LED taillight question.

[Bill Seward]

I bought one of those die cast metal 60 LED cateye taillights on EBay for around $35.00... It replaced the stock light, but I did keep the plastic cowling in place. No problems wiring it up, and the tail light is really bright. Problem is, the brake light works, but is almost unnoticeable, as it really does not add much illumination to the total output of light. I did try reversing the connectors to the light, thinking that I may have wired the tail lights to the brake function of the cateye - no difference. Light looks good, and I'm gonna keep it on the bike, just got to figure out a way to get the brake light brighter. Considering the reflector mod, just put an LED trailer panel in place of the reflector in back, using it for the main brake light. Opinions? What's a good one to get? Are the $5.00 ones at NAPA bright enough to use as a brake light?

The light also fits in a bit too far for the license plate function to actually illuminate the plate. Got a couple LED license plate light / bolts to fix that problem.

 

[DMAN999]

Damn you're fast.
I can't wait to see how it looks.
Maybe adding a small resistor to the running light side to reduce the running light output a little would help differentiate between running and braking.
Maybe something like this:
http://www.audizine.com/forum/showt...up-For-Fixing-Bulb-out-Warning-with-LED-Tails

For the license plate I think I'll order something like this:
http://www.ebay.com/itm/STRIP-UNIVE...rcycles_Parts_Accessories&hash=item3cdeeb043e

 

[Bill Seward]

That will fix it, I bet..

 

[DMAN999]

Look's good !!!

 

[dannymax]

Check these out Bill....I installed two of the LB03 lights in place of the reflector....they flash 5 times then stay on. Very eye catching, very noticeable....I'll get a pic one of these days but I've had them on several different bikes and really like 'em.

http://www.customdynamics.com/knight_rider_led_light_bar.htm

 

[Bill Seward]

I took Dennis's advice about a resistor inline with the tail light wire to drop the voltage a bit to dim the LED's to be able to tell the tail light from the brake light. Seems these cateyes use all 60 LED's for both functions.. Says they're for Harleys™.. I wonder if these bikes have some sort of internal voltage reducer to the tail lights? In any case, I went to Radio shack and bought a pack of 5 resistors, 220ohm, 1/2 watt. Total cost was $1.49. I soldered one of them into the tail wire line in series. This did the trick! Light works great now!!!
220 ohm - 1/2 watt at Radio shack. If there is a problem with the resistor failing, just get a 1 or 5 watter, but LED's draw almost no current so I expect no problems...

 

[srk468]

Check these out Bill....I installed two of the LB03 lights in place of the reflector....they flash 5 times then stay on. Very eye catching, very noticeable....I'll get a pic one of these days but I've had them on several different bikes and really like 'em.

http://www.customdynamics.com/knight_rider_led_light_bar.htm

Love that idea Danny, thanks for the link!

Sent from my HTC6525LVW using Tapatalk

 

[dannymax]

Love that idea Danny, thanks for the link!

Sent from my HTC6525LVW using Tapatalk

They work well....and the flashing is very eye catching IMO.

 

[johnpclynch]

Are you sure you got the running light/brake light wiring the right way around?

I wired up a new LED set and got them the wrong way around - running lights were super-bright and the brake light was insignificant, swapped the leads and hey-presto, running lights were dimmer and the brake light was as bright as it should be

- sorry, just noticed you tried this yourself

 

[Bill Seward]

This is what the tail light looks like with the resistor wired in the line. I also moved the plate up closer to the tail light by adding a couple holes and bolting it in the middle of the plate, instead of the top. The 2 license plate LED bolts do a good job of making the plate visible at night...

 

[DMAN999]

That looks MUCH better than the Huge Brick Stock Light Bill !!!

 

[grimmie]

I did the same kinda thing a while back.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vtgNH1oy70M