Instrument Cluster Lights

[CNRED]

Today I decided to replace all of the instrument cluster lights with new LEDs.  Some of the iondicator lights on my 1990 K75rt were not working and I had a suspecion that the bulbs were the culprit.  Blubs that were not workin were the choke indicator light, the low fuel light and the bulb manager light.
The process was not as difficult as I anticipated.

Question:  When I turn tr key to the on position the Temp Light does not light up, nor does it light though the start up process.  I don't remember if it lit up be fore or not.
Everything else work great, All the lights that were out before are workinh now.
After I replaced the Cluster I sync'ed the throttle bodies.  Bike seems to be running great

Anyone eversee these before?
They were in several cluster light position, some were working, three were not.

[Filmcamera]

The over temp light should light up when you turn the ignition on.  Is yours an ABS bike and if so has it been removed or disconnected? Some people have reported issues with the temp sensor after disconnecting the ABS.

[CNRED]

Never had ABS.
I'll have to take a look around, see if I can take care of this.  Temp light is pretty important in Phoenix, AZ.

[Laitch]

I'll have to take a look around, see if I can take care of this.  Temp light is pretty important in Phoenix, AZ.

My 1995 K75's temp light has never lit when I turned on the ignition but it lit when the fan failed. Check your fan light using tests found on the forum.

[rbm]

+1 to what Laitch says.  Temp light does not come on with the ignition. It only lights if the temperature of the coolant exceeds 111*C (232*F).

[Inge K.]

The over temp light should light up when you turn the ignition on. 

4V models only.

[Laitch]

The over temp light should light up when you turn the ignition on.

4V models only.

Adaptation and calm are the best tools do deal with motorcycles. The attached excerpt is from the 1994 K75 Standard, S and RT Rider's Manual. Trust but verify. Ride more; less robot! :giggles

Not necessarily. Have a nice day, from your friends at BMW Motorrad..png (114.45 kB . 720x231 - viewed 1597 times)

[Motorhobo]

You might want to share what kind of LEDs you got, including exact supplier and ordering info. I ordered some off of superbrightleds.com and got the wrong ones.

I don't know which ones are in the pic, but if they were green, they might be the ones Drake sells on his site here:

http://kbikeparts.com/

[The Mighty Gryphon]

Your old LED's don't look like what I got from SuperBrightLed's.  Could be from Drake Smith.

One caution: the LED I put into the blue high beam indicator was so bright that it affected my night vision and I had to replace it with the original bulb.  The other option is to put a chunk of black tape with a small hole over the indicator.  I am also looking for a dimmer LED for the low fuel indicator for the same reason.  If you do a fair bit of riding at night on country roads these bright lights can be pretty annoying.

[CNRED]

Thanks Laitch. rbm, Gryphon and others that responded to my post.
The LEDs I'm using came from Kbikeparts.com. for 1986+k-Bikes.

One caution: the LED I put into the blue high beam indicator was so bright that it affected my night vision and I had to replace it with the original bulb.  The other option is to put a chunk of black tape with a small hole over the indicator.  I am also looking for a dimmer LED for the low fuel indicator for the same reason.  If you do a fair bit of riding at night on country roads these bright lights can be pretty annoying.

Thanks for the info, I didn't know I could mix LED and regular dash bulbs, I am finding the warning lights are quite bright.  I was thinking about using regular bulbs for the warning lights and LEDs for the backlighting.
I went out to the garage last night and turned the bike on th see how bright the lights are.  It seems I have more work to do, the High Beam light does not light, nor does the oil preasure light.  It seem I will be back in there again over the next few days to fix those issues.
Is there a way to test LED lights before installing them?  I tested all the regular dash the lights that came out of the bike for continuity and they all tested good and were working when removed.  As I was installing the new LEDs I thought it would be a good thing if I could test the bulb before installing.

Good news about the temp light, one less thing I have to chase.


rbm,
   Still hot down here, again thanks for your help last April and the clarification about the Temp light.

[The Mighty Gryphon]

I like the LED's for the warning lights.  They are bright enough that there is no chance of not seeing them in the brightest sunshine.  It's just the High Beam and Low Fuel lights that aren't critical alarms and will be on routinely when riding at night that I don't use the LED's for.  I am still looking for low output LED's that I can use for those indicators.

[TX brick]

Adaptation and calm are the best tools do deal with motorcycles. The attached excerpt is from the 1994 K75 Standard, S and RT Rider's Manual. Trust but verify. Ride more; less robot! :giggles

The temp warning light on my 91 75RT doesn't come on when key is turned. I have checked that it works by crossing wires on relay.
I checked the owners manual and it lists the over temp light in another section from the lights that should come on in the "ON" position.

[Michael Sydney]

When replacing conventional lights with LED in panel lighting and warning light functions I have found it is often better to scuff the plastic lens of the LED with some fine abrasive paper. This helps diffuse the beam and give better coverage with fewer bright spots.

[The Mighty Gryphon]

When replacing conventional lights with LED in panel lighting and warning light functions I have found it is often better to scuff the plastic lens of the LED with some fine abrasive paper. This helps diffuse the beam and give better coverage with fewer bright spots.

Yes, especially with the LED's for speedo and tach lighting.  Makes a big difference in the way they light them up.