Introduction to installing your new LED indicator boards
If you haven’t already purchased a set of LED indicator boards, you can find more details on the Triumph Bonneville LED indicator board product page, or you can buy a complete set of four LED boards.
Installation is very straightforward as the LED board fits in place of the original bulb and reflector unit using the original screws and mounting holes. There is no cutting, drilling, soldering or other modification of the indicator units required. The electrical connections are also fully plug-and-play using the original terminals from the standard filament bulb holder.
Please have a good read through all of these instructions before you start. Installation time is normally less than 5 minutes per side – in fact it will probably take you longer to read these instructions than to complete the installation itself!
Installation guide contents (click to jump to a particular section):
The tools you will need
The only tool that you need to install the LED indicator boards is a small screwdriver with which to remove the two screws which hold the orange plastic lenses on, that’s it! There is no cutting, drilling or rewiring involved; the new LED board fixes and connects using the same screws and terminals as the original filament bulb.
A small pair of pliers might be useful for removing the wire terminals from the old bulb holder if they are a little tight, but these are not essential in most cases.
What’s included in the kit
The indicator boards may be fitted to either the rear or front of your motorbike, or if you would like to convert both front and rear then you’ll need two kits (or else or the complete set of four package).
The LED boards are installed using the two standard screws which hold the original filament bulb holder and reflector unit in place. No additional mountings or fixings are therefore required. Note that the actual indicator stalk and lens unit shown in the photos is obviously not provided, only the LED boards themselves.
Before you start…
Installation shouldn’t take long, but it’s worth having the bike positioned so that you can comfortably access the indicators, somewhere dry and with decent light to work by. A quick clean of the indicators is worthwhile before you start to avoid getting dirt and grime over your shiny new LED light board.
As with any electrical work, it is worth disconnecting the battery (or at least removing the appropriate fuse and ensuring the power and lights are all switched off) to avoid making any accidental short circuits. At the very least make sure that the ignition and indicator switches are turned off.
All LED indicator boards are identical – there is no left and right so it doesn’t matter which way round you fit them.
Step 1 – Unscrewing the lens
You will notice that the two screws are quite different. The inside screw (the one nearest to the numberplate) is a little longer and has a standard thread for screwing into metal. This screw passes through the orange lens and interior reflector and screws into the metal bar which runs through the length of the indicator arm.
It is very important that you don’t get these two screws mixed up, so take careful note which way round they go. The longer screw with the finer thread goes nearest to the numberplate.
Step 2 – Removing the orange lens
Take note of the orange lens as this must be refitted the correct way round. Looking on the outside you will notice various text running around the edge, most importantly where it says “TOP”.
If the inside of the lens is dusty or dirty, give it a quick wash in soapy water, then dry thoroughly. An old tooth brush is useful for getting into all the ridges inside where dust can accumulate. The cleaner the lens, the brighter the light will be.
Step 3 – Removing the reflector
Once the reflector is removed, the two wire connections are visible. These are connected to the bulb holder using standard spade terminals and can be slid off. One wire should be white and the other black, but this may vary between years and models.
If the terminals appear tight, try gently wiggling from side to side as you pull to ease them off. Pull the connector and not the wire to avoid damaging the wiring.
The bulb holder and reflector unit are not needed for the LED conversion as the LED board has a special mirror finish of its own. The reflectors should therefore be safely stored in case you ever wanted to change back to the original filament bulb setup.
Step 4 – Installing the LED light board
The larger hole goes on the side nearest to the numberplate so that the metal screw can pass straight through it. The smaller holes goes on the outside (furthest from the number plate) so that the self-tapping screw can screw into it.
The LED light boards have integrated circuitry to ensure that the connections are made in the right polarity. The LED boards are therefore not polarity sensitive and so the two wires can therefore be connected either way round. You will find that one wire is probably a little longer than the other, so fit this to the furthest connector, or whichever way seems easiest.
To fit the LED board, you will need to hook it under the tab on the outer edge of the indicator housing before gently pushing it into place. Check that the mounting holes in the LED board are in a horizontal position and gently rotate into place if not.
Step 5 – Reinstalling the orange lens
Then insert the outer (self-tapping screw) and screw it into the LED board using gentle pressure. You need to press hard enough for the self-tapping screw thread to ‘bite’ into the circuit board and start to cut a thread, but not too hard. Once the thread has started it should screw in easily and can be tightened up, before fully tightening the other screw too.
Once both screws have been tightened, that’s it, the first LED indicator board is installed! Now just repeat the process on the other side and then test them out.
Changing the flasher unit
The standard flasher units fitted by Triumph at the factory are designed for use with only filament type bulbs. They require a certain power load in order to work correctly. LED light boards have a significantly lower power consumption than the standard filament bulbs as they are much more efficient. Therefore you might find that the indicators do not flash correctly when you fit LED lights (any LED lights that is, this is not unique to the MatchlessClueless LED boards!). The indicators may flash too slowly, too quickly or not at all.
Usually, replacing only one indicator bulb on each side with an LED upgrade will not stop the standard flasher working as the remaining filament bulb still draws enough power for the flasher to operate. However some flashers have a blown bulb function which changes the flash rate when one of the indicator bulbs blows. LED lights draw so little power that such flasher relays may be fooled into thinking that a bulb has blown, and therefore they change the flashing rate to alert the rider.
In either case, the easy solution is to replace the standard flasher relay unit with a modern electronic unit suitable for LED lights (they will work with any combination of LEDs and filament bulbs). These are cheap and readily available (just check you get the right fitting) and installation is as simple as unplugging the old one and plugging in the new one.
We can supply a suitable LED compatible flasher relay for most modern Triumph models in our LED store here.
Conclusions and your comments
So that’s the installation complete and your new LED indicators ready to give you many years of bright service. If you have any problems them please do not hesitate to get in touch via email or using the contact page. Please make sure your email address is correct so I can get back to you.
I would also be glad to hear how you found the installation process, any problems you encountered or anything that wasn’t clear or missing from this installation guide. Please let me know how I can improve the guide by leaving me a reply via the comment form below. Also if you have any photos you’ve taken of your bike during or after the installation process, then please email them to me so that I can add them to the customer’s photo gallery.
[disclaimer]
I installed all four LED indicators on my T100 Bonneville 2103 today. All went pretty well. This bike already has a single LED turn signal lamp on the instrument cluster, so I didn’t bother with the replacement of the LED with the Matchless version. the new indicators do not “cross” blink when signalling but there is a constant dim glow at all four indicators when the ignition is on. When signalling, the flashing pair are much much brighter than the dim glow…so I look at this is a “running lights” feature! This might be due to the fact I have replaced the stock relay with the SignalMinder (SM-3) auto flasher cancel device (Kisan Inc.). It is supposedly LED compatible. It does have a running light option but I set that to off because it makes the instrument panel light flash 100% of the time while riding…kind of distracting. But with the Matchless indicators, even with the running light mode set to off, I’m getting some small voltage leak creating running lights with no instrument light flashing. Bonus!
Hi Mike. Thanks for the feedback. Interesting ‘running light’ option you seem to have discovered there! These LED light boards use so little power that even the smallest amount of current leakage through the dashboard warning lamp or flasher relay will cause them to light up. It must be a REALLY small leakage current if they glow dimly, but great that this set-up works perfectly for you. 🙂
I put this kit on all 4 lights the other day. Install was easy and straight forward, as per the instructions. I have an ’09 so I also installed the diode. And the relay of course. The bikes wires are short so it took a little bit of test positioning, but all went in.
Love how bright they are! Great kit!
Thanks Alex. Glad you’re pleased with the LED boards and found the installation nice and simple. I think you must have one of the best illuminated Bonnevilles out there now! Regards, James
Hello, l take it that these led units flash white, as l have clear lenses and would need an orange flasher unit.
Do you do them?
Regards lee justin