Hello All,
I'm new to the forum, so please pardon any dramatic breeches of conduct. I've noticed several threads on this board regarding the replacement of the plastic jewels which cover the neutral, oil, highbeam, and turn signal indicator lights near the gauge cluster. The only suggestions posed included colored tape, replacing the entire cluster, or salvaging another lens from a wrecked GS. I'm not privy to these for various quality and economic issues.
I think I might have a solution?
What if, on the search for a piece of blue plastic, one were to pop the bezel off of a pilot light such as this one here:
http://www.ebay.com/itm/6-Blue-Led-Power-ON-OFF-Pilot-Light-3V-6V-9V-12V-10B-/300562722830?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item45faef300e
My intention being that this jewel could be fastened over the mounting point for the original, using some sort of adhesive. I think this would look better than tape, and provide solid protection from weather. All the while remaining less expensive than buying a new cluster.
I think that the BEST solution to this problem is to salvage a lens from a wrecked bike, but outside of craigslist I have no way of doing this on the time frame I want. Please let me know your thoughts, as I know a lot of people were facing this problem.
-Jared
:bstar: Why not? :bstar:
My bike is missing the Hi-Beam "jewel" so I'm certainly interested. It's hard to tell the actual diameter of the pilot light in the photo, and I have no experience with them. Do you (or anyone) have an idea of how wide it is?
If it didn't work out, I could always use the unmodified pilot light for an electronics project of some kind, right? :thumb:
Now then ... who's going to try it first? :icon_rolleyes:
Look through the Project Lights section at any large electronics store & you'll find something that can be cannibalized......most colors available.
:thumb: ... good thinking that man!! :thumb:
... i might advance the concept one step further?! ...
.. lots of people here have done the 2 diode mod for LED blinkers.... changed to HID projector lenses .. plugs for charging add ons into harness and fairing or frame mounted......... so its not as though 'we' are unfamiliar with wiring mods...
... so .. instead of using just the blue/orange/green bezel off those little ebay lamps... why not remove the original bases and just wire these ones straight into the harness .. and fit them into the existing holes? .. :icon_question: ...
... could even fit male/female spade connectors onto the wires .. so if they need replacing again... just a simple remove replace..
.. while some might not like the look .. or have a supply of the little covers .. (except the rare blue one) .. i cant see why not just replace the unit? ... i havent bothered yet to look under the idiot light panel .. and i do need to replace the bulb for the high beam... so anyone please correct the concept if its not possible for some reason... :thumb:
Get the hole diameter and go to RadioShack. They have a lot of simple LED lights and most are shaped cylindrical with a flared head, it'd be a simple matter of add adhesive, insert into hole, wire +/-, enjoy.
As long as you are basically electrically inclined and can solder it'll be a snap!
+1 on what Watcher said.
http://www.radioshack.com/product/index.jsp?productId=2062368&znt_campaign=Category_CMS&znt_source=CAT&znt_medium=RSCOM&znt_content=CT2032232
Ah - OK. An LED-based light. I was about to reply that without an appropriate resistor in series, a "bare" LED is sure to burn out immediately.
My local Radio Shack is less than 2 miles away. I'll try to get over there tomorrow. Thanks for the tip! :thumb:
I was suggesting cannibalizing the jewel but I guess you could try to use the whole assembly assuming it fits in the existing hole or you drill it out some!
Quote from: Worm on July 12, 2013, 09:40:03 AM
+1 on what Watcher said.
http://www.radioshack.com/product/index.jsp?productId=2062368&znt_campaign=Category_CMS&znt_source=CAT&znt_medium=RSCOM&znt_content=CT2032232
I used this one a week or two ago and fixed my missing lens cover. I had put in LED's and on my first drive the blue lens cover thing disappeared. I was a bit upset. Had this same thing in red for my street legal conversion on the XR400 and went to radioshack and bought the blue version.
I will get pics tonight. Its too big to fit in the hole, but I shaved the bubble off and glued it on.
A few things:
1) With the LED its way too bright. I am still testing it, but may remove it and coat the inside of the lens with a spray on tint (nightshades).
2) There is a pattern to this cover, its basically small square diffuser (behind the smooth outer bubble). This is OCD but mine is not perfectly straight up and down so when the high beams are on I can tell the lens is placed with that pattern almost diagonally.. if those things bug you make sure you pay attention to how it goes down before the adhesive dries. My plan there is to make a small dab of white out on the lens so when I place it I can center. Once it dries the white out will flake right off.
I will get pics tonight. Its slightly bigger than the caps that are on there now, but I bet almost no one looking at the bike would think twice. Its a bubble as well, not flat, but given its the high beam it fits the flow.
Its funny I was going to give it a few weeks to make sure it held and then report here, but saw this thread this morning. Good timing I suppose.
As far as making it work, I used a dremel cut the bubble off and then sanded the back smooth. I slightly went around my hole on the cluster with 600 grit sandpaper, but didnt get agggressive there for future use. I have washed my bike twice and rode a couple hundred miles all seems fine. I have not been on my bike a ton since the 4th of July so I will get more ride time in this weekend.
Heres a pic in the store: I wish I could have found the one on the left in blue, but it was no longer in the radioshack system.
(http://i1002.photobucket.com/albums/af147/Snake2715/IMAG1626_zps6f587611.jpg)
I'll get a night shot this weekend and update with it.
(http://i1002.photobucket.com/albums/af147/Snake2715/IMAG1720_zps7536c28f.jpg)
Snake,
That looks fantastic! I don't have a Dremel down at school with me, so I'll have to improvise with other cutting implements- but that shouldn't be a problem. Great work man, thanks for posting the photos.
-Jared