The oil sight glass on K1100RS bikes is buried in the fairing and you usually need to dig out a flashlight just to check the oil level. I originally made one of these for my K1100RS several years ago. Its amber and uses the older LED technology of the time. I decided to make one using a better LED for my K75 that I recently put a K1100RS fairing on. While I was at it I made two of them so I can upgrade the old one on my K1100RS.
You can see the old one in this picture:
(http://i278.photobucket.com/albums/kk91/electro_handyman/Bike%20Tech/k75f_oilled_0.jpg)
My LED of choice for this little project is a white 12V Ba9s 1W SMD LED scored from a Chicom on Fleabay.
Step 1: Cut a strip of aluminum – angled at one end – you’ll see why later.
Step 2: Drill two holes in it. One Ľ” hole for mounting the bracket on an M6 bolt. Another 3/8” hole for mounting the LED.
Step 3: Put a right angle bend in the aluminum strip.
Step 4: Put the LED in the 3/8” hole and epoxy the front housing of it to the aluminum strip.
(http://i1221.photobucket.com/albums/dd470/Motobrick/oil_led/k75f_oilled_1.jpg)
Step 5: Flip it over and put a bead of solder around the base of the bulb to ensure good conductivity between the aluminum strip and the LED. When bolted to the engine this grounds the base of the LED.
(http://i1221.photobucket.com/albums/dd470/Motobrick/oil_led/k75f_oilled_2.jpg)
Step 6: Solder a wire to the positive contact of the LED.
(http://i1221.photobucket.com/albums/dd470/Motobrick/oil_led/k75f_oilled_3.jpg)
Step 7: Wrap the base of the bulb with electrical tape and fill it with epoxy to insulate the positive terminal/exposed wire. Once the epoxy’s cured and the tape’s been removed it will look something like this:
(http://i278.photobucket.com/albums/kk91/electro_handyman/Bike%20Tech/k75f_oilled_4.jpg)
Step 8: Mount the bracket on the oil sump cap head bolt above and behind the oil sight glass. (Now you can see why the mounting end needs to be angled.) Then bend/tweak the aluminum strip to fine tune the aiming of the LED.
(http://i278.photobucket.com/albums/kk91/electro_handyman/Bike%20Tech/k75f_oilled_5.jpg)
Step 9: Put 12V+ switched power to the wire. On my K75, I modified my ABS switch to be a three position switch with a momentary position for the ABS functionality and a non-momentary position that triggers a small relay to power the oil sight LED. Alternately, since it’s an LED with very low power consumption that lasts “forever,” you could just tap it into the parking light circuit or whatever have it on whenever the bike is on.
Voila! No more need to dig out a flashlight to check the oil level. It’s not exactly pretty but that doesn’t matter since it’s hidden inside the belly pan.
(http://i278.photobucket.com/albums/kk91/electro_handyman/Bike%20Tech/k75f_oilled_6.jpg)
The oil sight glass on K1100RS bikes is buried in the fairing and you usually need to dig out a flashlight just to check the oil level. I originally made one of these for my K1100RS several years ago. Its amber and uses the older led lighting (http://www.niceledlights.com) technology of the time. I decided to make one using a better LED for my K75 that I recently put a K1100RS fairing on. While I was at it I made two of them so I can upgrade the old one on my K1100RS.
You can see the old one in this picture:
(http://i1221.photobucket.com/albums/dd470/Motobrick/oil_led/k75f_oilled_0.jpg)
My LED of choice for this little project is a white 12V Ba9s 1W SMD LED scored from a Chicom on Fleabay.
Step 1: Cut a strip of aluminum – angled at one end – you’ll see why later.
Step 2: Drill two holes in it. One Ľ” hole for mounting the bracket on an M6 bolt. Another 3/8” hole for mounting the LED.
Step 3: Put a right angle bend in the aluminum strip.
Step 4: Put the LED in the 3/8” hole and epoxy the front housing of it to the aluminum strip.
(http://i1221.photobucket.com/albums/dd470/Motobrick/oil_led/k75f_oilled_1.jpg)
Step 5: Flip it over and put a bead of solder around the base of the bulb to ensure good conductivity between the aluminum strip and the LED. When bolted to the engine this grounds the base of the LED.
(http://i1221.photobucket.com/albums/dd470/Motobrick/oil_led/k75f_oilled_2.jpg)
Step 6: Solder a wire to the positive contact of the LED.
(http://i1221.photobucket.com/albums/dd470/Motobrick/oil_led/k75f_oilled_3.jpg)
Step 7: Wrap the base of the bulb with electrical tape and fill it with epoxy to insulate the positive terminal/exposed wire. Once the epoxy’s cured and the tape’s been removed it will look something like this:
(http://i1221.photobucket.com/albums/dd470/Motobrick/oil_led/k75f_oilled_4.jpg)
Step 8: Mount the bracket on the oil sump cap head bolt above and behind the oil sight glass. (Now you can see why the mounting end needs to be angled.) Then bend/tweak the aluminum strip to fine tune the aiming of the LED.
(http://i1221.photobucket.com/albums/dd470/Motobrick/oil_led/k75f_oilled_5.jpg)
Step 9: Put 12V+ switched power to the wire. On my K75, I modified my ABS switch to be a three position switch with a momentary position for the ABS functionality and a non-momentary position that triggers a small relay to power the oil sight LED. Alternately, since it’s an LED with very low power consumption that lasts “forever,” you could just tap it into the parking light circuit or whatever have it on whenever the bike is on.
Voila! No more need to dig out a flashlight to check the oil level. It’s not exactly pretty but that doesn’t matter since it’s hidden inside the belly pan.
(http://i1221.photobucket.com/albums/dd470/Motobrick/oil_led/k75f_oilled_6.jpg)
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Thanks for sharing your experience and this wonderful thought? I will try to check oil level with led and hope it works.. Thanks again