Changing indicators - LEDs or bulbs?

I'm going to change the indicators on my bike so was wondering....

Is there any advantage of LED over regular bulbs? when the LEDs finally go does that mean the whole indicator needs replacing?

I've seen a lot of mention of using resistors or relays to slow the flash rate, does this only apply to the LED ones?

Cheers

I find bulbs to be cheap and lazy. LED's almost NEVER burn out, but you'd need to open up the fixture and solder yourself a new bulb it one ever did. Usually, when using LED's, your indicator speed does increase due to the lack of needed power compared to a bulb. This can be corrected by both resistors and relays, with relays being the easist, and resistors being the cheapest.

Example of a relay: http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/?cmd=...K%3AMEWAX%3AIT

And the disadvantage - LEDs not as bright!

Originally Posted by tim8061

And the disadvantage - LEDs not as bright!

Also true. JUST ADD MORE!!!!

[TamSV]

Originally Posted by HoL

I've seen a lot of mention of using resistors or relays to slow the flash rate, does this only apply to the LED ones?

That always applies to LEDs as tweakedtay said, but you can also get some mini indicators that are supplied with lower wattage bulbs that cause the same problem, for the same reason - i.e. with the reduced power draw the bike thinks a bulb has blown so flashes fast to warn you about it.

It's possible to replace the bulbs with a higher wattage but that can eventually result in the body of the indicator melting, depending on the cheapness and nastiness of your mini indicators of course.

Originally Posted by tim8061

And the disadvantage - LEDs not as bright!

+1 If you go the LED router make sure you don't get the cheapest one as they may not be bright enough for a bright sunny day. LED light is also more directional which makes it even more difficult to see without some sort of lens.

This is not to say that all LED lights are rubbish since there are proper indicators out there, just do a little research before.

[MJC-DEV]

Agree with above, cheap Ebay LEDs will be poor, you will have to spend money to get good quality and brightness. I went for high power, wide angle white LED bulbs that plugged into the existing indicators. Branded Japanese around £8 per bulb but give similar lumens to 21W bulbs. I would try and choose by Lumen figure if available. C3 brand (Cheap Chinese Crap) will not give any meaningful information.

Link to the led replacement bulbs to fit into stock indicator houses?

[MJC-DEV]

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Xtec-382-P...item41450d20e6