The International CBX Owners Association

I am in the process of converting most of the lights on my CBX to LEDs and thought I would share some things I have learned along the way. I am changing everything but the dash lights that are not on all the time(Neutral, oil, high beam, low air, and turn signal indicators).

The first lights I changed were the dash light for the tach, speedo and voltmeter. I used this red bulb from SuperBrightLEDs.com ($1.95 each)
After the install. Before and after current measurements showed a savings of 11 watts (11.6 to .6) with the LED bulbs.

Thanks, Joe. Looking forward to your 'next steps'. Those intr lights might be quite good for night riding.

The next step was the turn signals and taillight. Using LED turn signals requires either changing the turn signal relay or adding load resistors to prevent hyperflashing. I used this relay from SuperBright ($9.95) Their website said it may not work, but it works fine and is labeled exactly like the OEM flasher. It also fits nicely in the OEM mount. Since the flasher is not load dependent it will flash even without the turn signal bulbs installed so if a bulb fails you will not be able to tell from the dash indicator.
The relay needs the correct polarity to work, so white/green wire to B and gray wire to L.

I used these bulbs in the rear turn signals:
https://www.superbrightleds.com/moreinf ... mens/2337/

and these in the front turn signals/running lights (amber) and tail lights (red)
https://www.superbrightleds.com/moreinf ... t-car/811/

Of note SuperBright recomments that you use the same color LED as the lens on the light (i.e.; amber for turn signals, red for tail light)

Brightness with these bulbs is equivalent to the OEM bulbs. The OEM tail lights and running lights are rated at 8 watts (measured 7.5 watts). The red LEDs measured 1.4 watts with brake lights on and .4 watts with the tailights. The amber LEDs measured 2.5 watts with the trun signal on and .6 watts as running lights. So this should yield a nominal savings of 28 watts

The final step will be the headlight. This installation has been documented by Nils here:
https://www.facebook.com/RestoCycleLLC/ ... =3&theater

The headlight I have used in my Gold Wing and on customer ProLinks is this:
https://www.superbrightleds.com/moreinf ... mens/5323/

Unfortunately this is a ProLink only modification. I recently tried installing one in a twin-shock headlight bucket and the heatsink makes contact with the bracket holding the diode and connectors in place. There are smaller H4 bulbs out there but I do not have any experience with them.

For comparison here is my Gold Wing headlight with one LED and one halogen bulb. The LED is a big improvement in daytime visibility and lights up the road much better at night. The LED is rated (and measured) at 20 watts compared to 55 watts for most H4 bulbs.

Summary of power savings for the conversion
Dash 11 watts
Tail/Running 28 watts
Headlight 35 watts
Total 74 watts

Total cost is about $90 including shipping at SuperBright regular prices. They routinely have 10% off sales around holidays so my cost was about $80. I probably could have done it cheaper on eBay, but I like SuperBrights customer service and my first set of H4s failed on my Gold Wing and they replaced them without issue.

Member Spencer Holter did an awesome job in putting together complete boards for Turn Signal/Running Lights LEDs and supplied others. I have them on two of my CBXes

Yes Mike, he definitely did, and I have them in my 80 as well. They required a full strip of the turnsignal housings including extracting the reflector, plus opening up the headlight and swapping the wiring, threading the new wires through the stems. Spencer’s solution is no longer available. This solution is plug and play, readily available, inexpensive, and much easier to install, and reverse.

Nice work Joe, very nice contribution to the knowledge base.

The transformation in the cluster is most dramatic IMO, you can actually see the face plates!

N.

Thanks for all that Joe! The wattage savings alone are worth it.

Dave

This led headlight will fit a twin shock headlight bucket.
Exactly the same size as a H4 halogen bulb.
10 watts amp draw and 4000 lumens.
I'm running this bulb, works great.
https://www.amazon.com/AutoFeel-Motorcy ... 460&sr=8-4

hondaman160mph wrote: ↑

Mon Sep 28, 2020 10:19 am

This led headlight will fit a twin shock headlight bucket.
Exactly the same size as a H4 halogen bulb.
10 watts amp draw and 4000 lumens.
I'm running this bulb, works great.
https://www.amazon.com/AutoFeel-Motorcy ... 460&sr=8-4

Excellent, thank you for piping up and sharing. How long have you had it in there? Have you been in there to inspect for any heat-related consequences after a spell?

Joe broke ground on this on his GoldWing as shown and when we saw how it was working we immediately ordered more of that bulb for the Prolinks we were doing. The difference in the visibility of the bike in traffic is truly striking, in addition to the better light for night riding. The reduction in power consumption is an equally valuable benefit.

N.

NobleHops wrote: ↑

Mon Sep 28, 2020 11:25 am

Excellent, thank you for piping up and sharing. How long have you had it in there? Have you been in there to inspect for any heat-related consequences after a spell?

I've had it in all summer. I just looked inside and everything looks good, no indication of heat problems. I'm also running dual 4" headlights so my
headlight buckets are much smaller than a CBX headlight bucket. The base of the bulb is the heat sink and when clipped into the reflector the
reflector also becomes a heat sink. One other thing to note about this bulb is the led's are in the exact same place as a H4 bulb. Headlight reflectors
are designed to project the correct light pattern based on the location of the bulb filaments so this led bulb makes an excellent pattern, at least with
my headlights. I plan on installing them in my CB750's also.

Great feedback, many thanks for looking in there for the fresh update too.

I realized that the power I listed for the LED Headlight is wrong and will update my original post. It is a 20 watt bulb not a 35 watt bulb.

Also I measured the power consumption for the rest of the bulbs and will also update my original posts.

We are going to try one of the AutoFeel bulbs on a customer twin shock. Their claim of 4000 lumens from 10 watts is pretty bold, but as long as it is brighter than the halogen bulb and uses less power it is all good.

I would not expect to see any effects of heat in the headlight housing. The housing is designed to handle the heat output of a 55 watt halogen bulb which is much more than a 10-20 watt LED. The purpose of the heat sink on the LED is to keep the electronics in the LED cool. Time will tell if the LEDs that do not have the big heat sinks last.

Joe, what did you find for the taillight? That might be a nice update to this thread.

I'm using this bulb
https://www.superbrightleds.com/moreinf ... mens/2400/
I use the 6000K white so the license plate light is white.
75/550 lumens compared to 38/402 lumens for a incandescent 1157 bulb.
.03/0.42 amps.
2 pac for $15.90