ok to start this is my first how-to ...

i made a fender eliminator and lost the option of having the stock turn signals, plus they look like shit right?? i didnt want some big hunkers hanging off my new sleek license pate bracket so i figured i would throw the blinkers in the tail light...

in this how to ill show what i did, how i screwed up, and what i did do fix the problems....you see every how-to show you the right way..but how about showing you the wrong way too??

when i first attempted this i had some led's a friend gave me, they were linrose brand - red 5mm led's, since im new to LED's and everything i figured they would work because they said superbright on the package.....

there are a few things to consider when attempting this mod...you need to know your led's, with led's you will find there are 2 things you see the most....candella and MCD, about 1000MCD = 1 candella.

the higher these numbers are the brighter your led will be with the right voltage....also there is a view angle on all led's...now the led's i ended up going with i have no clue what the angle degree is but if you have the led's facing the direction you want to see them, thats the mose effective position for them....

before you start soldering things its a good thing to note that most led's you can easily buy are low voltage....in most cases you might need a resistor to limit the voltage in order to prevent the LED from burning up....seeing as how the really really bright led's (the ones you want) are pretty expensive if you buy them locally....id suggest you read up on led/resistor calculations....just google it

now the led's i first had were 3v 23MCD led's, ill post pictures of how i soldered them and when i got them installed but keep in mind THESE ARE NOT THE CORRECT LED's YOU WANT TO HAVE!!!! i repeat...the low MCD on these led's means they arent bright enough...the tail light flooded out the led's light....

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here are some more pictures of what NOT!!!! to use..

DO NOT USE CHEAP LED's

DO NOT USE CHEAP LED's

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Here are the complete instructions now....


first you need some tools...there are a few things not shown here....you need a dremel with a cutoff wheel and a sander roll, also you need a drill with a really small drill bit and a medium sized bit
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step 1..gain access to the tail light, i really dont want to go take pictures...so please use your brain...if you are going to attempt this mod, then surely you can figure out how to take the rear light out....you dont need to un-plug the light, just gain access to it

step 2..get your dremel with a cutoff wheel and VERY carefully cut around the edge of the tail light...you need to remove that black plastic/glue thats holding the clear half to the back half...just cut enough to put a groove for a flathead screw driver to fit in it...you will eventually, very carefully, pry the 2 halfs apart....be very careful so you dont crack the clear cover....take your time on this step

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step 3..now you need to run the wires for the blinkers.....i ran a total of 5 wires (2 ground and 3 hot) and ill explain why i used this many wires....but if you are doing ONLY this mod, then you only need 1 ground and 2 hot wires ran...

the extra hot/ground i use is for the license plate light...i have 3 10,000MCD blue LED's that i have pointed directly at the license plate to light up the whole tail section...ill post some pictures at the end of this how-to....

i connected the wires directly to the stock plug for the rear blinkers/license plate light....

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step 4..now drill a hole larg enough to run 3 of those wires into the tail light houseing...be sure to remove the led boards before you do this...common sense people.....


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i used 10 led's total....5 led's per blinker (that equals 50,000MCD or 50 candella per blinker side) here is why i used 5 led's per side

several reasons...

1. the first attempt was too bulky..barely fit in the houseing
2. 5 led's fit perfect on the 2nd step of the 2nd light cover
3. each of these led's has a voltage range of 2.2v-2.6v so if you take 12v and divide it by 5 you get 2.4v...what this means is when i run the led's in series it will lower the voltage or force of electricity so i wont need a resistor...just saved me a little time and money thats all..plus 5 seems to be a good number of led's its just bright enough for what i wanted....you can always add more led's but you will then need a resistor if you use these led's

my main reason for 5 was so i didnt have to buy a resistor and solder it in....less parts to break....

heres the package of the led's i bought, they were linrose 10 candella, part number #B4304H91-5pk....you can buy them at frys electronics in dallas, tx for $18.99 plus tax check out www.linrose.com and click on led's

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here is a shot of all the led's, notice the bottom led...i modified the legs so they will all fit nicely when i solder them

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solder them in series....here is what it looks like, i used a pair of locking medical forceps to hold the legs together while i soldered them....came in really handy and saved me a ton of time...i suggest you get a pair if you dont already have some....

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now i soldered 2 pieced of wire to test and make sure they work...i guess you really dont have todo this...after i was finished i removed the wires

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after you check that they work...(dont look directly into them like i did...wowza they are bright!!!)

you need to cut the legs as short as you can and bend them over so they will be as low profile as possible without touching the legs or breaking them....once again..common sense everyone.....



ok i forget what step we are on but moving along....

at first i layed these led's on their side and tried to mount them on the inside of that 2nd cover...didnt work too well, the taillight led's took over and you couldnt see the blinkers....here are the pictures of what i did....DONT REPEAT THIS STEP!!!!

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now that the led blocks are done and working, legs are trimmed and tucked away so they fit well...here's what we do next, i lost some pictures so just see if you can get the idea from these....


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these pictures suck right here...but its bright as a mofo!!!!


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here is what i ran those other wires for.....

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and for some last pictures before i put the bike back together....


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wanna make this thread a sticky??? any questions??? need more pictures???

:thumbup :thumbup good, cheap and most importantly nice.... :rock

best mod for the money ive done so far...that and the license plate bracket....

Good mod. I probably would have used yellow or orange LED's though. Did you have a hard time seperating the tail light pod?
(and clean up that shop. Its a 'sty and I will tell your mom! :lol )

haha my brothers mess...and moms mess..i refuse to clean up their crap!!! anyways i looked for amber led's locally and i couldnt find any with a high enough candella rating...i bet you can find 100 amber ones with about 10 candella or 10,000mcd on ebay, they will have to be shipped from hong kong but it would be nice...i like the amber look better....

the pod was actually very very easy to open if you have a veriable speed dremel...i set it on about number 4-5 and cud away...the dremel bogged down if i went too deep which was good, yuo dont want to cut all the way through or else you will eat away the lip the clear piece sits on...you wouldnt ever get a nice proper seat for it when you go to put it back together.....


everyone says oh use epoxy or silicon to put it back together...i just used hotglue...ill report on if it holds, it should, ive used hotglue to hold other things together on a bike...seems to work just fine for me, the tail end doesnt get as hot as you would think.....also its alot cleaner to use hot glue, no mess and no worry of getting shit all over the clear plastic cover....

i actually had fun doing this mod...for those of you that just arent talented enough... for a limited time!!! ill do this for 2 people provided you send me your taillight, parts (or money to buy the parts) and money to cover return shipping....if ya kick me a lil somethin great...if not..hey i had fun doing it....

NOICE! Good way to save a few dollars. I might try this..... when I eventually pick my 07 up.

it should be the same thing on the 06....send me the stuff and ill do it for ya!

Can we use a heat gun to seperate the tail light? Instead of drilling it? I just dont like drilling things on my bike, i try to keep it clean and wire or anything cutfree.

i tried a heat gun and it was a no go....from what i can see, it will melt the plastic on both sides and the stuff inbetween....just use a dremel and saw the black crap out of there....then pry the 2 halves with a screwdriver....i know you hate to get physical with things on your bike...but man up and just do it!!! you really cant break anything....you are going to glue it all back together anyways right???? if its that big of a deal...sent the light to me lol

You're brave, man.

i guess....it all worked didnt it??? if you break something and you cant fix it...then you had no business messin with what broke...thats my motto

I like it. I will probably try to get the amber LEDs but I am going to do this mod for sure (unless I think of something better). Thanks.:rock

welcome to the board...it was fairly easy for me, took a long time due to the fact i was experimenting with led's an d what not..but it wasnt a hard mod...you now have all the information you need to NOT waste time like me....

THANKS! I appreciate it.:drunk:

Did u haft to lose your rear passenger pegs to get ur license plate their... I would want to keep those and put the license plate their to?

the bracket i made i can use it WITH or WITHOUT the pegs....its a very very simple design...no extra crap..just a license plate bracket...

http://www.r1-forum.com/forums/showthread.php?t=186128

there is the link to the pictures/thread



BTW - WHERE IN DALLAS ARE YOU?? I WAS AT SONIC ON NORTHWEST HWY LASTNIGHT WE PLAN TO RIDE TO AZLE, TX ON FRIDAY...

i can make you one of these license plate brackets no problem....so easy to make

Good job

pm sent

I actually decided to go with after market amber LED turn signals so I wouldn't have to make my own set. You just have to take them apart (much like the tail light) and then put them in on the sides much like you did. The good thing is they are amber and they have about 13 LEDs. They obscure a little bit of the tail light but not enough to make a difference and it looks cool. Maybe i'll get some pics up when I figure out how.

right on, glad you got something that works....i ordered a 100 pack of amber led's off ebay, 10,000mcd so they are bright, im going to have them lined on the under side of the tail between the exhaust and the tail section...that way the whole side/underside next to the exhaust will light up amber when the blinker is on.....should look badass

Whats a good bright MCD? Something not to bright at night that will blind a driver and that will get me a ticket, but is bright enough to see at day time?? I will be use them on my lic. plate as an extra turning light along with an intergraded tail light.
Thanks

10,000mcd is what you are looking for man...it wont blind a driver because it will be behind plastic...that will difuse the light and spread it around a bit

Well here is a video, sorry it sucks so bad but trust me it looks great in person.

http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=8223049988723565655

Well here is a video, sorry it sucks so bad but trust me it looks great in person.

http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=8223049988723565655


badass thats how my mod looks...did you do this mod or is that the one that the company makes?

I did it myself with some aftermarket LED turn signals. The only problem I ran into was the connector to the tail light - It took me a while to figure out I needed to take off the exhaust heat shields to drop it down.:dundun:

lol i didnt take any of that apart...i fished the wired through the space where the old wires went and used my hande for everything else...good work though!

I could have fished the turn signal wires through and not taken the light all the way off but it was freezing in the garage and I wanted to work on it off the bike (without cutting the wires). :sing: Here is a better video during the day. The one one tobefast.com looks sweet too but I guess you get what you pay for this cost me about $20.

http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=3481954788620710251