Unedited, uncensored review of Drakes LED setup

[Off the grid]

So eagerly I awaited my 26$ LED replacement set...when it arrived there were 7 bulbs and detailed instructions. I thought to myself....this doesn't look so bad.

What the instructions don't tell you is that removing the instrument cluster is akin to stealing a bone from a rabid pitbull.

15 months I have not done a job that caused so much aggravation. The 4 5mm mounting bolts are in such a place that makes it impossible for normal Allen wrenches to do the job. You might get 1/4 of a turn or 1/2 a turn at most, but there is so much hardware in such a tight space that it makes normal tools and my meathook-sized paws almost impossible.

Another problem is that the holes where the mounting screws go are recessed and larger than the bolt head....and since you can't see you have to go by feel.

I finally took a 5mm Allen key and cut in in half, leaving an "L" shaped section and a straight piece about 5cm long. Wrapping one end of the straight piece with tape for purchase, the 2 new tools made the job much, much easier. I would imagine a small mirror would aid as well.

The rest of it is pretty straightforward. 4 bulbs for the outer lights and the clock bulb...I had 2 extra bulbs and was confuzzled about where they went, so I put a call into customer support. (see below)

The result?



In a word.....phenomenal. Even my wife could not believe the difference in the look. 26$ and a few hrs of labor (I could do it again in 30mins now) for a noticeable upgrade. I wish I had a "before and after" picture in the dark...the difference is striking. There is also a great feeling knowing that I will not have to replace anymore bulbs for a long time, if ever.

The verdict?
1. Product: A+ easily 10x better than stock.
2. Instructions: A..straightforward...or as I said to Drake, "idiot-proof"
3. Customer support: A+ After having 2 bulbs left over, I placed a call to the product hot line. Below is the actual conversation:

<briiiing>
[woman answers]Hello?
[me] Hello Ms Duck, this is Big Dave, is Duck available to talk?
[woman]hold on, he's in the garage again.........Draaaake!
[duck] Hello?
[me] Hey Drake, it's me OTG from the K11 forums.
[duck] Hey
[me] I'm sorry to call, but I have 2 leftover bulbs and I don't want to close everything up without checking
[duck] <pauses> they are for the gauges, dumbass
[me] oh yeah....the gauges <sheepishly clearing throat>
[me] ok man, that's all, sorry for the call


As you can see, customer support for products is top-notch and answered all questions.

In closing, I give this product a 97 out of a hundred.

Anyone not running these bulbs is shortchanging themselves.

[Flying Duck]

[duck] <pauses> they are for the gauges, dumbass

That is NOT what I said - but it IS what I thought.

[Ted]

LOL!!!

[kewheels]

I need two of those kits. Ho do I get them?

[Off the grid]

Oh, he'll be here soon enough...........

(Send a PM to Flying Duck if he doesn't)

[AndrewD]

Just a line (or 2) to say the kit arrived here in the UK very quickly.

Removal was easy if you remove the 2x 10mm nuts from the mounting plate. Slide away and then remove whole cluster. 4x Allens can then be removed easy as pie.

Results were fantastic, and I cannot recommend this upgrade enough!

[rydor]

I used Drake's kit to change all my backlights to blue LEDs on my RS... it was striking...

[fnord]

How 'bout some uncensored VIEWS of the product?

[Flying Duck]

Update:

In October nad November I ordereed a whole bunch of different LEDs in an attempt to come up with a kit that replaces ALL of the bulbs with LEDs - including the indicator bulbs.

You don't a major upgrade like you do from the backlighting LEDs. The lower indicator bulbs are about the same. However, the turn signal indicators and the three below them are nicer though in my opinion.

More info here:
http://fdk11.freehostia.com/kbikeparts/ledupgrade.htm

[AndrewD]

Can you do them in Yellow for the K1?

[Flying Duck]

Can you do them in Yellow for the K1?

Yes, I could do amber backlighting for the yellow K1 speedo. However. I haven't experimented with amber so I'm not sure if you'll see a marked improvement like you do with green. In fact, it might be worse.

I have experimented with other colors as follows:

Blue: I did blue on my black K100RS. It looked pretty cool but made the speedo and tach less visible at night. The LCDs for the gear indicator and clock don't illuminate very well since they're designed for green backlighitng. What I did to partially resolve this was take the guts out and tape the sides of the box behind the clock and used a green LED behind the clock. If you don't tape the sides of the clock box then the green will bleed into the lower inner corners of the speedo and clock facepltes.

Red: I have red backlighting in the cluster on my Mystic Red K1100RS. It's better than blue but again not as good as green and not so good for the LCD displays. I also taped the sides of the clock box on that bike and used green to illuminte the clock.

The reason I don't actively sell red or blue is that although it's cool if you want a particular color, it's actually a downgrade from the stock bulbs in terms of instrument readability at night.

White: I haven't personally experimented with white but I have done it for a couple of people here and they seem pleased with the results.

I am going to be ordering more LEDs soon(tomight or tomorrow) so if you're interested in trying amber I could do that for you. Since I've never played with amber I can't guarantee how it will come out though. I'd need to know if you want to go with green or amber for the clock. Drop me a PM if interested.

Here's a couple of pcitures. They are taken with different cameras and aren ot necessarily representative of what they look like in real life.

[RI Parker]

I just had my gauges out to do the 12 hour clock mod (http://www.ibmwr.org/ktech.shtml). And only after that had it running(first time) in the evening & noticed no illumination. (Had the 'idiot' lamps, but no light on the spedo-tach-clock-gear indicators. Also I have no light on the fuel or temp gauge.) Was wondering if maybe some common line to all the illumination lamps is messed up or something?

Just now I took out the temp gauge to check it, and I have voltage and the bulb is making light. Why doesn't the gauge light up?

Back when I was putting the instrument case back the two bottom screws would never catch, threads are buggered. (Did i do that? ) Anybody have a good fix for stripped threads?

[RI Parker]

I looked again, and my temp gauge DOES LIGHT. (Sorry, my bad).
So maybe whatever wireing is connected at least that far.

Guess I'll get in touch with the Flying Duck soon as I can bribe my son to let me use his PayPal.

[Scott_Anderson]

Roy, there are 2 ground connections.
Pin 13 and pin 18 for the grounds and pin 24 is for the backround lighting.
The backround lighting should also be the same circuit for the guage back lighting as well.

[Flying Duck]

Stripped housing screws: Stick a thin piece of wire in the hole before you put the screw in.

Or put a little epoxy on the screw and just glue it in. (Use epoxy, not JB weld. Something like 5 minute epoxy will let go if it has to. JB Weld is a bit tougher.)

You don't need a PayPal account. You can just mail me a check.

When you put lights back in make sure the foil didn't get folded under.

[Trucker]

I finally got time to do this led upgrade, and I am impressed. It certainly makes a big difference.
I was thinking that the job was going to be a nightmare, but it was suprisingly easy. All I did was take the screen and the top bit of the fairing off and the back of the instrument cluster is easily accessed for removal. Took me about two and a half hours from start to finish.

Cheers.

Rich.

[Frank]

I did the Duck LED upgrade and found that it is wonderful. I can read all the gauges very well at night. (Even for a blind old bastard like me).

Just one thing though, leave the standard globe in the alternator as the LED tends to glow dimly even at 4k rpm.

Derek, you can check mine out at the Budgie.

[Scott_Anderson]

Just one thing though, leave the standard globe in the alternator as the LED tends to glow dimly even at 4k rpm.

Yep, that's not a new issue. The charging circuit wasn't intended/designed for an LED lamp in the circuit.

[Flying Duck]

You'll also note that if you start the bike at idle that the charge warning lamp stays lit. Your alternator is NOT CHARGING then. You need to rev the engine up above 2,000 rpm to "excite" the alternator control circuitry. Once the light goes out you're OK.

I discovered this at 11:30pm at a rest stop in bumfuck, Kansas one night while I was diddling with some GPS power wire issues. I started the bike and let it idle while I was playing with the GPS wires. I did that to keep the battery from discharging. It did just the opposite and left me stranded. IF I'd just rev'd it that would not have happened. Apparently nobody in Kansas carries jumper cables because I had to wait almost and hour to get a jump. (I forgot about my towing insurance. D'oh.)

I've been running an LED in that bulb on my LT for over 20k now and it has not caused any problems.

[supercat1]

You'll also note that if you start the bike at idle that the charge warning lamp stays lit. Your alternator is NOT CHARGING then. You need to rev the engine up above 2,000 rpm to "excite" the alternator control circuitry. Once the light goes out you're OK.

I discovered this at 11:30pm at a rest stop in bumfuck, Kansas one night while I was diddling with some GPS power wire issues. I started the bike and let it idle while I was playing with the GPS wires. I did that to keep the battery from discharging. It did just the opposite and left me stranded. IF I'd just rev'd it that would not have happened. Apparently nobody in Kansas carries jumper cables because I had to wait almost and hour to get a jump. (I forgot about my towing insurance. D'oh.)

I've been running an LED in that bulb on my LT for over 20k now and it has not caused any problems.

where in bumfuck were you?

[drikko]

Just ordered mine from FD so by the time we rupture some budgies, we should be able to turn
ourselves on and admire each others dashs....!!

[drikko]

Put my LEDs in last night and they are SO cool!! With the exception of the turn indicators which are a bit dim so I put the original bulbs back in for them. But the rest of the dash is just so much clearer now, I can't believe the difference!

Thanks FD, highly recommended

[Naked Hoof]

I'd like to see what else the duck has, but every time I click his link, I cannot connect to his website. I might also be interested in these lights.

[Flying Duck]

Put my LEDs in last night and they are SO cool!! With the exception of the turn indicators which are a bit dim so I put the original bulbs back in for them. But the rest of the dash is just so much clearer now, I can't believe the difference!

Thanks FD, highly recommended

I think I got a bad lot of those turn signal bulbs. Let me see what the next lot I order looks like and I'll get you some replacements.

[Flying Duck]

I'd like to see what else the duck has, but every time I click his link, I cannot connect to his website. I might also be interested in these lights.

Try this: http://fdk11.freehostia.com/kbikeparts/ledupgrade.htm