DIY LED tail lights

[J5]

Is it plug and go?
Resistors built in?

more or less has bullet connectors

i dont know if it has resisters built in as my bike has had an electronic flasher can spliced
into the loom in the past when the blinker circuit in the clocks went kaput

either way resisters can be had on ebay for not much dollars

[Duc796canada]

My 796 comes with LED tail lights, bought a plug in for the flashing brakes from viz-tec, aka ohmic. I personally don't like the intergrated brake and signals, for the reason that someone might not be paying attention or not know what the flashing show is all about and run into the back my bike. I want a clear stop light and amber turn signals, separate, no question what is what.


I took electronics in college and can easily build a circuit with LEDs, just much easier to buy it. I don't like re-inventing the wheel.

Love the vizi-tec sup-brake flashing light.

[J5]

[eyduc]

Now that I think about it more, I don't like the integrated lights either.   Left and right is too close together in the same light assembly.    I'll likely just make a tail light/brake light.   I'm reusing the stock lens and slightly Dremeling the back plate to fit a pcb.   I'll keep my Flickr site updated as I progress, if anyone is interested.   

I do electronics mostly everyday.  I don't think "I have to be old and retired and with nothing better to do" just to make something I want.   It's a piece of cake.   I'm sure mostly everyone here has made something by themselves that is on their bike.  If I can't make it, I'll buy it too.  But if I can, I will.

[eyduc]

J5, where did you buy the frame plugs? 

[J5]

J5, where did you buy the frame plugs? 

they were on it when i bought it

prob a hardware store or something i imagine

[roy-nexus-6]

Now that I think about it more, I don't like the integrated lights either.   Left and right is too close together in the same light assembly.    I'll likely just make a tail light/brake light. 

LED globes/indicators fitted inside the frame (instead) of plugs work well. I'm currently making a matching tail light. 

[Duc796canada]

LED globes/indicators fitted inside the frame (instead) of plugs work well. I'm currently making a matching tail light. 

I have seen that girl in your sig block on youtube dancing, ...she can move!!

[roy-nexus-6]

I have seen that girl in your sig block on youtube dancing, ...she can move!!

That she can! The video is an oldie, but a goodie!

[DarkStaR]

Someone gave me one of these, and it's better than stock.  It's brighter than some of the cheapo LED boards, but way more convienient.

[eyduc]

That was my first thought.  LED bulbs that just replace the 1157 bulb. 

This one is a 19 LED version.   The thing I didnt like was the light was concentrated instead of being spread out like an LED board.

http://www.superbrightleds.com/cgi-bin/store/index.cgi?action=DispPage&Page2Disp=%2Fspecs%2F1157-R19W6_motorcycle_bulb.htm

[eyduc]

Ok, all done.   Here is the bare board loose on the oem reflector:



Here is a top view:


It was fairly simple to build.   I had to cut the oem reflector plate so the pcb will lie flat.    I used cut off hose for vibration isolation.  The pcb is from Mouser (4x5, double sided plated thru), about $12.   The Piranha LEDs are from SuperBrightLEDs (.25 ea).  I liked these better than the normal T1 3/4 5mm LEDs because they were brighter and had 4 pins with which to solder to (more durable for vibration).   There are 9 strings of 4 LEDs, 9 running lamp resistors (550 ohm) and 9 brake light resistors (220 ohm).    I set running current to be about 10ma each circuit (x9) and the brake light current to 30ma (x9).  The max current is 40ma.   I wanted it to be a little understressed.   I am currently wiring up a flasher relay (EP35) with a 5 ohm load resistor for the brake light.   I wanted more visibility during braking.   In the back, the hole was just the right size to push in the OEM license plate light.

Here is a shot of the LED turn signals from Monster Parts:


Here is a shot from the rear with it all bolted up:

[Jarvicious]

Action pics.  Action pics!

[eyduc]

Shot of the running light:



It's hard to take the brake lights but I'll try again later tonight.  I also have a vid but I'll upload and post it tonight.   When the brake lights turn on, the camera exposes it darker (like shooting in snow) and all you see are bright leds in a dark room.  It doesn't help that the background wall is (Ducati) red!!

[sbrguy]

that looks very good, you might have a nice product on your hands here to sell people if it works well and is really bright.