flash at a normal rate, then you will need to install one 6 ohm, 50w load resistor between the turn signal hot lead and the turn signal ground lead on each side. These are about $5 / pair on Amazon, best place to tap into wires would be under the seat area.