Wanted: Brighter Turn Signal Bulbs on 2nd Gen 1200

[FrankB12]

Hey Guys,

One thing that bothers me about an 'otherwise fantastic motorcycle' is how dimly lit the turn signals are on my 2001 Bandit 1200S.  

I'm looking for any recommended BRIGHTER (but not LED) bulbs for the turn signals.  I prefer bulbs over LEDs because... I don't know, maybe because I prefer the 'simple' fix.  

Has anyone done this?  What model bulb did you use?

As a side note, I swapped the 'standard' brake bulbs with 2357 bulbs and that really makes the stop lights noticeable!  I'm hoping the same can be done for the turn signals.

Thanks...

[PaulVS]

I don't think it's DOT legal for the rear... but I'm going to go with clear T.S. lenses up front w/ Sylvania Silverstar 1157 bulbs.

The silverstar bulbs look kinda gray/chrome until they light up orange.

It should be a lot brighter than stock.

[Red01]

AFAIK, the only thing DOT cares about is the color when they're illuninated, and for the rear they can be either amber or red.
(If you wanted to turn the rears into running lights, they'd have to be red though.)

[Bazza]

Hey Frank:

I can tell you from experiance that there is no LED style bulb that is brighter than the stock Bulbs that I have found. (Don't waste your money)

In order to fit the 1157 bulbs, you are going to have to do some alteration to the sockets as they take 1156 bulbs.

And clear lenses are legal & dot approved. They are on the new Bandits. Like Paul says, as long as the fronts are amber when luminated, and the rears are either amber or red when luminated. (They must be red on the rear if you convert to running lights)

You can buy the clear lenses at clear alterantives. In fact if I can recal, they are even stamped DOT approved.

[Vlad]

I'm looking for any recommended BRIGHTER (but not LED) bulbs for the turn signals.

You can use 1157 (dual filament) bulbs with both filaments on if you don't require running lights. That would give you 8W or about 1/3 of extra light (23+8) over 1156 (23W). You will need to adapt the bulb and/or the socket, though (not too much work).

The problem with standard, even ones touted as 'extra bright' LEDs is that they are too directional. You can still get ones that are bright enough if you are willing to shell out some serious cash:

http://www.watsendesign.com/products/current/031KFROSIG/index.html

BTW, I was wondering what the difference between 1157 and 2357 is and found some usefull info here:

http://faq.f650.com/FAQs/BrakeLight.htm