K11 Owners Group

[OldJerry]

I always have replaced the incandescent bulbs with LEDs in all turn signal and tail & brake lights on my previous Honda & Yamaha cycles. Naturally I had to replace the turn signal relay with a "solid state" unit to eliminate the 2X flash rate .... they worked well. When I got this 1997 K1100LT, I found out that BMW has a completely different type of T.S. flasher .... and they also have a bulb monitor that added to the problem. I found out you can solve the 2X flash rate by simply replacing the "current sensing" resistor in the OEM BMW flasher very simply. The current sensing resistor is the "flat steel bent in an "S" shape thing" soldered to the circuit board directly between the relays. YOU CAN'T MISS IT. Simply unsolder it and replace it with a .3 ohm ( that is .3 ohms ... not 3 ohms) resistor. The turn signal relay will work exactly as it did before. I am using LEDs that draw 175-200 ma each and I don't get the 2X flash rate if I remove 1 LED. If you really want the "1 LED out effect", then use a .2 ohm instead of a .3 ohm resistor. This becomes a little tricky ... if you use different LEDs which draw a little less current then you will always get the 2X flash rate. The voltage drop across this "current sensing" resistor determines at what point the flasher thinks there is a "1 bulb out condition". I am really not interested in sensing when one LED is out ..... like Drake (FlyingDuck) said .... the LEDs will probably last longer than you or I will. THE ONLY PROBLEM IS .... YOU DON'T WANT TO PUT THE REGULAR BULBS BACK IN WITHOUT PUTTING THE ORIGINAL "S" SHAPED RESISTOR BACK. You will probably burn out the .3 ohm resistor (at least it will get quite hot). You probably can't pick a resistor of .2 ohms up at Radio Shack .... I had to order it from www.newark.com (they have almost everything electronic). As for the Bulb Monitor .... I think Drake (FlyingDuck) has the best solution .... jumper it. I really don't worry about LEDs burning out .... just check them occasionally before you start a ride.
NOW .. for those that are really into electronics ... I built a completely solid state turn signal relay and a simple solid state bulb monitor to replace both OEM units on the K1100LT. They work fine on my cycle and on my work bench ..... but it is cold up here in Michigan so I haven't tested them much on the road. I removed the original circuit board from the OEM turn signal relay and replaced it with a "perf board" of the same size ... hand wired 4 I.C. sockets, about 10 resistors, several small diodes and a couple power MOS-FETs .... plugged the I.C.s into the sockets and you have a nice 100% solid state turn signal relay. Everything fits into the same case ... from the outside, you can't tell the difference between my relay and the original. I DIDN'T incorporate the auto-cancel for the turn signals .... I am with Drake .... I never liked that option. As for the Bulb Monitor .... I removed the OEM unit from the case .... took all the components (2 I.C.s, several diodes, resistors etc. from the board) .... scraped all the traces off the board (except those near the plug) so I ended up with a bare board with quite a few holes in it. I drilled a few more holes where I wanted them then mounted 4 small transistors, about 10 resistors and a couple diodes... hand wired the connections on the back of the circuit board ... Now I have my Bulb Monitor that works with my LEDs and it fits right back into the same case and plugs back into the socket. It is designed to drive a LED indicator.
If anyone is interested in building them for yourself, I can send you the wiring diagram if you e-mail me. I can't post a PDF file to this board (at least I don't know how). I am sending all the information to Drake (FlyingDuck). He probably knows more about LEDs than all of us put together. Maybe he can post some diagrams if he thinks it deserves the space.

Here is the info on the LED bulbs I used .... I am quite happy with them:
These came from http://www.superbrightleds.com

Tail CAN'T BE LONGER THAN 1.65" or it will hit lens .... you must enlarge the plastic opening on tail light housing so bulb passes through.
Tail ....(1 ea.) 1156-R24(wide beam)(red) ($7.50 ea) draws about 110 ma. bright

Brake .... (1 ea.) 1156-R3X1W ($17 ea) (red) draws about 150 ma. quite bright
(has tiny lens cover that can be removed to give wide angle beam)

Turn signal.... (4ea) 1156-A45-T ($25 ea) (amber) draws about 200ma.

I also installed this strobe LED above my license plate .. Wired it in parallel with my BRAKE light ... IT REALLY GETS YOUR ATTENTION
(it has 8 different strobe patterns you can select by simply touching the blue wire to +12V)

http://www.strobesnmore.com
SLULTRA (red) wide angle high intensity ($45 ea.) (5" wide --- 1.5" high --- 1/3" thick) .. can also get amber.

http://www.newark.com
Resistor .3 ohms

Try these at your own risk .... they work fine for me.
Good luck .... jerry
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1997 K1100-LT
Special Edition

[Flying Duck]

How many miles do you have on this mod?

I tried modifying the stock relay with some help from electronics gurus over at ADV but it didn't work out.

Then I built my own LED flasher relays around a Toyota flasher relay but that was a wee big complicated since I had to design it and then build it. (latching relays and diodes and stuff) But I built two and installed them in OEM flasher relay housings. I've been running those for quite a while in my K1100s and they do work just like the OEM flasher except for the auto-cancel - but I never liked that anyhow. It doesn't check for bulbs either.

I have since discovered that the plug-n-play solution is to install a Kisan Signal Minder as those are LED friendly. That's what I'm running in my K75.

Also, if you have the Audiovox cruise control installed that expects a filament brake light bulb. You can run an LED and fool it though by putting in a 5-pin relay (I actually used a 12V PCB relay) that grounds the purple wire until the brakes are applied.

85: Ground
86: Tapped into the brake light wire that goes to 12V when you apply the brakes. (Yellow for a K bike.)
30: Ground
87a: CCS-100 Purple wire
_________________
93 LT (x2)
94 RS
86-97 K75F(K75/100/1100 Frankenbrick)
86 K75C w/paralever, hi perf cams,TURBO!
91 & 92 K75Ss
91 K1
86 custom K100
14 WR250R
IBA #17739 (SS1K, BBG, 50CC)
Buy parts HERE

[OldJerry]

I have been using my "home built" turn signal flasher for about 1 month .. it works well for me. The simple version .... switching the sensing resistor ... I just tried it out on my bench and tried it on my K1100LT ... it works, but I have no actual time on it. It is too cold up here in Michigan ... will have to wait till next year. As for the Bulb Monitor ..... works well on the bench and on my cycle, but no real running time. Using either with a cruise control ... I have no idea. I sent you all the information and schematics ... look them over ... let us know what you think. I am happy with them and really like the idea of using LEDs. I think these are the NEW accepted way of lighting for auto & cycles. Still haven't quite got one for the headlight, though. Give the "swapping resistor" a try ... it is very fast and easy. You probably live where it is warmer... give it some road time.
Jerry
_________________
1997 K1100-LT
Special Edition

[Flying Duck]

Oh, and by the way, paragraphs are your friend.
_________________
93 LT (x2)
94 RS
86-97 K75F(K75/100/1100 Frankenbrick)
86 K75C w/paralever, hi perf cams,TURBO!
91 & 92 K75Ss
91 K1
86 custom K100
14 WR250R
IBA #17739 (SS1K, BBG, 50CC)
Buy parts HERE

[RTDude]

[Jim]

[Flying Duck]

Flasher relay diagrams from Jerry - images to large to put here:

http://tinyurl.com/jdkjerry1

http://tinyurl.com/jdkjerry2


BNU pics:




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_________________
93 LT (x2)
94 RS
86-97 K75F(K75/100/1100 Frankenbrick)
86 K75C w/paralever, hi perf cams,TURBO!
91 & 92 K75Ss
91 K1
86 custom K100
14 WR250R
IBA #17739 (SS1K, BBG, 50CC)
Buy parts HERE