I want to swap my motorcycle bulbs for XHP Leds, I know its overkill, I need help

So I have a 2005 Yamaha FZ6 motorcycle and I am going scrap all my bulbs and stock lighting for Leds. Since visibility on a motorcycle is a huge safety concern for some, well I thought why not swap my bulbs for ridiculous Leds.

My plan is to use a few 1w-3w cree (amber/orange/yellow/white with yellow lenses?) leds as running lights, I figure I will have to use a driver or resistors and do some math, I'm not too worried about that part. I do know that my front turn signals are 7443 bulbs, which is like a 1157 with wedge base, so I think there are 3 wires to it. 12v, ground, and a lower voltage wire for running lights, 9v? 5v? I plan to split the job of this bulb with 3 leds, (2) 1w or 3w orange leds as my running lights, and most likely an xhp led with a yellow lens in-between the two orange leds, all tucked in together in a flush mount blinker housing.

But as I was looking at the voltage, current, and amp draw values for some of these newer cree Leds they seem to be almost identical to the specs of my glass bulbs. This got me thinking, Can I just cut my turn signal wires and wire these leds up directly? Is it that easy?

cree xhp35 - 1 amp, 12v, 13w, - 1400 lumens
cree xhp50 - 1.5 amp, 12v, 19w, - 2500 lumens
cree xhp70 - 2.4 amp, 12v, 32w - 4000 lumens < LOL, I know a 4k lumen turn signal might be illegal or unsafe, just weighing my options here.
1156 turn signal bulb - 2 amps, 12v, 26w - 400 lumens

I do know that I will need heat sinks (maybe fans) with some thermal adhesive, and tuck the chunks of aluminum inside the fairings/plastics of my bike. I think that since the XHP's are not going to be constant ON and only blinking that I can get away with a "lesser" heat sink or no fan. Or adhere the leds directly to the exposed metal areas of my bike like the frame, sub-frame, passenger pegs, swing arm, etc.

I guess what I am not understanding is how the current and wattage to my glass bulbs is controlled? is it the fuse box? computer? are the bulbs direct driven by my motorcycle battery when I hit the blinker switch? I don't know...

I also wanted to post links/pictures to flea bay to show the leds I am interested in, but I do not remember if that is allowed here.

Any advice or tips would be greatly appreciated, thanks in advance.

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Swollenblade said:

So I have a 2005 Yamaha FZ6 motorcycle and I am going scrap all my bulbs and stock lighting for Leds. Since visibility on a motorcycle is a huge safety concern for some, well I thought why not swap my bulbs for ridiculous Leds.

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Because this is critical life-safety equipment, is why not. Homemade headlamps, turn signals, stop lamps, and their ilk are unsafe and illegal.

Replacing the particular lighting with purpose-built (by a legitimate manufacturer, not homemade or some noname AliBaba or DealExtreme junk) is fine.

I also wanted to post links/pictures to flea bay to show the leds I am interested in, but I do not remember if that is allowed here.

Click to expand...

The full set of rules is here: www.candlepowerforums.com/Rules.html . However, since you won't be building your own vehicle lighting, there's no need to link to those items now.

Do not make your own lighting - they won't be legal and they'll almost certainly be unsafe.

If you want legal LED turn signals, Yamaha has a handful of models that come with LED turn signals as standard - the 2015+ R1 and 2014+ Super Tenere come to mind. The R1 only has stalk-type turn signals at the rear (fronts are integral with the mirrors), but you can buy 2 sets and install them on both ends of your bike. You may need to do a bit of wiring modification on them if the wire lengths are insufficient and the connectors are different, but they will work if you do it correctly.

Most aftermarket turn signals and 'headlights' for motorcycles are junk.

That's right -- almost all of the so-called "LED bulbs" on the market are not even close to effective, legal, safe, or legitimate. And homemade lights are even worse. Don't do it. All vehicle exterior lighting functions, including on motorcycles, even the ones that aren't mandatory, are highly specified as to their design, construction, numerous aspects of performance, durability, etc. It's far, far more detailed than just "Well, it's a red light facing rearward that comes on when I apply the brake, so it's a brake light" or "Well, the HyperCoolLEDs.com website said it emits 2200 lumens, and that's more than the original, so it's safer and better" or "Well, it looks nice and bright to me, so I'm going ahead with it". We do not get to just declare any ol' light into whatever function we want -- doing so is unsafe, even if we don't have to pass an inspection.