Summary: I just finished a complex project. My goal was to greatly increase front and side visibility of the bike. To do this, I planned on converting the front signal lights to running lights (DRL) by "reversing" their operation and the city lights to bright yellow with strobes. Days later, I have completed the project. Have learned a lot. And the running lights portion is VERY effective at increasing front and side visibility in both day and night. Here are the details, then pictures to follow.
LED's: The yellow 1156 LED bulbs I purchased from autoillumination.com were way too dim (measured 2.4 watts on the 120 LED and 3.8watts on the 68 LED). Despite the claims of the "brightest 1156 bulbs ever", I estimate they were about HALF the brightness of the 22watt incandescent bulbs. Similar story with the 194 LED bulbs I purchased- they were about 25% dimmer (measured 1.2 watts ea) than stock and very orange (not yellow/amber like the turn signals). These were huge setbacks, as I had spent many hours researching lights. I was forced to proceed with incandescents, because there is no point if not bright.
UPDATE 6-2016: I finally found and installed LED bulbs that are much brighter than stock.Turn signals: Typically, front running lights are done with dual-filament bulbs- a low watt for running light and a high watt for the turn function. I could have done this by replacing the front sockets, somehow. But the result would be a weak running light which I think has low value. Instead, I decided to "reverse" the turn signal so the single-filament-bright bulb stays on all the time and flashes OFF when turning, so the running light would be very bright all the time. I created a controller with two mini 12volt relays and two load resistors. Strapped it together with tie wraps, and sealed the business side with silicone. Created and painted a bracket that connects to the top mirror bolt and hangs the unit in front of the wiring boot under the left mid fairing. Connected it's power to a switch on the dashboard and then to a fuse and the front accessory leads. One cable runs to each front turn signal where I cut and spliced in the hot wire on each. The controller "reverses" the function of the signals and has load resistors to maintain the flash rate. The unit works, but the load resistors get considerably hot with continued used (after 5 min of emergency flashers, it was too hot to touch. A bigger issue is that the 22 watt bulbs throw off a lot of heat. After 20-30 min, I measured the temperature above the light housings at 175 degrees max and 120-160 degrees away from the tiny hot spot (directly above the bulb). I have concerns about the plastic melting or degrading, and also the bulb life. [UPDATE 06-2015: I replaced the stock flasher controller with a solid state model so there should be no need for the load resistors in this project anymore. See additional postings for more info.] [UPDATE 04-2016: Although they are still incandescent, I have still had no issue with plastic melting]
City lights: I replaced the stock clear bulbs with 5 watt yellow incandescents for now. Despite much research, I was unable to find anything brighter that would fit. I then installed a dual lamp, mini Xenon strobe in each of the same city lights housings. Since it is a small unit, they are not terribly bright. The controller is set for one flash every second, just enough to give a twinkle effect- same purpose as a headlight modulator, just far less annoying. Velcroed the controller to the bike, and ran power to a switch on the dash.
UPDATE: I later switched to these VLEDS amber LED's which are almost as bright as incand. - http://www.vleds.com/shop-bulb-numbers/194-168-158-led/6-a.html and then UPDATE 6-2016, I replaced those with MUCH better JDM Astar LED bulbs.Conclusion/pics: It was much, much more work than I expected. And there are issues with heat. But the goal was met- it looks impressive and I believe it will enhance safety. Plus, this setup *is* compatible with LED bulbs, if I ever locate suitable ones. Attached is a no-so-great photo of the bike when the ignition is on but not started. Then a photo of the controller I made, and two of how it is mounted (and showing the two switches).