So I was perusing the ADVRider forums one day, when I came across a post by a fellow named 'medler'. Well, he is apparently the good kind of medler, because he meddled with the console lights on his F650GS, replacing them with LEDs from superbrightleds.
To put it simply, I was impressed with his before and after pictures, and decided to go down that route myself. So I ordered some Wedge-base type 74 lamps (One amber, three red, one blue one green) and let them sit in the shed until I had a little free time.
Well, this past weekend, I had some free time. My wife and I had taken a trip to Lime Rock Park Raceway in Connecticut on Saturday, and she was working Sunday. So I had some free time and wasn't jonesing for a ride. So I went at it.
The first trick is getting at the back of the console. The F650GS is fairly tightly packaged, which actually means that lots of stuff has to be disassembled every time you want to work on it. In order to get at the console, you have to remove much of the fairing. The windscreen has to go, the side panels have to at least be loosened, and eventually you wind up able to work a big chunk of shaped plastic out of the way.
For the most part, replacing the light bulbs is straightforward. Each bulb sits in a rubber socket that's pushed into the back of the console. You just get hold of the rubber bit and pull it out. This is a lot easier to do if you remove the console entirely, rather than just exposing it. There are three posts on the console that fit into rubber bushings mounted to the frame. Each post is held by a small 'E'-clip. A flat-bladed screwdriver is all you need to remove them, and I was able to put them back with simple finger pressure.