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…or where do you find red taillights in Austria on a Public Holiday???

Had a spot of bother on the way to Brno: both of my red led taillights blew. Noticed this, or more correctly had this pointed out to me by a mate, late one afternoon in Northern Italy. Bugger. The only spare I have is a normal clear bulb and it’s too late to go shopping today. So the (one) spare was installed and we continued to our destination for the night, in Austria.

Our hotel provided a free internet booth in reception, so a quick Google revealed that the Innsbruck branch of Hein Gericke was about 100 yards away. Result.

Outside HG at 9:30 next morning; no sign of life… and none in the bike repair shop over the road. Actually, no sign of life anywhere nearby. It’s not Sunday, is it? No, it’s Tuesday, but a friendly local appears and explains that it is a Public Holiday and everything will be closed. Bugger.

Tried a filling station for bulbs but no luck (and tried the local H-D dealer but he’s closed as well). So on the road still with one clear bulb. Feeling a bit conspicuous.

Stopped for lunch in Salzburg, got “locationally-challenged” on the outskirts and stopped to check the map. Looked across the car-park to see the new Salzburg branch of Hein Gericke… but it’s still Austria and it’s still a Public Holiday, so it’s closed.

While wandering around the little village we stayed in that night I spotted a little scooter shop. This could be worth a try. Next morning I’m round there at 9:00 waving a dead led lamp at them and practicing my best German;
“Haben sie anything like this???”
… puzzled looks…
“Stop and Tail”
… shaking heads. After a bit of (barely coherent) conversation I understand that they have nothing like the led but might have a normal bulb.
“Normal is good, ja” says I, and a normal stop and tail bulb is produced.
Sold to the fool with the appalling language skills.

Next stop… the cosmetics shop (with the worst fluorescent pink décor imaginable) and a bottle of their finest/cheapest red nail varnish.

…Red taillights again, yahoo.

OK, they’re a bit pink but it works.

Glad you got it sorted .... and, at least you now know the location of almost every bike dealer in Austria.

But .... LEDs failing .... in fact 2 sets failing .... very surprising.
Sounds like poor design.

Mine were two completely different makes that failed, (just posted on Falco Forum), would like to bet that Goldies were a different make as well.
Even more worried now having heard Goldie's tale, unless you take lots of spares or take a spare standard set up you wont get very far on a long run out!
200 miles or less before failure on mine aint too good.
LED bulbs aint road legal, so you can't expect to pop into the local garage or car spares shop.
Was surprised that Halfords sold them (for off road use only!).
Be interested to see if the nail polish burns off, may try it for now myself, really love the smoked tail light!

HowardQ wrote: LED bulbs aint road legal, so you can't expect to pop into the local garage or car spares shop.

Really?

There are plenty of bikes that are sold with LED tail lights as standard.
Maybe there are some aftermarket implementations that don't comply with regulations but I'd be very surprised if LED tail lighting in general is illegal.

Yes, the nail polish burns off. Well it certainly smokes a bit!!! I had to apply a second coat because I hadn't painted far enough down the bulb and was getting a lot of white from the reflectors. When I did this I noticed the first coat had started to darken in patches and when I turned on the lights to see how it looked I got a slight wisp of smoke from the thicker patches. It got me home which was more than 1500 miles without any further problems and is still good enough for me not to worry about getting tail-ended (or getting me collar felt).

Mine were from the 'net (ebay). Not decided whether to ask for replacements.

Going to try... yes, Hein Gericke next (assuming I can find an open one ). I know they do the rear-facing ones, I'll see if they do any with the extra leds for the reflectors. Advantage of HG is that it should be easy to get replacements or money back if they fail as well.

Goldie wrote:Yes, the nail polish burns off.

Try white bulbs shining through a "Mr Kipling Apple Pie" tray - red light, plus a tasty treat!

Sorry, should wake up before posting drivel...

D-Rider wrote:

HowardQ wrote: LED bulbs aint road legal, so you can't expect to pop into the local garage or car spares shop.

Really?

There are plenty of bikes that are sold with LED tail lights as standard.
Maybe there are some aftermarket implementations that don't comply with regulations but I'd be very surprised if LED tail lighting in general is illegal.

I think the only thing illegal about LED lighting are these LED adaptor bulbs that are not E marked, hence Halfords selling them for off-road use only. Otherwise you're obviously correct, as most cars have some form of LEDs now, mainly stop lights.
I would guess they are Emarked as a complete LED unit.
One obvious issue with LEDs that don't have side facing units, like the ones I have used, is that they do not really light up the tail light reflector, so I can see a finicky MOT tester or plod picking up on that at some time.
But as our tail light units are Emarked, (Nice one Greg), we have a good argument ready!

Firestarter wrote:Try white bulbs shining through a "Mr Kipling Apple Pie" tray - red light, plus a tasty treat!

I'm pretty sure all the pie shops were closed for the holiday.

He does make exceedingly good brake lenses...