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Taillight/blinkers idea?

  • Thread starter Thread starter pickardracing
  • Start date Start date
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pickardracing

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I'm sure this has been done before, but here's my question:

Is there a way to make the rear turn signals into stoplamps+turnsignals?

I've been tossing around the idea of going to some dual filament turn signals all the way around and eliminating my center taillight altogether, and what i'm trying to figure out is what I'd need to do to make it so that in my rear turn signals i'd have rear running lights, stop lights and directionals. Pretty much having the rear turn signals do all the work. Running lights when cruising/idling, stop lights, and then blinking insted of stop lamps when turning and braking.

Pretty much just like a car with all-red taillights.

Any ideas?
 
Do they make Red covers? Legaly around here the brake lights have to be Red.
 
It'd be OK to go three-wire on the turn signals to AUGMENT the brake light, but I wouldn't eliminate it. My 650 was that way (two-way blinkers in the back).

Just find some two-filament (three wire) turn signals and wire one filament to the brake light and one to the blinker circuit. I had a hard time finding two-way blinkers I liked when I replaced my 650's -- the vast majority of aftermarket signals are just single filament.
 
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My bike was wired with a tailight/stop convertor (little sealed resin box). I had brake lights on my turn signals, never was stopped by a cop. Anyway, the "rest of the story"......They started acting up on me during to my CA trip (sometimes on all the time), totally fried by the time I was preparing for my Indiana trip, so I pulled the box, re-wired everything and added two red lights above the amber turn signal lights, and set up the red lights as brake lights (all on my hard bags).:-D
 
I installed a tombstone taillight and dual filament LED directions. The directions are red and I have the second element wired into the stop light .
 
I was thinking of doing something similar, but keep the tail light. I'd wire the second filament in the blinkers to the head light/ tail light circuit and have them as running lights. Seems like it'd give the bike more visability.
 
emjay said:
I was thinking of doing something similar, but keep the tail light. I'd wire the second filament in the blinkers to the head light/ tail light circuit and have them as running lights. Seems like it'd give the bike more visability.
Click to expand...

Well your tail light has two wires as it too is dual filament. One wire is for the brake light and one wire is for the tail light. You can not connect both to a single filament.

So you would need three filament bulbs to do what you want on the directionals. Or you can only have directional/stop or direction/running.

On my front forks I installed some amber dual filament bullet directionals and used one filament for the directional and the second filament I wired into the headlight as a running light.
 
mortation said:
So you would need three filament bulbs to do what you want on the directionals. Or you can only have directional/stop or direction/running.
Click to expand...
Good luck finding three-filament bulbs, they just don't exist. :shock:

Acually, what you are trying to do is rather simple. Get your RED two-filament turn signals. They might be LEDs or use an 1157 bulb. Also get a trailer wire adapter to blend the brakes with the turn signals. (About $15 at Wal-Mart.) Wire the low filament to the tail light wire. Mount the trailer adapter to the bike, probably under the seat or in the tail section, if you have one. Route the brake and turn signal wires to the adapter, connect them as labeled. Route the two output wires to the turn signals. You will now have two small tail lights which will get brighter for the brakes. If you have a turn signal on, one of them will blink.

A couple of things to keep in mind when doing this:
1) Because of the way the trailer adapter is wired internally, if your brakes are OFF, the front and rear turn signals will blink together. If the brakes are ON, the turn signals will blink alternately. That is, the front will be ON, the back will be OFF, then the front will be OFF, the back will be ON. Nothing to cause concern, that's just the way it is.
2) Does your state require inspections? If so, you may not pass, because the turn signals are not intended to be your primary tail/brake light. SAE certifications for lights are function-specific. Yes, many of us get away with doing stuff, but that does not mean it's legal.
3) If you use after-market turn signals on the rear, there is a good chance they are not even SAE rated or DOT approved. See #2.
4) When it's all done, we want pictures. 8-[


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Well, as far as the lights themselves, I'm probably going to go with a Harley Deuce style LED short stalk signals.

They come in amber and red, so I'll get one pair of each. Dual filament since I want running lights in front and back.

Any other ideas?
 
I had a turnsignal integrator on my G that kept the turn signals on at a reduced voltage as running lights and would switch them to bright as aux. brake lights but still allowed them to blink as normal turn signals.
Here in Texas brake lights can be amber so it was legal.

when I went to full LED's on the rear I found these red LED rings that fit around the turn signal bulbs (LED cluster in my case) the red led's make the amber lens glow red and have a built in circut so they function as tail and brake, I now have three red tail and brake lights, but when the turn signals are activated it over rides the ring and flashes amber.

I will take a little video of it this evening.
 
What you're looking for

What you're looking for

Use a " Priority Lites" from Sound Off Recreational, inc available many places. It will couple the lights on the rear of the bike and provide three tail lights, three brake lights, and the turn signals will operate as normal, easy install on my GS 1000 under the tail cover. Used this for years now.
 
A similar device is available from Electrical Connection. It adds a ring of red LEDs around your existing turn signal bulb. They show as red tail and brake lights. When the turn signal is activated, the red goes off, so only the yellow signal shows up.


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Steve said:
A similar device is available from Electrical Connection. It adds a ring of red LEDs around your existing turn signal bulb. They show as red tail and brake lights. When the turn signal is activated, the red goes off, so only the yellow signal shows up.


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Click to expand...

thats the one I have except I mounted mine to amber LED "bulbs" instead of incandecent.

here is the video I took this evening of my collection of LED's on Bob.

http://smg.photobucket.com/albums/v495/leonhogan/?action=view&current=lightshow001.flv
 
focus frenzy said:
Here in Texas brake lights can be amber so it was legal.
Click to expand...

Actually, I had a State Trooper jump all over me because I replaced the rear blinkers on my Shadow with amber "bullets", but I ordered dual filament to have them function as running lights as well. Apparently it's illegal to have "always on" amber lights on the rear of any non-emergency vehicle, unless it's a schoolbus. Now, brake lights are not "always on", so there may be a gray area there.

Funny thing is, it passed inspection that way no problem. But in Texas, getting a motorcycle inspected is usually the guy saying "put on your brights, okay, brake, okay, left and right blinkers, okay, hmm, tread looks good, that'll be $14.50." And that's an in-depth inspection. Last bike I got inspected, he walked around the bike, asked to see the brake light, and handed me my sticker. Even forgot to ask for the insurance card.

I've often wondered about the blue and green side markers you can find on Ebay. Are those legal?
 
txironhead said:
I've often wondered about the blue and green side markers you can find on Ebay. Are those legal?
Click to expand...
Strictly speaking ... NO. :shock:

However, most officers will let you go if you have a separate switch on them so they are not on all the time. Theoretically, you can have about anything you want ... for "show" as long as the "show" does not involve moving on the highway. 8-[


.
 
Well, results are in. converted my stock front turn signals to dual filaments and added the running lights in the front.

Shortened all the stalks down to the nubs on the stalk sheath, (about 2.5") for a more streamlined look, and decided to just try and find an alternatve for a tailight that isnt so absolutely hideous.

That being said, I'll post a new thread asking about a taillight, and I'll post pics of my blinkers tomorrow in here.
 
txironhead said:
Actually, I had a State Trooper jump all over me because I replaced the rear blinkers on my Shadow with amber "bullets", but I ordered dual filament to have them function as running lights as well. Apparently it's illegal to have "always on" amber lights on the rear of any non-emergency vehicle, unless it's a schoolbus. Now, brake lights are not "always on", so there may be a gray area there.

Funny thing is, it passed inspection that way no problem. But in Texas, getting a motorcycle inspected is usually the guy saying "put on your brights, okay, brake, okay, left and right blinkers, okay, hmm, tread looks good, that'll be $14.50." And that's an in-depth inspection. Last bike I got inspected, he walked around the bike, asked to see the brake light, and handed me my sticker. Even forgot to ask for the insurance card.

I've often wondered about the blue and green side markers you can find on Ebay. Are those legal?
Click to expand...

should have told him to go back to school! I used to think amber was illegal before I became a state inspector and had changed the set up on my bike as the rear turns were wired with a integrator box.
I never had a problem and had cops behind me who didn't do anything.
your front turn signals can be white! as Texas law says they are to be white to amber, the fronts can not be red, blue green or any other color.

blue lights on anything on public roads is impersonating a police officer and is asking for trouble, those little blue licence plate mounting reflectors are illegal also.
Hell the highway department and many fire departments are breaking the law as it is on the books that blue lights are for law enforcement use only.

you can have any color light you want as long as you dont use any of them other than what is permitted by law on the road.
 
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