[Guest]

I just bought my 05 CBR 600 RR and I want to put some lights on it. Neons seem to be more $$. Just wondering if anyone had any helpful insight on the subject.

 

[Guest]

ummmm... why?

 

[Guest]

So here's basically the rundown between the two of them. Neons are more expensive and are in a glass sleeve which is find if your mounting them somewhere where it's gaurenteed nothing it going to hit them and crack the glass. The bad thing about neons are that they do fade and will eventually burn out. LED's on the other hand are made of a polymer (sp?) plastic so they're damn near indestructable and virtually never burn out. Neon tubes are larger and slightly akward to position. LED's can be bought as singles or in clusters. The singles are barely bigger then a 14 gauge wire and can be mounted virtually anywhere. The clusters vary in size depending on the amount of LED's in them. But usually you can pick up a cluster of 6 where the LED's are aimed in all seperate directions so you can get as much light coverage with one cluster al possible. Personally I'd pick LED's. I've used them extensively in cars I've worked on and I've used neon also, personally I like the LED's better, they're easier to work with because you can mount them anywhere. Either way you go, they're both 12v accessories which are easy to install but make sure you dont kill your battery running them. :thumb:

 

[Guest]

Thanks. I found some on ebay that i think will work well. I will let you guys know how they turn out, i will try to get some pics for you guys.

 

[Guest]

Neon - real neon - requires a high voltage inverter. And power. These things can suck some juice. Ever sit next to an old 'route 66' type diner with it's lights on? Hear all that buzzing and popping? Yup - HV leakage.

Now, there is also something called a "Cold Cathode Florescent Lights (CCFL)". It's what you see in a lot of modded computer cases and for the backlights in most laptop displays. They also use an HV inverter, but much smaller than what a neon would use. Easily run off of 12V DC. You can get some CCFL tubes from a place like casecooler.com for about $10. Plug 'em into your electrical system and go to town. Make nice 'high-lite' or effects lights for poser rides. Usually come in a plastic sleeve around the glass tube to protect from most things. They're not indestructible. I don't know if anyone makes these specificaly for vehicle use - but the PC types don't handle weather or mechanical stress well.

Of the 3 options - LED not only has the best light output for the power draw, but the toughest construction. For cheap - hard to beat CCFL. For novelty and extreme use - Neon wins. Maybe a show bike could use CCFL or a neon setup - but no way would I put either on a machine I intend to actually ride.

 

[Guest]

I used to have blue LED lights on my bike... cops gave me a ticket for it. I since have removed them. Cops said amber or white would have been legal. I was riding with them turned on. Guess i was asking for it.