Rear spoiler/LED

[circa1968]

Though I would share my experience modifying a rear spoiler to have a much brighter brake light and also with turn signals incorporated into it.  My wife followed me on the freeway when I purchased my bike and said visibility of the bike from behind was severely lacking, which I naturally took as carte blanche to embark on a project to fix that little problem! 🙂

So, picked up a used wing from 'the diamond cut guy', ripped out the old LED and ordered Custom Dynamics TruFlex light bar, along with their Dual Converter and Smart triple play controller.  The latter two allow for the dimmer running tail light function and programmable operation of the brake light and turn signals.   With the triple play controller, the entire strip, including turn signals operate as the tail/brake light.  I have mine programmed to strobe the brake light for a few seconds, then go solid.

The brake light is significantly brighter than the stock LED strip.  I can't define that in terms of lumens, or anything, but can say that when I first tested it I looked at it too long from a few feet away and had that burned into your eyes thing going on, like when you look directly at the sun.

The CD truflex strip is 14.6 inches long and the stock strip is ~11" long.  Fortunately the height was identical and was a perfect fit into the existing slot in that direction, but the slot needed to be lengthened ~1.5" on each end and it need a backer plate installed from the backside in order to affix the new LED strip to it.

So, step 1 was take a deep breath and grab a dremel with a router bit.  My trusty old corded single (high) speed dremel was not the right tool for this job, so with my carte blanche blessing to make the bike more visible I acquired a nice cordless multi-speed dremel to safely accomplish the task.  From prior (bad) experiences, I knew it would be difficult to carve the slot out by hand and keep it straight, so I used some 1/8" wide masking tape to extend the slot lines and then proceeded to cut away, staying well short of the tape.  From there, I used a series of files to fine tune the slot.  It was not 100% perfect, but the imperfections are ultimately not visible in the final product.

I then cut a scrap piece of ABS plastic sheet, courtesay of Tap Plastics, to approximately 16" long and 1" wide, used a heat gun to soften it up and shape it to the contour of the backside (inside) of the spoiler behind the slot.  With a little cutting and fine tuning it fit perfectly and I permanently fixed it into position using ABS pipe glue.

Painted the spoiler to match my '07 blue with the color rite matching paint, drilled the necessary holes for the LED light strip and installed.  The dual converter and triple play controller fit nicely behind the battery box and the wiring was simple with the help of the wiring harness adapter from @M61A1MECH.

In hindsight, I should have taken more pictures along the way....but here is the finished product.  Took it out for first ride today and watched cars behind me as I braked.   Almost without fail, they all seemed to give me more room when I braked.  The brake strobe effect really is attention grabbing.

 

 

[N3FOL]

I also have the rear spoiler installed on my ‘07 and I think the light emitted is descent for my taste.  But with your upgrade lighting, it is for sure the best I’ve seen in.   Well done.  

[circa1968]

Thank you for the compliment Sir!  

[InfinitySurf]

Thread revival here: I recently bought a 2012 RSVS - funny cause my wife also followed me home and told me I wasn't visible at all, big black bike with a large trunk and only the single stock brake light. I am looking to do exactly what you did (great looking job), been having trouble tracking down a new or used wing. If anyone can point me toward one, that would be great!

I would like to light it up to be a lot more visible from the sides and the rear. Almost every close call I have had in the past 25yrs of riding has been related to cars moving into my space cause most people dont pay attention to their surroundings,  bright lights may help increase awareness. This is my 1st touring bike, love how smooth it handles. So far I have converted all the bulbs to LED. Previous owner had already done an aftermarket LED headlight and the 2 running lights. I have bought a variety of LED's that I am going to wire in when I can figure out a tasteful way to do it but plan to have lights on the back & sides of the saddle bags and the trunk. Hopefully I can also track down a wing and copy you.

Great job on the wing install!

[XV1100SE]

Just a comment on where to put things....

I have a six gang fuse block mounted inside the passenger back rest.  If you remove it (only a couple bolts) you can affix things underneath it.  My six gang fuse block is used to power two Stebel horns, a USB charging port, and my trailer isolator.  Instead of trying to jam things into the battery area under the back rest is a great place to mount things.

[circa1968]

On 9/8/2021 at 8:02 PM, InfinitySurf said:

Thread revival here: I recently bought a 2012 RSVS - funny cause my wife also followed me home and told me I wasn't visible at all, big black bike with a large trunk and only the single stock brake light. I am looking to do exactly what you did (great looking job), been having trouble tracking down a new or used wing. If anyone can point me toward one, that would be great!

I would like to light it up to be a lot more visible from the sides and the rear. Almost every close call I have had in the past 25yrs of riding has been related to cars moving into my space cause most people dont pay attention to their surroundings,  bright lights may help increase awareness. This is my 1st touring bike, love how smooth it handles. So far I have converted all the bulbs to LED. Previous owner had already done an aftermarket LED headlight and the 2 running lights. I have bought a variety of LED's that I am going to wire in when I can figure out a tasteful way to do it but plan to have lights on the back & sides of the saddle bags and the trunk. Hopefully I can also track down a wing and copy you.

Great job on the wing install!

Check with member Eusa1, he might have one for sale.  Also, a more expensive route, but there are a couple on Ebay - but you have to buy the whole trunk assembly.

If you go the Ebay route, maybe we can find a member who can help either get the wing 3D scanned & 3D printed copies made, or perhaps a mold pulled off the part to cast new wings from.  IMHO, the wing really complements the looks and the extra LED lighting is a great safety feature.

In any case, if you manage to track down a wing and I can be of any assistance in the modifications, don't hesitate to reach out to me.

 

[circa1968]

On 9/9/2021 at 12:35 PM, XV1100SE said:

Just a comment on where to put things....

I have a six gang fuse block mounted inside the passenger back rest.  If you remove it (only a couple bolts) you can affix things underneath it.  My six gang fuse block is used to power two Stebel horns, a USB charging port, and my trailer isolator.  Instead of trying to jam things into the battery area under the back rest is a great place to mount things.

That's a great idea and I didn't even think to look in that area since I was tapping into the factory harness in the battery area already, it just seemed to make sense at the time to fit it all in there.  The module was small enough to easily fit and it was just a matter of dressing up the wire routing to not look like a bowl of spaghetti.