LED Side Marker lights (and oddity)

[Seaking]

I installed the LED amber front marker lights on two RSV thus far using this method and it works great.. The lights you get from JP Cycles have a black and yellow wire.. the power wire is yellow and looks terrible when running up the brake cable.. So what I do is snip the black wire (ground) and solder it to the snipped yellow wire, heat shrink covers the joint and the short yellow wire end. The ground wire gets an eye end connector which I then connect to the attachment bolt for ground. The new power wire, now black, gets routed up the brake hose and wired into the system.. works like a charm. There might be easier better ways of doing it, but this works for me..

 

However, on the last bike I did this to, one marker light wouldn't lite up so before automatically assuming I had a bad or cold solder joint, I tried touching the ground to different bare metal parts on the bike and sure enough.. that was the problem.. Strange indeed.. on that particular bike, the lower fork wasn't grounded at all.. I literally had to run a ground wire up higher onto the upper tree area to ground the light.. Any bare metal exposed on the lower end wouldn't give me ground.. Just happened that all the attaching parts were shielded with a good layer of paint at assembly time..

[ahoutzer]

Thanks for the pic but… can we see them on a bike?

[Flyinfool]

You should always run a ground wire to a good frame ground. you never want a bearing to be part of an electrical circuit. The fact that you got a ground on the lower fork means that you have metal to metal contact in a bearing surface somewhere. That ground may only be there at rest and might just go away or become intermittent while riding and a good oil/grease film builds up between the bearing surfaces.

[KiteSquid]

You should always run a ground wire to a good frame ground.

 

To keep from inducing ground loops, I would recommend running a ground wire to the point where the battery's ground wire is connected.

[Seaking]

Ahh good points about the grounding issues.. Something to 'redo' in the next maintenance down time for sure..

 

I don't have a pic of them on as during day time you barely notice the lights on and at night.. well.. Ok.. I'll have to get some pics soon..

[Seaking]

Here's a photo of two bikes I wired up recently with LED lighting. Someone wanted to see the side marker lights lit up.. which you can in this photo.

 

The highway lights are LED which doesn't interfere with the radio signal at all (coat the light with metal tape to shield it..)

 

the Signal lights on both bikes are LED. VERY bright indeed. The bike on the right has the Moon Shinez lights, super bright and white, and complies with Motor Vehicle Act here as it requires front running lights from WHITE to AMBER in colour.. I carry a copy of the act on the bike as I know it's going to be queried at road side stops. .. The bike on the left has LED signal clusters amber front and both bikes have rear LED signal lights as well as LED brake lights..

 

Down on the engine guards on both bikes are 6watts (left bike) and 4watts (right bike) bullet lights that give a wide splash of light around the bike and the sides of the front wheel.. My mantra is that should anyone crash into me and claim 'I didn't see him' deserves the beating he's going to get..

 

The headlights are covered in this photo as the HID headlights would over power the camera's ability to show the other lights. The HID is very bright and throws a nice splash of light around and in front of you, so much that your ordinary PAR36 highway lights do not cast enough light to be seen in front of you. However, when these bike are facing you on the highway, it's one hell of a big blob of lights taking up a big space on the road, something that you will notice and pay heed to, more so than a bike running a single 55W incandescent headlight.

 

Later on when the weather cooperates (thunderstorm then snow storm in the same afternoon??) I'll take the cameras out and get photos and video on how it looks from different angles so you can see for yourself.

 

Some people might say it looks goofy to have so much lighting on a bike but I'd rather be seen than worry what someone thinks of it..

 

Notice there are no tassels.. now THAT I would worry about

[ahoutzer]

Thanks, Seaking.

 

I have the LED reflector-replacements on my Bess, both front and rear, an HID headlight from HID Country, and 6-watt LED KuryAkyn Silver bullet lights mounted to the fender-mounting bolts on the front forks. I had purchased the Marine LED lights for my Yamaha passing light set-up, but they were causing radio interference, so I put my old H-7616 lamps back in. Before you posted the solution to that problem, a deer took out my passing lamps (and left cowl, left air box, windshield, etc.), so I bought a stock RSV turn signal bar on eBay and the fork-mounted silver bullets. As you said, the HID headlight provides all of the road lighting so I can see where I am going, but the additional bullets boost the ability of others to see me -- or at least kill their "I didn't see you" argument.

[Seaking]

Thanks, Seaking.

 

I have the LED reflector-replacements on my Bess, both front and rear, an HID headlight from HID Country, and 6-watt LED KuryAkyn Silver bullet lights mounted to the fender-mounting bolts on the front forks. I had purchased the Marine LED lights for my Yamaha passing light set-up, but they were causing radio interference, so I put my old H-7616 lamps back in. Before you posted the solution to that problem, a deer took out my passing lamps (and left cowl, left air box, windshield, etc.), so I bought a stock RSV turn signal bar on eBay and the fork-mounted silver bullets. As you said, the HID headlight provides all of the road lighting so I can see where I am going, but the additional bullets boost the ability of others to see me -- or at least kill their "I didn't see you" argument.

 

The HID headlight, single bulb double action 35 Watts came from

 

http://canadiancruisercustomizing.com/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=3&products_id=49 at 6000K colour temp which best matches the white LED lights.

 

The 6 Watt Bullet lights are http://canadiancruisercustomizing.com/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=1&products_id=1 again at 6000K temp.

 

I tossed the Marine shyte driving lamps over the side as they were as useless as the company who sold them.. Instead, I installed the Genesis Sun Spots GEN-162W from customdynamics.com I covered those in metal duct tape to get rid of the very little RF interference, just for good measure. Now THESE lights are properly constructed and work as intended, and backed by a real warranty (yes I still have a hate-on for them greenboat jerks) Signal lights are also from customdynamics.com

 

Sounds like your bike took a beating with the deer, but more importantly, how did YOU fare? All good now? Phew.. I get hit with a lot of birds.. luckily avoiding the deer.. !

[ahoutzer]

Bess is all fixed up except her front fender is a little mangled -- people don't notice it until I point it out. I had a bump on the leg and have been spooked about riding in certain areas at certain times, but am okay.

 

Bess and I didn't go down, but the deer did. We were protected by the one who gives life, and who apparently wants me here for a while longer.

 

Those quick-firing auto-tracking laser cannons that the U.S. Navy is testing -- those seem like a good idea, as soon as they can sense deer (birds?) and be mounted on a motorcycle.