My S2R 800

utopia · 06-02-2020, 08:53 AM

The problem with many led bulbs is that they project all their light forward whereas the original filament bulb is a point source projecting in all directions which can therefore be picked up over the full area of the silvered reflector.
This is clearly demonstrated in the first pic where a bulb-shaped disc of red light is all that is visible.
The new bulb has side facing leds which project to the reflector and thus overcome the problem.
The other way to do it is to have a larger area of forward facing leds.
My rear light now consists of the std housing but fitted with an array of red leds on a circuit board which covers the whole area of the light unit.
This was originally supplied with a clear lens but I found that fitting it with the original red lense resulted in a light which is a lovely intense red colour and stands out much better in all light conditions than the original did.
And of course, having loads of leds makes it easy to design in a hefty bias towards the stoplight function.
Of course this doesn't have the bling factor of a clear lens but personally I don't really care about that (though I can see that the clear lens might rather suit a silver S2R).

06-02-2020, 08:53 AM	#1
utopia No turn left unstoned Join Date: Jun 2010 Location: leicester Bike: M750 Posts: 4,546	The problem with many led bulbs is that they project all their light forward whereas the original filament bulb is a point source projecting in all directions which can therefore be picked up over the full area of the silvered reflector. This is clearly demonstrated in the first pic where a bulb-shaped disc of red light is all that is visible. The new bulb has side facing leds which project to the reflector and thus overcome the problem. The other way to do it is to have a larger area of forward facing leds. My rear light now consists of the std housing but fitted with an array of red leds on a circuit board which covers the whole area of the light unit. This was originally supplied with a clear lens but I found that fitting it with the original red lense resulted in a light which is a lovely intense red colour and stands out much better in all light conditions than the original did. And of course, having loads of leds makes it easy to design in a hefty bias towards the stoplight function. Of course this doesn't have the bling factor of a clear lens but personally I don't really care about that (though I can see that the clear lens might rather suit a silver S2R).